Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Controversy
Facebook has met with some controversy over the past few years. In October 2005, the University of New Mexico blocked access to Facebook from its campus computers and networks.[71] It cited a violation of the university's Acceptable Use Policy for abusing computer resources as the reason, stating the website forces use of the university's credentials for activity not related to the university. The school later unblocked Facebook after the website rectified the situation by displaying a notice on the login page stating the credentials used on the website are separate from the ones used for their school accounts.[72] The Ontario government also blocked access to Facebook for its employees in May 2007, stating the website was "not directly related to the workplace"
Platform
Facebook launched the Facebook Platform on May 24, 2007, providing a framework for software developers to create applications that interact with core Facebook features.[50][51] A markup language called Facebook markup language was introduced simultaneously; it is used to customize the "look and feel" of applications that developers create. Using the Platform, Facebook launched several new applications,[50][51] including Gifts, allowing users to send virtual gifts to each other, Marketplace, allowing users to post free classified ads, Events, giving users a method of informing their friends about upcoming events, and Video, letting users share homemade videos with one another.[52][53]
Applications that have been created on the Platform include chess and Scrabble, which both allow users to play games with their friends.[54][55] These games are asynchronous, meaning that a user's moves are saved on the website, allowing the next move to be made at any time rather than immediately after the previous move.[56] Within a few months of launching the Facebook Platform, issues arose regarding "application spam", which involves Facebook applications "spamming" users to request it be installed.[57] Application spam has been considered one of the possible causes to the drop in visitors to Facebook starting from the beginning of 2008,[citation needed] when its growth had fallen from December 2007 to January 2008, its first drop since its launch in 2004Features
The media often compares Facebook to MySpace, but one significant difference between the two websites is the level of customization.[32] MySpace allows users to decorate their profiles using HTML and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), while Facebook only allows plain text.[33]
Facebook has a number of features for users to interact with. They include the Wall, a space on every user's profile page that allows friends to post messages for the user to see,[34] Pokes, which allows users to send a virtual "poke" to each other (a notification that tells a user that they have been poked),[35] Photos, where users can upload albums and photos,[36] and Status, which allows users to inform their friends of their whereabouts and actions.[37] A user's Wall is visible to anyone who is able to see that user's profile, which depends on their privacy settings. In July 2007, Facebook began allowing users to post attachments to the Wall, whereas the Wall was previously limited to textual content onlyOver time, Facebook has added several new features to its website. On September 6, 2006, a News Feed was announced, which appears on every user's homepage and highlights information including profile changes, upcoming events, and birthdays related to the user's friends.[38] Initially, the News Feed caused dissatisfaction among Facebook users; some complained it was too cluttered and full of undesired information, while others were concerned it made it too easy for other people to track down individual activities (such as changes in relationship status, events, and conversations with other users).[39] In response to this dissatisfaction, Zuckerberg issued an apology for the site's failure to include appropriate customizable privacy features. Since then, users have been able to control what types of information are shared automatically with friends. Users are now able to prevent friends from seeing updates about different types of activities, including profile changes, Wall posts, and newly added friends.
Website
Facebook users can choose to join one or more networks, organized by city, workplace, school, and region.[26] These networks help users connect with members of the same network. Users can also connect with friends, giving them access to their friends' profiles.[27]
The website is free to users, but generates revenue from advertising, including banner ads.[28] Users can create profiles including photos and lists of personal interests, exchange private or public messages, and join groups of friends.[29] The viewing of detailed profile data is restricted to users from the same network or confirmed friends.
Microsoft is Facebook's exclusive partner for serving banner advertising,[30] and as such Facebook only serves advertisements that exist in Microsoft's advertisement inventory. According to comScore, an internet marketing research company, Facebook collects as much data from its visitors as Google and Microsoft but considerably less than Yahoo! when compared with other web companiesFunding
Facebook received its first investment of US$500,000 in June 2004 from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.[13] This was followed a year later by $12.7 million in venture capital from Accel Partners, and then $27.5 million more from Greylock Partners.[13][14] A cash flow statement was leaked, showing that during the 2005 fiscal year, Facebook had a net loss of $3.63 million.[15] Microsoft approached Facebook in September 2007, proposing an investment in return for a 5% stake in the company. Microsoft would pay an estimated $300–500 million for the share.[16] Microsoft announced on October 24, 2007 that it purchased a 1.6% share of Facebook for $246 million.[17] On November 30, 2007, Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing invested $60 million in Facebook.
reported on March 28, 2006 that a potential acquisition of the website was under negotiation. Facebook reportedly declined an offer of $750 million from an unknown bidder, and it was rumored the asking price rose as high as $2 billion.[19] With the sale of social networking website MySpace to News Corp on July 19, 2005, rumors surfaced about the possible sale of Facebook to a larger media company.[20] Zuckerberg had already said he did not want to sell the company and denied rumors to the contrary.[21] In late September, serious talks between Facebook and Yahoo! took place concerning acquisition of the social network, with prices reaching as high as $1 billion.[22] Thiel, by then a board member of Facebook, indicated that Facebook's internal valuation was around $8 billion based on their projected revenues of $1 billion by 2015, comparable to Viacom's MTV brand, a company with a shared target demographic audience.[23] Other companies, including Google, expressed interest in September 2007 to buy a portion of Facebook.[24] Amid the rumors, Zuckerberg claimed that selling Facebook was unlikely because he wanted to keep it independent, stating on July 17, 2007, "We're not really looking to sell the company. [...] We're not looking to IPO anytime soon. It's just not the core focus of the company
reported on March 28, 2006 that a potential acquisition of the website was under negotiation. Facebook reportedly declined an offer of $750 million from an unknown bidder, and it was rumored the asking price rose as high as $2 billion.[19] With the sale of social networking website MySpace to News Corp on July 19, 2005, rumors surfaced about the possible sale of Facebook to a larger media company.[20] Zuckerberg had already said he did not want to sell the company and denied rumors to the contrary.[21] In late September, serious talks between Facebook and Yahoo! took place concerning acquisition of the social network, with prices reaching as high as $1 billion.[22] Thiel, by then a board member of Facebook, indicated that Facebook's internal valuation was around $8 billion based on their projected revenues of $1 billion by 2015, comparable to Viacom's MTV brand, a company with a shared target demographic audience.[23] Other companies, including Google, expressed interest in September 2007 to buy a portion of Facebook.[24] Amid the rumors, Zuckerberg claimed that selling Facebook was unlikely because he wanted to keep it independent, stating on July 17, 2007, "We're not really looking to sell the company. [...] We're not looking to IPO anytime soon. It's just not the core focus of the company
History
"The Facebook", originally located at thefacebook.com, in February 2004 while attending Harvard University as a sophomore.[1] The company dropped The from its name after purchasing the domain name facebook.com in 2005 for $200,000.[4] Membership was initially restricted to students of Harvard College, and within the first month, more than half the undergraduate population at Harvard were registered on the service.[5] Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes soon joined Zuckerberg to help promote the website. In March 2004, Facebook expanded to Stanford, Columbia, and Yale.[6] This expansion continued when it opened to all Ivy League schools and gradually most universities in Canada and the United States.[7] In June, Facebook moved its base of operations to Palo Alto, California.[6] Facebook launched a high school version in September 2005; Zuckerberg called it the next logical step.[8] High school networks required an invitation to join.[9] Facebook later expanded membership eligibility to employees of several companies including Apple Inc. and Microsoft.[10] Facebook was then opened to everyone with a valid e-mail address, aside from people under the age of 13, on September 26, 2006.
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