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When it comes to a trend that interests me, I believe it will almost always be Facebook. The famous Harvard dropout Mark Zuckerberg first invented Facebook, the social networking site, in February 2004  (“Road to IPO”). In March 2004 it became accessible to college and university students, in September 2005 it expanded to high school students and by September 2006 anyone over 13 could join (“Road to IPO”). I myself joined Facebook back in 2007 and since then I have been a very active member of Facebook. Facebook not only helps you connect to your friends and family living miles and continents apart from you, but what I love the most about it is the memories it helps you store through the pictures you share and the wall posts.

 

Since the launch of Facebook, it has been constantly upgraded to better support users. First came the ‘wall’ in September 2004, which allowed users to write personal messages on their friends’ walls (“Road to IPO”). Everyone started using it to leave important, friendly or funny messages on each other’s walls. In 2008 we saw the introduction of Facebook Chat and again in 2009 came the “Like” button (“Road to IPO”). Through my own personal experience, I have seen how the introduction of the Chat soon made other Chat Socials such as MSN Messenger and Yahoo gain lesser popularity. Everyone thought it to be more convenient being able to be on Facebook and chat at the same time. Recently MSN Messenger has also been talking about shutting down completely due to it’s very poor demand. This goes to show how Facebook has affected other companies through it’s many feature productions over the years. Thus in June 2009, Facebook became the leading online Social Network in the U.S., beating MySpace who was on lead (“Road to IPO”).

 

In an article, an author Evans-Cowley explains how Facebook is becoming more famous in not just keeping friends and relatives in contact but also helping businesses flourish as people use this social networking site to advertise their businesses (Evans-Cowley). For example, nowadays people are seen advertising the simplest services they can provide on Facebook such as baking cupcakes, photography for events. Through this they expect to be contacted by the people who view their profiles and thus they can put their talents to work. Another aspect Evans-Cowley explains is how Organizations are formed as people use the ‘Groups’ feature on Facebook to, as Evans-Cowley writes, “Take action around a common goal” and even to engage people in discussions or attract participants (Evans-Cowley). This has brought about quite a few changes in the world as people stand up together for causes they believe in and I believe it will continue to do so. As a student myself, I use groups to discuss courses on Facebook as now we even have groups for University Courses where students can ask each other for help. This has helped a huge amount of students, which we as students stand witness to every semester.

 

Almost all of us have heard about the 2011 Egyptian Revolution that demonstrated how powerful social media can be in this generation. Facebook itself played a huge role in the Tahrir Square protests as it constantly shared information to help the citizens decide whether to support the movement, understand the motive behind the movement and predict whether it would be successful (Tufekci). Tufekci’s research showed that about half the protest respondents who took his survey had a Facebook profile and almost all of them used it to talk about the protest (Tufekci). Facebook ‘Pages’ and ‘Events’ organized by the leaders of this movement is what helped the regime gain popularity and support. The use of social media was getting so powerful in congregating the public around Tahrir Square that the government of Egypt had to do the unpredictable in this generation: turn off the Internet. This goes to show how much Facebook has an impact on the lives of so many people around the globe.

 

Finally, I would like to mention how Facebook is also used to share recent trends. Whether it is the famous Gangnam Style video, the Kony 2012 movement or even making ‘memes’ out of any recent news or entertainment; Facebook has it all. Facebook has become kind of a news source for its users as people use it to get the latest updates around the world. Friends and family stay connected through Facebook, people are getting jobs through advertisements on Facebook, citizens are challenging their government with the help of Facebook; do you believe any of this is going to change soon? I certainly do not. The advantages Facebook provides to its users far outweigh the minimal disadvantages it has, for example changing its look every few months. Thus I am sure this is a trend that will affect others today and every day in the future.

 

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.