Facebook's Importance

Facebook is a revolutionary Internet networking service available for free online (www.facebook.com). It is a feature rich web site that allows you to interact with other Facebook users in a multitude of ways. I created my Facebook account over three years ago and have, as a result, become familiar with all it's major features. Facebook has become increasingly popular as more and more people become aware of its features. As of now, Facebook allows it's users to instantly message each other, post comments on each other's profile page, share pictures and videos, create groups of users with similar interests, make event notifications and invitations, and much more. These features have led to Facebook becoming an important service that I use in everyday life

Facebook is important to me for many reasons. It allows me to stay in closer contact with my friends and family. This is important because many of my friends have gone to different colleges and I would otherwise be unaware of happenings in their lives. Facebook also allows me to stay up to date with upcoming events. For example, I am often invited to attend club meetings via Facebook event notifications. Additionally, Facebook allows me to instantly message my friends, family, and classmates in order to quickly chat. This is important to me because I often need to ask quick questions related to homework or upcoming events that need to be answered quickly. Because all these features are available in one place, it is convenient to readily use them.

It is likely that I was first drawn toward Facebook because my friends were already starting to use it. I was drawn to the content that they were uploading. Once I made an account and started uploading content of my own, more and more of my friends joined and began to upload themselves. I was drawn to the content being uploaded by people I knew. This concept behind Facebook's social networking is the primary reason I joined. It directly related to my life and would often affect decision I would make. If I saw that a bunch of my friends were attending the premiere of a movie, I would consider trying to go to the movie with them. Without Facebook I would not have know they were even going. This makes Facebook important because it helps me to not lose touch with my friends and contacts that I no longer see in person. However, because more and more content is always being uploaded, some people are “addicted” to their Facebook.

These people check Facebook for new content when they should be doing other things like homework or paying attention in class. They benefit less from Facebook because they miss out in other things. Even so, those who spend excessive time on Facebook can have stronger relationships with there Facebook contacts due to the extra time and effort put into these relationships. I find that the casual Facebook user, who only checks their account for updates 2-3 times a week, benefits far more because they still spend time doing more beneficial and interesting activities. Facebook is important because it allows for a wide variety of communication between its users. Since, users can upload there own content, millions of people are attracted to the site and are more aware of what is going on in their friends lives. Spending excessive time on the site can have some disadvantages but the benefits tend to outweigh them. In general, the benefits that come from belonging to a social networking community, rich with various forms of communication, make Facebook an important service for many of its users.