What is Facebook?

Facebook was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, a Harvard University undergraduate. At first you could only join Facebook (then known as "thefacebook") if you were a Harvard student yourself. A few months later, students from other colleges such as Yale were invited to join. Then Facebook started accepting high school students.

Finally in 2006, Facebook opened its doors to anyone age 13 and older. But you have to be attending high school if you're under 18, which is hard for homeschooled kids to prove.

Although just about anyone can join Facebook now, it still tends to attract a certain class of people: Those who go to college, graduated from college, or plan on attending college. Compared to MySpace, which was open to everyone from the start, Facebook tends to attract a more cerebral crowd.

Facebook can be confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy to use the tools. Here's a rundown of some of Facebook's utilities:

• Wall: Everyone on Facebook has a personal "wall" where friends can leave messages. When you leave a message on someone's wall, all her friends will be able to see it too. This is a popular way to communicate on Facebook.


• Messaging: You can also send private messages to a friend from your inbox, or by clicking on the message link on your friend's profile page.


• Poke: This is a funny little thing unique to Facebook. It's kind of like saying hi. Facebook users will often poke someone to see if they poke back. If you get a response, it's a good opportunity to add them as a friend.


• Notes: This is one of Facebook's most recent additions. It's like a diary or a blog; your friends can read your notes and comment on them. You can import content from a blog of yours, or even from a news site, or anything else that has an RSS feed.


• Photos: You can upload an unlimited number of photos. You can only have 60 photos per album, but you can create all the albums you want. Your friends can also comment on the photos.


• Events: Let your friends know about an upcoming event such as a party, a meeting, a festival, etc. Name your event, provide a date, address, etc.


• Groups: Whether you love scrapbooking, coffee, or bagpipes, there's probably a Facebook group dedicated to your obsession. Groups give you a way to connect with people who share your hobbies and interests.


• Marketplace: This is like a classifieds for Facebook. Facebook users can post items for sale, job openings, apartments for rent, etc.


• Applications: While you can't doll up your Facebook page with HTML or CSS, you can add mini applications that will personalize your profile a bit. For some, they also make Facebook more entertaining. These will often be personality quizzes, games, personalized pokes, etc. You can even build some of your own, if you feel ambitious enough.

As of May of 2007, developers can create applications for Facebook. These applications can be anything from quizzes, games, and new ways to interact with your Facebook friends.

For example, one application might give you a way to send a "rose" or a "hug" to your friends. Another application might be a personality test that allows you to post the results on your Facebook profile. Another application might be a game of chess that you can play with your friends.

Although many people appreciate these applications for adding fun and novelty to Facebook, others find them annoying. In order to use an application, you have to install it on your Facebook account. This can eventually lead to a cluttered profile page.

Another annoying thing about many of the Facebook applications is that in order to use them, you often have to invite a certain number of friends to install them first. Some quizzes and personality tests won't allow you to see your results until you send along the application to at least 8 of your Facebook friends.

Facebook is a "closed" network by default: The only people who can read your profile are your confirmed friends. Anyone can see your name and photo (or whatever picture you chose as your avatar), but that's all they can see about you.

Actually, you can choose whether or not your profile is "searchable" on Facebook to people who aren't already your friends. You can change this in your privacy settings.

Almost all of your Facebook activities are announced to your friends by default. Every time you write on someone's wall, join a group, or change your profile, your friends hear about it. You can adjust this by going to your privacy settings and selecting "News Feed and Mini-Feed." From here you can choose whether or not your friends will be alerted when you write on someone's wall, comment on a note, add a friend, etc.