Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook when he was a 19 year old student at Harvard University Initially, he called it Facemash, and he used it to post the pictures of students and ask users to rate them as "hot or notHe had hacked into Harvard records to obtain the information. The university administration quickly shut down Facemash, and Zuckerberg faced charges for breach of privacy and stealing data. Eventually, however, the charges were dropped Zuckerberg was undaunted, however, and soon launched a new website called The Facebook, (they dropped the 'The later on) based on the concept behind the booklets published by many universities with pictures of students and some basic information about them in order for the students to get to know each other better. At the time, Harvard did not publish a facebook The new Facebook site took off quickly with many thousands of views within a few days Other universities and schools were invited to join it, and the site quickly grew On Facebook users can create profiles with photos, lists of personal interests, contact information, and other personal information. They can communicate with friends and other users through private or public messages and a chat feature, and they can post items of interest and status updates to their Wall. They can also create and join interest groups, some of which are maintained by organizations as a means of advertising There have been extensive concerns about privacy, and Facebook has been forced to modify its practices to meet those concerns by such authorities as the Privacy Commissioner of Canada One of the features it implemented was to enable users to choose their own privacy settings, giving the users the ability to control who can see them and what they can see Facebook was incorporated in the summer of 2004. Sean Parker who had been advising Zuckerberg, became the company's president, and Facebook moved its operations to Palo Alto California Facebook launched a high school version in September 2005 and later expanded membership eligibility to employees of several companies, including Apple and Microsoft. On September 26, 2006, Facebook was opened to anyone ages 13 and older with a valid email address On October 24, 2007, Microsoft announced that it had purchased a 1.6% share of Facebook for $240 million, thus giving Facebook an implied value of about $15 billion. In October 2008 Facebook announced that its international headquarters would be in Dublin, Ireland. In November 2010, based on an exchange for shares of privately held companies, Facebook's value was imputed at $41 billion, making it the third-largest US web-based company, after Google and Amazon During the time it has been in operation, Facebook has grown from a social introduction network for young people to a social networking site for people of all ages. The vast numbers of people regularly using the site have attracted companies to the site for the advertising opportunities. Procter & Gamble recently announced that it would be moving its advertising budget from TV to Facebook. The site has become a major commercial site, with growing importance in the business world. The website is free to users, and it generates revenue from advertising, such as banner ads, although Facebook users click on advertisements less often than do users of other sites Some speculate that this may be because Facebook users tend to be technologically aware and also tend to be young and rather immune to advertising. But this area has not been extensively studied yet. A study conducted by compete.com in January 2009 found Facebook to be the most used social networking site in the world. Another study determined the monthly visitors in the United States alone to be around 135 million! At last count, Zuckerman owned 24% of Facebook making his personal stake worth about $12 billion Facebook www.facebook.com Sources: www.buzzle.com/articles/history-of-facebook html www.webhostingreport.com, www.facebook.com/History, Wikipedia article on Facebook Questions 1 What challenges will Facebook face as it moves more completely into the world of business? 2. Are there other user groups that Facebook should be moving to include? 3. What features could Facebook add to enhance its appeal to users? Provide at least 3 pleasel