What do people do on Facebook?

They chat, share photos (more than 250 million new ones each day!), post videos, stay in touch and share personal news, play games, plan meetings and get-togethers, send birthday and holiday wishes, do homework and business together, find and contact long-lost friends and relatives, review books and recommend restaurants, support charitable causes....

In fact, there’s very little people can’t do on Facebook. It’s sometimes called a “social utility.” Like a power grid, it provides the supporting infrastructure for the constantly changing everyday activities of hundreds of millions of users, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The amount of activity on Facebook is almost inconceivable. Every month, users add 30 billion pieces of content (comments, photos, Web links, blog posts, videos, etc.) to Facebook.

In effect, the “product” of Facebook is a living thing that changes constantly.Unlike the media we parents grew up with – books, newspapers, and even radio and television – it’s “user-driven,” the collective product of its millions of users’ lives (not just their social lives), updated spontaneously, moment-by-moment around the world. It’s a large swath of the wired and wireless social Web that increasingly mirrors all of human life.

What is Facebook?

       Developed in 2004 by then Harvard University student Mark Zuckerberg,
Facebook is a social networking site used by more than 800 million active users
in every country on the planet, so far in 70 languages. The site’s minimum age is
13, but teens represent only a minority population on Facebook. It’s used by a
lot of adults, certainly including parents. But not just individuals – Facebook’s
also used by businesses, organizations and governments all over the world, to
send marketing messages, seek charitable funding and communicate with
customers and constituents.
Facebook is certainly not the only social networking site. There are thousands of
them, based all over the world, some general-interest social sites for people in a
specific country and some for specific interest groups in many categories –
students, sports fans, film aficionados, cooks, travelers, gamers, music lovers,
etc. Some social sites are designed for use on computers, some just for mobile
phones. Facebook is accessed by both.

Introduction Facebook

Welcome to our guidebook for parents! It’s designed to help you understand
what Facebook is and how to use it safely. With it, you will be better informed
and able to communicate with young Facebook users in your life. That's
important because 1) if something goes wrong, we want our children to come to
us and 2) as the Internet becomes increasingly social and mobile, a parent’s
guidance and support are ever more key to young people’s well-being in social
media and technology.

Note to readers: Facebook adds new features and updates old ones on a
regular basis. This guide has the latest available information at time of
publication. If you find anything in the guide that is out-of-date, please send
an email to admin@connectsafely.org.