In the last few years, a range of social networking sites have cropped up on the internet. Facebook is arguably one of the biggest networking sites today, with millions of members all over the world. The potential of a website with so many members all over the world is not difficult to estimate, and it is huge.
20 year old Marc Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004 along with three of his mates. The idea was to create a website that allows people to keep in touch with friends. First only confined to the Harvard student community, Facebook opened to the public in September 2006, quickly catching on worldwide.
The structure of the community is such that while maintaining privacy and boundaries amongst people, it is possible for content to spread rapidly, and media content on Facebook can have a viral quality. For example, a popular or funny Facebook video can be splashed on hundreds of profile pages in a matter of minutes, thanks to sharing options.
Users have the benefit of keeping in touch with and making new friends. There are also many added applications on Facebook which can enhance the user experience. However, there is also much potential on Facebook for marketers and advertisers alike. Facebook pages and fan clubs are a brilliant way to promote a brand, place, personality, or concept!
Facebook is indeed a phenomenon today and is virtually spam free, however, it is important that Facebook maintains its clean and neat structure and image so as not to lose out in the future.
