The Facebook Bug

In our next few posts, we will discuss the latest news stories and controversies surrounding Facebook, including a look at its privacy and employment implications.

Before we provide our additional commentary regarding cyberspace's newest addiction (and its related controversies and benefits), I think it will be useful to do a quick backgrounder as to what Facebook is all about.

Facebook was started by Mark Zuckerberg as a social networking website in February 2004. Born May 14, 1984 in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., a small suburb approximately 60 kilometres outside of New York City, Zukerberg is a computer programmer who initiated the Facebook project while enrolled at Harvard.

Originally intended for Harvard students only, it quickly spread through universities and high school networks allowing “friends” to reconnect and remain up-to-date with each other’s lives. After registering, it prompts you to create a personal profile which allows you to search and add friends, upload pictures, post status updates, message people, and write on their “walls”. It provides a “news feed” home page that allows you to observe what, if anything, new and exciting, boring and mundane is occurring in your “friends” lives. You can join groups, post events, share notes, and provide links to your favorite websites (like wiselaw.net for example).

Due to high demand, by September 2006 Facebook opened its registration to anyone with a valid email address. From Singapore to Israel to India, Facebook began spreading rapidly, and we at Wise Law Office have indeed caught the bug.

So how contagious is this bug? Facebook now accounts for 1% of all internet activity, boasting 21 million users who spend an average of 19 minutes on the site per day. It is the 6th most trafficked US site, and has almost 550,000 users in the Toronto network alone. But if you’re still not impressed - consider that it attracts 30 billion page views and conducts 600 billion searches each month.

The potential to connect with people from your past, present and even your future are only as limited as your privacy settings.

And of course, we hope that you can take some time away from checking in on Facebook to continue to visit us at Wise Law Blog….

- Annie Noa Kenet, Toronto

Visit our Website: www.wiselaw.net