For many people, the internet has served as a parallel world wherein they could determine their self identity as they grow and develop. A number of internet users feel that the internet is a place where they could actively participate in activities, strengthen their offline identities and serve as an important instrument in their exploration of the world at large. In addition, they find the internet as very relevant in their day to day lives. The advancements in technology allow the increasing availability of social networking services within the realm of the World Wide Web that consist of sites that promote and enhance face to face interactions and connections. According to several studies, Facebook, a social networking site, experienced an uptake rate among its members to as much as 97% and with participants visiting the site at an average of 3 to 4 times a day (Ginger 2008). Facebook, now one of the most popular sites in the World Wide Web, account for 1 percent of an individual’s time on the internet (Abram 2007). In addition, according to Arrington (2005), 60% of its members log in to Facebook everyday while many individuals log in several times a day and the average site visitor spend three hours monthly on the site. Accordingly, users of the site average between 12 to 24 years of age although there have been an increasing number of users in the age range of 35 years and above (Lipsman 2007)

Marck Zuckerberg, a Harvard student and creator of Facebook on February of 2004, states that “The idea for the website was motivated by a social need at Harvard to be able to identify people in other residential houses” (Moyle, 2004). As Facebook was extremely successful among students at college, a high school version of Facebook was launched on September of 2005. By 2006, Facebook launched a new feature that allows organizations to create their own communities (Smith 2006). By the year 2007, Facebook’s popularity has risen with a reported number of more than 21 million individuals as members and yielding site and page views amounting to 1.6  billion times per day.

References:

Abram, Carolyn. Have a taste…The Facbeook Blog. Feb 23 2007. Retrieved November 11, 2008 from <http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=2245132130>

Arrington, Michael. 85% of College Students use Facebook. Techcrunch. Sep 7 2005. <http://www.techcrunch.com/2005/09/07/85-of-college-students-use-facebook>

Ginger, Jeff (2008). The Facebook Project: Cyborging of the Mind in a Permanently Beta Digital Ecology. The Facebook Project.com.

Lipsman, Andrew. “Facebook Sees Flood of New Traffic from Teenagers and Adults.” ComScore. Jul 5 2007

Smith, Justin. (2006) 4,000 companies have created Facebook directories. Retrieved November 11, 2008 from Inside Facebook Web site: http://www.insidefacebook.com/?p=15