After a hard day of classes, the first thing I do is clam my brain by spending some quality time on Facebook catching up with my friends’ lives. The minified keeps me updated as to who’s dating who, how everyone’s days went, and what embarrassing pictures from the weekend have been posted. My little sister has updated her profile, so I spend a few minutes harmlessly stalking her by going through her wall posts, pictures, and recent actions. This way, I can keep tabs on her despite being 80 miles away at school. Facebook, the newest internet start-up, is a social networking site that originally targeted college students, but has now expanded its audience to include anyone with an e-mail address. Users can belong to different networks based on the college they attended, where they live, or where they work. Facebook is unique in that its owner, Mark Zuckerberg, has decided to keep the company independent, despite offers from corporations such as Yahoo for as much as $1 billion. With over 50 million members, Facebook is enormously successful, but has created its fair share of controversy. Twice recently, Facebook users opposing new additions to the site successfully petitioned to have them removed, saying that it was imposing on their privacy. Colleges and universities, the thriving ground of Facebook, have also begun to wonder whether Facebook causes privacy issues, with threats and other disturbing information appearing on the different profiles.
