Brief description of Facebook

What is Facebook?

Facebook is a popular free Social networking website that allows registered users to create profiles, upload photos and video, send messages and keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues. The site, which is available in 37 different languages, includes public features such as:

• Marketplace - allows members to post, read and respond to classified ads.
• Groups - allows members who have common interests to find each other and interact.
• Events  - allows members to publicize an event, invite guests and track who plans to attend.
• Pages - allows members to create and promote a public page built around a specific topic.
• Presence technology - allows members to see which contacts are online and chat.

Why Facebook?

Facebook can be thought of as your home on the Internet. It's a place people can go to leave you a message, browse through your photo collections, or even chat with you while you are online.

It can be a great way to keep in contact with friends and family, and even find long lost friends that you haven't spoken to in years.

The Facebook "wall" is where it all happens. This is where you write comments on what you are up to or share photos and articles with your friends. You'll also see what your friends and family are posting on their wall, and anyone on your friend list can come by and write a comment on your wall. So not only is the Facebook wall a great place to let everyone know you are back from vacation and post trip photos, it is also a place where conversations are started

Advantages

Facebook can be used to spread awareness among people about the current affairs and some cyber crimes so that we all are careful of hackers,crackers etc.

It can also be used to communicate with your friends and can help to distress yourself whenever you feel that this world is full of crap some kind of jokes and vines can make us all laugh and there is no problem doing things like that so don't think that Facebook is a bad thing until and unless you use it in a careful and limited manner

Disadvantages 

Addiction

According to a study conducted by Leif Denti at the University of Gothenburg, spending time on Facebook can become addictive. Participants in the study reported that they felt ill at ease when they were not able to regularly check up on their Facebook account. With other people constantly posting new photos or status updates, people that become addicted to Facebook can feel like they are missing out if they are not constantly logged in. According to the study, these users do not even realize that they are engaged in excessive use of the service, as it becomes an unconscious habit.

Loss of Productivity

Facebook can be a serious threat to the productiveness of both students and employees. Studies by Nucleus Research indicate that an average of 1.5 percent of total office productivity is lost through employees accessing Facebook during working hours. Two-thirds of the participants in the study revealed that they access their Facebook accounts while at work, with 6 percent admitting that their entire Facebook profile was created at work. Studies conducted at Ohio State University indicated that Facebook users studied between one and five hours a week while non-users typically spent 11 hours or more studying. Productivity can suffer due to time wasted on Facebook playing games, chatting to friends or browsing new photos. Many of the games on Facebook require you to check back every few minutes in order to keep playing, which can waste a lot of time.