Un article de Vev.
Facebook is a social networking website, launched on February 4 2004. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, a former Harvard student. Initially the membership of Facebook was restricted to students of Harvard College. It was subsequently expanded to MIT, Boston University, Boston College, and all Ivy League schools within two months. Many individual universities were added in rapid succession over the next year. Eventually, people with a university (e.g .edu, .ac.uk, etc.) email address from institutions across the globe were eligible to join. Networks were then initiated for high schools on February 27, 2006 and some large companies. Since September 11 2006, anyone 13 or older may join.<ref> Facebook: The Newest Fad in Marketing
(HTML) . Thinkubator: Facebook, the latest fad in marketing
. Retrieved on 2007-07-25. </ref><ref>http://www.facebook.com/terms.php</ref> Users can select to join one or more participating networks, such as a high school, place of employment, or geographic region.
The site has over 58 million active users (including non-collegiate members) worldwide,<ref name="statistics" /> with membership expected to surpass 60 million users by the end of 2007.<ref name=TheNewYorkTimes> Stone , Brad
(2007-10-25) . "Microsoft to Pay $240 Million for Stake in Facebook" (news)
.</ref> From September 2006 to September 2007 the site's traffic ranking increased from 60th to 7th, according to Alexa.<ref name=alexatrafficrank> Related info for: facebook.com/
. Alexa Internet
.</ref> It is the number one site for photos in the United States, ahead of public sites such as Flickr,[citation needed] with over 60 million photos uploaded weekly.<ref name="photoInfrastructure"> Doug Beaver
(2007)
. Facebook Photos Infrastructure
(html)
. Facebook Weblog
. Facebook
. Retrieved on 2007-05-30. </ref><ref name="scaryFacebook"> Donna Bogatin
(2007)
. Why Facebook Is Scarier than Google
(html)
. ZDNet Blogs - Digital Markets
. CNET Networks
. Retrieved on 2007-05-28.
The author is quoting facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg who is cites unnamed Associated Press reports</ref>
The name of the site refers to the paper facebooks depicting members of the campus community that some U.S. colleges and preparatory schools give to incoming students, faculty, and staff as a way to get to know other people on campus.
Sommaire |
Operations
The site is free to users and generates revenue from advertising including banner ads and sponsored groups (in April 2006, revenue was rumored to be over $1.5 million per week).<ref name=tc> Arrington , Michael
(2006)
. Facebook Goes Beyond Colleges, High School Markets
. TechCrunch
. Retrieved on 2006-08-16. </ref> Users create profiles that often contain photos and lists of personal interests, exchange private or public messages, and join groups of friends. The viewing of detailed profile data is restricted to users from the same network or confirmed friends. According to TechCrunch, "about 85% of students in [previously] supported colleges have a profile [on the site]. [Of those who are signed up,] 60% log in daily. About 85% log in at least once a week, and 93% log in at least once a month." According to Chris Hughes, spokesman for Facebook, "People spend an average of 19 minutes a day on Facebook."<ref name=techcrunch> Arrington , Michael
(2005)
. 85% of College Students use FaceBook
. TechCrunch
. Retrieved on 2006-04-03. </ref> In a 2006 study conducted by Student Monitor, a New Jersey-based limited liability company specialising in research concerning the college student market, Facebook was named as the second most "in" thing among undergraduates, tied with beer and sex and losing only to the iPod.<ref name=CNN> Associated Press
. " Apple surpasses beer on college campuses " , CNN . Retrieved on 2006-06-08 . </ref>
Origins and expansion
Mark Zuckerberg founded "The Facebook" in February 2004, while attending Harvard University, with support from Andrew McCollum and Eduardo Saverin. By the end of the month, more than half of the undergraduate population at Harvard were registered on the service. At that time, Zuckerberg was joined by Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes for site promotion and Facebook expanded to Stanford, Columbia, and Yale.<ref>http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?timeline</ref> This expansion continued in April of 2004 when it expanded to the rest of Ivy League and a few other schools. At the end of the school year, Zuckerberg and Moskovitz moved out to Palo Alto, California with McCollum, who had a summer internship at Electronic Arts. They rented a house near Stanford University where they were joined by Adam D'Angelo and Sean Parker. Soon McCollum decided to leave EA and help with the development of Facebook and a companion website, Wirehog, full-time. In September, Divya Narendra, Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss, the owners of the social networking website HarvardConnection, subsequently changed to ConnectU, filed a lawsuit against Facebook, alleging that Zuckerberg had illegally used source code intended for the website they asked him to build for them.<ref name=Crimson> McGinn , Timothy J.
. " Lawsuit Threatens To Close Facebook " , Harvard Crimson , 2004-09-13 . </ref><ref name=Princetonian> Maugeri , Alexander . " TheFacebook.com faces lawsuit " , Daily Princetonian , 2004-09-20 . </ref> Also at that time, Facebook received approximately $500,000 from PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel in an angel round. By December, Facebook's user base had exceeded one million.
