Related topics: social networking , twitter , myspace , social networking sites , google
Facebook is a social networking website that is operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. Users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region. People can also add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. The website's name stems from the colloquial name of a book given to incoming students at Zuckerberg's high school alma mater, Phillips Exeter Academy. The book shows the faces and names of the school's students and faculty.
Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook with fellow computer science major students and his roommates Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes while he was a student at Harvard University. Website membership was initially limited to Harvard students, but was expanded to other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University. It later expanded further to include any university student, then high school students, and, finally, to anyone aged 13 and over. The website currently has more than 250 million active users worldwide.
Facebook has met with some controversy over the past few years. It has been blocked intermittently in several countries including Syria, China and Iran, although Iran later unblocked Facebook in 2009. It has also been banned at many places of work to discourage employees from wasting time using the service. Privacy has also been an issue, and it has been compromised several times. Facebook is also facing several lawsuits from a number of Zuckerberg's former classmates, who claim that Facebook had stolen their source code and other intellectual property.
A February 2009 Compete.com study has ranked Facebook as the most used social network by worldwide monthly active users, followed by MySpace.
For more information about Facebook, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with facebook
Facebook (and Systems Biologists) Take Note: Network Analysis Reveals True Connections
Technology / Computer Sciences
Dec 07, 2009 |
4 / 5 (9) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Facebook figures out that you know Holly, although you haven't seen her in 10 years, because you have four mutual friends -- a good predictor of direct friendship. But sometimes Facebook gets ...
Canadian woman loses benefits over Facebook photo
Nov 22, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A Canadian woman on long-term sick leave for depression says she lost her benefits because her insurance agent found photos of her on Facebook in which she appeared to be having fun.
Facebook profiles capture true personality, according to new psychology research
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Dec 01, 2009 |
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Online social networks such as Facebook are being used to express and communicate real personality, instead of an idealized virtual identity, according to new research from psychologist Sam Gosling at The University of Texas ...
GPS cell phone apps challenge standalone devices
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Nov 28, 2009 |
3.6 / 5 (5) |
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(AP) -- The growth of cell phones with global-positioning technology is making life uncertain for the makers of personal navigational devices that help drivers figure out where they are and where to go.
Want privacy on Facebook? Here is how to get some
Dec 17, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (3) |
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(AP) -- Over the past week, Facebook has been nudging its users - first gently, then firmly - to review and update their privacy settings.
No More 'Social Media,' More Single Log-ins for Multiple Platforms
Dec 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- As more people use social media platforms, they will begin moving away from using the term 'social media' in the new year, predicts Dr. Karla Gower, associate professor of advertising and public relations.
Privacy watchdog files complaint against Facebook
Dec 17, 2009 |
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(AP) -- A Washington-based privacy advocacy group has filed a complaint against Facebook over the social network's latest privacy changes.
How fake sites trick search engines to hit the top
Dec 08, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Even search engines can get suckered by Internet scams. With a little sleight of hand, con artists can dupe them into giving top billing to fraudulent Web sites that prey on consumers, making unwitting ...
Pay babysitter on iPhone, says Twitter
Electronics / Consumer & Gadgets
Dec 09, 2009 |
2.7 / 5 (3) |
1
Microblogging service Twitter has branched into the market for electronic payments, unveiling a mini credit card swiper that plugs into the iPhone, at a European internet fair on Wednesday.
Facebook change gives users more privacy controls
Dec 09, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Facebook is giving users better control over who sees information on their personal pages.
Class-action suit pits woman against 'dishonest' ads on Facebook
Dec 09, 2009 |
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A 41-year-old part-time dance instructor and graphic designer from Santa Cruz is the face of a class-action lawsuit designed to force Web sites that offer social gaming to rein in what she calls deceptive ads.
'Anti-social network' aims to be Facebook killer app
Dec 10, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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Facebook makes you despair? Social networking makes you want to end it all? You may be ready for online ritual suicide with the aid of a new website that helps you kill your virtual identity.
Facebook creates dual-class structure, but no IPO
Nov 24, 2009 |
1 / 5 (1) |
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(AP) -- Facebook has created a dual-class stock structure designed to give founder Mark Zuckerberg and other existing shareholders control over the company.
Apple in talks to buy Lala.com
Dec 05, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Apple Inc. is in advanced talks to buy online music retailer Lala.com, a Silicon Valley startup that has threatened "the end of the MP3" with its fast song-streaming application.
Roku adds more 'channels' of video and other digital content
Nov 26, 2009 |
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Owners of Roku's digital video player will soon have a bunch more channels to choose from.
