FaceBook FX Part 1

In the book "The Facebook Effect" by David Kirkpatrick, Kirkpatrick explains to his readers that the Facebook has revolutionized social networks. There has been many other social networks that have been before Facebook's time,like Myspace, but why haven't they flourished and made as big as an impact as Facebook has on the world? Facebook has taken the flaws of these other websites and incorporated all the ideas of all social devices into one super website, the one we all know well, www.facebook.com. I am not familiar with the other networks mentioned in the book such as "Well", "an electronic bulletin board called The Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link" (pg. 66) or theGlobe.com, but i am familiar with Myspace and AIM (American Online Instant Messenger). Facebook has taken the idea of an "away message" that was a big asset in AIM and incorporated it into the interface of Facebook.com, "the status".

The main reason for Facebook and for other social network's success is their social target. Like the first network that was aimed towards college students. "The first social network explicitly intended for college students had begun at Standford University in November 2001. It was probably also the first real social network ever launched in the United States" (pg. 77). It says that only students that attended Stanford and had a .edu email were able to join and use this social network. This is the same concept that Facebook has required for their members. I have had a facebook for about 4 years now and i was not able to get one until i got my Rutgers .edu email. This idea confirms that the people that are signing up are real people and are signing up as themselves and cannot pose as another person.

All these ideas have made facebook a household name and in my personal opinion an imperative device to have if you have want to have any sort of social life. As important as an email, it is automatically concluded that someone has a facebook to be able to contact other people with.

"Social networking has now extended across the entire planet. Facebook is the world's largest such network. It is the rare high school and college student who does not routinely use Facebook..." (pg. 85).

Facebook has revolutionized the web and social life, and will continue to grow in the years to come.