Facebook was created on February 4, 2004, and was intended for the use of Harvard students only. As of September 26, 2006, anyone over the age of 13 was able to have a Facebook account. Even though Facebook is almost a decade old, the number of members are still rapidly increasing. In 2012, 67% of online adults used Facebook, while in 2013 seventy-one percent used it. Universities originally used Facebook as a way for their students to meet each other and communicate. It is now used as a way to communicate with friends often with no educational reason, similar to most other social media sites.
Facebook's uses have dramatically expanded. It is used by businesses to advertise, politicians to spread an election message, and people to publish helpful information. Businesses have found that Facebook is a great place to tell consumers about their products. In the last presidential election, both candidates used social media to get out their message. In the recent surprise Atlanta snowstorm, a Facebook volunteer created Facebook page connecting stranded motorists with people willing to help with free lodging, food and medical help. The page quickly gathered 50,000 followers and was credited for rescuing many people. |
Basic Numbers:
- 71% of all adults who use the Internet also use Facebook as of December 31st, 2013. - 66% of all online males and 76% of all online females used Facebook in 2013. - 63% of all of Facebook's users use Facebook daily, 22% use it weekly and 14% use Facebook monthly. - People over 65 years old have been increasing their Facebook usage from 35% in 2012 to 45% in 2013. - 80% of Businesses Surveyed use Facebook for Advertising. - President Obama used a Facebook page in his election campaign and it had over 29 million "likes" to his opponents 8 million. - As of October, 2013, the singer Rihanna was the most popular person on Facebook with over 78 million "likes". What is Facebook? A Facebook user creates a webpage with a profile that contains information about himself including pictures and narrative comments. The user can then search for friends who get access to the content of the his page and he gets access to their content. The content can be anything. People can "like" the content, post comments about it, and otherwise carry on a conversation through the Facebook page. |