Facebook?! More like facehook!

Facebook, arguably one of the biggest internet revolutions of the last couple years after YouTube of course. Most people already know what Facebook is, but for those internet illiterate, it's a social networking website where you can do just about anything from sending messages to uploading videos and photos to updating your status for others to see.

Facebook says that it has 250 million users, of which 120 million login once a day, and spend 5 billion minutes doing “stuff.” Just what what are we all doing on Facebook and why is it so addictive?

• It’s really fun to catch up with a lot of people, all day long, quickly. I've got 245 friends on my account, and i can keep up to date with their daily runnings, the news-feed is a really good tool, it gives me quick updates on all my friend's new photos,videos and messages on one page.


• The quizzes are hilarious. When ever i log on, there is always a new quiz to do, I've found out that if i was an animal, I'd be a sea dollar. I've also found out that my ideal profession would be a stripper (odd as that sounds), but totally understandable with my good looks, right?


• THERE'S SO MUCH TO DO! Facebook provides an endless stream of "stuff" to do, no wonder we spend so much time on it! You can comment on friends photos, watch videos, update your status, surf links recommended by others, complete the fun quizes and so much more!
  

The intresting thing is that Facebook was launched in 2004! In 5 years it has become the BIGGEST social networking website. It's all thanks to the convenience of the "add a friend" feature. "securely import contacts from your email", just type you're email and your password and with a click of a button you can invite up to hundreds of friends, no wonder Facebook is growing so rapidly.

FUN FACT: In 2008, the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory ruled that Facebook is a valid protocol to serve court notices to defendants. It is believed to be the world's first legal judgement that defines a summons posted on Facebook as legally binding.
In March 2009, the New Zealand High Court associate justice David Glendall allowed for the serving of legal papers on Craig Axe by the company Axe Market Garden via Facebook.

OK, we've talked about WHY I like it, and why 250 million other people like it, BUT, yes, i said but! Wait for it...according to certain people, Facebook has a bad side! I know, it's hard to believe but let's go through some claims:

• Communications created through Facebook are subject to the same laws and policies as written/verbal communication. Well, no harm no foul right? You wouldn't go around verbally offending people at every slight, would you? Well maybe some would, but then we have a term for that, "hooligan".
• Information can be used against you in a number of ways. For example: Stalkers and con-artists. Simple enough, just restrict your profile to be viewed by friends, easy enough to find in the settings.

Facebook is so widespread now days that it's now a verb! More and more people are getting hooked, 50% of users being over the age of 35, it's not only for the youngsters, that's what seperates it from the competition.

Now that we've talked about the good and the bad (the good heavily outweighing the bad...just so we clarify that) you may begin to understand why it's so addictive, it provides an endless supply of "stuff" (yes, more "stuff") for us to spend our seemingly endless supply of time on. You can't blame me for getting hooked, can you?

P.S. please excuse the bad pun in the title.