Weekly Written Analysis 1

A current pop culture topic which interest me would be Facebook. Facebook is a social networking website that is geared towards meeting new people, re-connecting with old friends, and keeping in touch with those who are in your inner circle of friends. It is a great way to see what people are doing and also play games with others who may be half a world away.

Launched in February 2004, Facebook was founded by a college student (Mark Zuckerberg) at Harvard University (Wikipedia, 2010). He, his roommate, and several other computer science students created this website for the university to assist in learning. Zuckerberg's main objective was to connect students with classes and be able to post blogs at anytime from anywhere.

The original plan was to make Facebook accessible for only Harvard students, however many other universities and schools became involved. As of July 2010, there were a reported 500 million users worldwide. However there are limitations on who can join the social network. Some of these limitations include that the user must be over the age of 13 and not be in or from several countries including: Pakistan, Syria,, Vietnam, Iran, People's Republic of China, and also North Korea (Wikipedia,2010).

I was a little surprised to see that there were limitations to who can use Facebook, especially with the understanding of how America utilizes freedom of speech. Since Facebook is a way to express your feelings and beliefs, anyone should be able to use this informational tool to connect with others from around the world. On the other hand, it is quite possible that these countries will not allow their citizens to exercise their rights, or it may be illegal to use any social networks in other parts of the world.

As far as social networks are concerned, many people throughout the world have concluded that Facebook is a great way to make personal profiles, 'add' people as friends, send messages, update your personal status, and also post different things which you are doing at that very moment. A user can also join other networks, including places such as schools, workplaces, and groups. Facebook's mission is "to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected" (Facebook, 2010). This is a great way to summarize what Facebook is trying to accomplish, and with over 500 million users, it would appear that they are doing a great job.

References
Facebook. (2010, September 30). Facebook: Detailed Information. Retrieved September 30, 2010, from Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/facebook?ref=pf/r.php?local=en_US#!/facebook?v=info*ref=pf%2Fr.php%3Flocale%3Den_US

Wikipedia. (2010, October 2). Facebook - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved October 2, 2010, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook