Pros and Cons of Facebook

When Mark Zuckerberg formed Facebook in 2004, he had no idea how big it would actually become. Along with a few of his friends at Harvard University, Zuckerberg created Facebook to fulfill the purpose of a college yearbook. Within a few months more and more people joined the community, and today it has more than 750 million users all over the world. In January 2011, it also became the second most visited website in the United States.

In simple terms, Facebook is a social networking website where each user joins the community and connects with their friends virtually. Connected members can share information, pictures, videos and also use the instant messenger facility. A member creates a profile for himself and uploads anything he/she wants, and all his connected friends can view this data at any time.

The Privacy Issue

All this information sharing has brought the privacy issue to the fore, with many people vehemently claiming that the website is a gross violation of an individuals privacy. Though this is true to a certain extent, it is also true that one is a member of this website by choice. The basic premise of Facebook will show us that this is a matter that can violate some people's sense of privacy, but at the end of the day, it is entirely in your hands. The information displayed there is of your own choosing, and each individual deserves the right to decide what they want to share.

One should accept that once such data has been uploaded on Facebook, it is in the public domain, and there will be people who will be viewing your profile. This is a conscious choice you are making, and therefore a member should not complain about privacy violation. If you are uncomfortable with this violation, you are free to delete your account as and when you like.

Pros and Cons of Facebook for Individuals

There are obviously two sides to this argument, and it all depends on what your opinions are. People who like Facebook can spend hours on it browsing through other people's profiles, whereas some people cannot even stand the sight of it, even though they know how to use the site wisely. Here are some of the well-known pros of Facebook.

• You have the ability to find old friends and reconnect with them.
• You can keep in touch with your friends, no matter how far apart you'll are physically.
• You can keep your friends and family members updated about what is happening in your life.
• You can promote yourself and any other work that you do.
• You can make many new like-minded friends by joining various groups and communities.
• You can share your favorite music and videos with your friends.
• You can play many different games and use many different applications.
• You can communicate with your friends at any time you want.

To balance out these advantages, there are bound to be some cons of as well, and these are what deter many people from joining the website.

• You will get bombarded with unwanted friend requests from many unknown people.
• Your friends and family members will be able to snoop around and know what is happening in your life at all times.
• Your pictures could be misused.
• You might mistakenly befriend an individual with dishonorable intentions.
• You will get unwanted newsfeeds about every single activity that your friends perform on Facebook.
• Your friends will get newsfeeds about every single activity that you perform as well.
• You will get bombarded by spam and annoying advertisements from time to time.
• You will witness unnecessary dramatization of unimportant occurrences in your friends lives.
• Anyone will be able to see your information and pictures, if you do not update your privacy settings regularly.
• Your friends may tag you in a picture that you do not want others to see.
• Applications will ask you for many details that you would not normally give out.
• You will waste many hours because it is addictive for most people.

You can also learn about pros and cons of Facebook for business purposes, as many people like to advertise their work on this medium, in the hope that a potential client or employer may see it. Many advertisers and companies also use Facebook as an advertising medium since there is a large base of people to target here.

These qualities and features for kids and adults mean that this is double edged sword, and you have to make a decision about joining Facebook. Even if you are a member, there is no compulsion to share information every single day, and you can also choose to share only selected information. All this means that Facebook is synonymous with the Internet, in the sense that it can be useful or disruptive, only if you allow it to be.