Facebook

If you have teens or pre-teens in your household then you no doubt have heard of Facebook. Facebook is a social utility that allows you to stay connected with friends, coworkers, and just about anyone else that you want to keep in touch with.

Facebook was developed by some students at Harvard University in 2004 as a means of connecting with other Harvard students. Quickly it grew to include other college networks and businesses and, in September 2006, it opened up registration to allow anyone to join. Today Facebook has over 20 million active users worldwide.

To sign up to use Facebook all you need is an e-mail address. Once you’ve signed up you create a profile that includes your name, gender, relationship status, birthday, hometown, political and religious affiliation. Don’t be alarmed by this. You can include as much or as little information as you choose and you can control the information you share and whom you share it with. If you choose, you can also include additional details about yourself such as contact information (i.e. e-mail address), your favorite music, TV shows, movies, books and activities.

So how is Facebook different than e-mail? Facebook is much more than just a means of messaging people. You can “poke” someone to let them know you are thinking of them, you can throw things, give gifts, ask questions, and more. You can also join different interest groups, play games such as Scrabble and create an online photo album.

This is a great way to stay connected with friends, family and co-workers and catch up with people you may have lost touch with. It’s great fun (and a little bit addictive)!

For something a little different . . . . if you aren't interested in Facebook or other social networking you might want to check out the NOSO project.

Worried about your privacy? Check out the document put out by the Information and Privacy Commission of Ontario on How to Protect your privacy on Facebook (thanks Catherine for telling me about it!)