References
Facebook (2008). http://www.facebook.com. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
Facebook recently opened a new option called “applications” which allows users to personalize the look of their page. This page has several applications, including “Bumper Stickers” which are little stickers that display pictures or sarcastic messages that you can send to your friends, and “Superpoke”, which takes the original “poke” application from Facebook and takes it to an extreme, allowing anyone to “do” a multitude of things to their friends.
Klassen, A., & Hampp, A. (2007, July 9). This 23-year-old has Google sweating. Advertising
Age, 78(27). Retrieved January 25, 2008, from ProQuest database.
Klassen and Hampp argue that the new internet sensation, Facebook, could potentially turn users away from search engines such as Google because it allows people to search the web and connect to each other at the same time. While Facebook has the same essential purpose as its main competitor, MySpace, its audience is growing much faster than MySpace’s did, although MySpace still has more users at 69 million. Facebook’s newest addition, “applications”, allow other developers to advertise through the site, and allow users to share information that they might otherwise go elsewhere to get.
Lupsa, C. (2006, December 13). Facebook: A campus fad becomes a campus fact; The social
networking website isn’t growing like it once did, but only because almost every US student is already on it. Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved January 25, 2008, from ProQuest database.
Lupsa argues that Facebook is a fad that campus administrators and faculty members are desperately trying to catch up with because of its influential effects. Staff members are making profiles, and campus organizations use it to advertise for events. However, with the good comes the bad; Facebook makes it easier to harass, stalk, and threaten people, with or without their knowledge. This has caused some colleges to take action, attempting to ban the website.
Story, L. & Stone, B. (2007, November 30). Facebook retreats on online tracking. New York
Times. Retrieved January 28, 2008, from http://www.nytimes.com.
The authors report that Facebook has recently had to reign in its new advertising program, called Beacon, due to the outcry from users. The program tracks what users purchase from other websites and broadcasts it to their friends through a Facebook advertisement. Users wanted to be able to opt out of the program through the settings on their Facebook profiles, which is now an option, although it wasn’t before. Facebook executives stick by their decision to use the program, saying that users will eventually grow used to it.
Vauhini, V. (2007, May 21). Facebook opens its pages as a way to fuel growth. Wall Street
Journal. Retrieved January 25, 2008, from ProQuest database.
Vauhini writes that Facebook’s owners have made a strategic decision to open its pages to other companies to offer their services through the website, potentially creating a web hub similar to Yahoo. While other start-up sites like MySpace and YouTube have sold out to larger corporations, Facebook has remained independent. At the time the article was written, Facebook’s user base had doubled in the previous six months, and was adding another 100,000 users per day. It had also increased its user potential by opening the site to everyone with an e-mail address, not just a university e-mail address as it had previously been.