2005
In May 2005, Facebook raised $12.8 million in venture capital from Accel Partners.<ref name=Accel>Modèle:Cite press release</ref> On August 23 2005, Facebook bought the domain name facebook.com from the Aboutface Corporation for $200,000 and dropped "the" from its name. At that time the site was overhauled, a change intended to make profile pages more user-friendly, according to Zuckerberg. Also that month McCollum went back to Harvard although he continued to serve as a consultant and returned to work on staff during the summers. As before, Hughes remained in Cambridge while he performed his duties as company spokesperson. Then, on September 2 2005, Zuckerberg launched the high school iteration of Facebook, calling it the next logical thing to do. While initially described as separate "communities" to which users needed to be invited to participate, within only fifteen days most high school networks did not require a password to join (although registration with Facebook was still necessary.) By October, Facebook's expansion had trickled down to most small universities and junior colleges in the United States, Canada, and the UK, in addition to having expanded to twenty-one universities in the United Kingdom, the entire Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) system in Mexico, the entire University of Puerto Rico network in Puerto Rico, and the whole University of the Virgin Islands network in the U.S. Virgin Islands. On December 11 2005, universities in Australia and New Zealand were added to the Facebook network, bringing its size to more than 2,000 colleges and more than 25,000 high schools throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland.<ref name=USAToday> Kornblum , Janet
. " Teens hang out at MySpace " , USA Today , 2006-01-08 . </ref>
2006
On February 27 2006, Facebook began allowing college students to add high school students as friends due to requests from users.<ref name=letter>A series of announcements were posted on Facebook explaining the changes.</ref> About a month later, on March 28 2006, BusinessWeek reported that a potential acquisition of the site was under negotiation. Facebook reportedly declined an offer of $750 million, and it was rumored that the asking price was as high as $2 billion.<ref name=2bil> Rosenbush , Steve
. " Facebook's on the Block " , BusinessWeek Online , 2006-03-28 . Retrieved on 2006-04-03 . </ref> In April, Peter Thiel, Greylock Partners, and Meritech Capital Partners invested an additional $25 million in the site.<ref name=25mil> Teller , Sam . " Investors Add $25M to Facebook’s Coffers " , The Harvard Crimson , 2006-04-25 . </ref> In May, Facebook's network extended into India, at Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). The following month Facebook threatened to seek costs of up to $100,000 from Quizsender.com for copyright infringement for allegedly copying the "look and feel" of Facebook.<ref name=quizsenderlawsuit> McCallum , Zoe . " Facebook sends out its lawyers " , The Oxford Student , 2006-06-01 . </ref><ref name=quizsenderlawsuit2> Romanelli , Vincent . " Facebook threaten legal action " , The Cherwell , 2006-06-02 . </ref> On July 25, new services were offered in the site that would potentially produce additional revenue. A promotion was arranged between Facebook and iTunes, in which members of the Apple Students group would receive a free 25 song sampler each week until September 30 in various music genres. The promotion's purpose was to make students more familiar with and enthusiastic about each service as fall classes approached.<ref name=itunespromotion> Cheng , Jacqui . " Infinite Loop: Apple and Facebook partner up for back to school iTunes promo " , arstechnica , 2006-07-25 . </ref> In the early half of August, Facebook added universities in Germany and high schools in Israel, (Haifa, Jerusalem, and Qiryat Gat) to its network. On the 22nd of that month, Facebook introduced Facebook Notes, a blogging feature with tagging, embedded images, and other features, also allowing the importation of blogs from Xanga, LiveJournal, Blogger, and other blogging services. This newly added feature also included the common blog feature of allowing readers to comment on users' entries. On September 11 2006, Facebook became open to all users of the Internet, prompting protest from its existing user base.<ref name=facebookopentoall> Jesdanun , Anick . " Facebook to open to all Internet users " , Yahoo News , 2006-09-11 . </ref> Two weeks later, Facebook opened registration to anyone with a valid e-mail address.<ref> Abram , Carolyn . " Welcome to Facebook, everyone " , 2006-09-26 . </ref>
2007
On May 10 2007, Facebook announced a plan to add free classified advertisements to its website, making it a competitor with established online companies such as Craigslist.<ref>Brad Stone, "Facebook to Offer Free Classifieds" 2007-05-11 The New York Times</ref> This feature, known as Facebook Marketplace, went live on May 14 2007; Facebook launched an API that allows the development of applications to be used on the site, known as Facebook Platform.<ref>Kirkpatrick, David. "Facebook's plan to hook up the world". CNN Money, May 29 2007.</ref>
In June, the partnership begun the previous year between iTunes and Facebook continued, with the download service again offering free music samplers through the Apple Students group.
In July, Facebook announced its first acquisition, purchasing Parakey, Inc. from Blake Ross and Joe Hewitt. In August, the company was featured in a Newsweek cover story by Steven Levy in the magazine's annual college edition.<ref name=newsweekcover> Levy , Steven
. " Facebook Grows Up: Can It Stay Relevant? " , 2007-08-20 . </ref> Facebook hired YouTube's former CFO Gideon Yu on July 24 2007. Gideon Yu succeeded Michael Sheridan. <ref name=siliconvalley/sanjosebusinessjournal>" Facebook hires YouTube's former CFO despite shutdown attempt " , 2007-07-25 . </ref>
On September 25 2007, it was rumored that Microsoft might buy a stake in Facebook <ref name=Microsoft/Facebook>"
Report: Microsoft May Buy Facebook Stake " , 2007-09-25 . </ref> and the rumor was confirmed a month later when Microsoft purchased a 1.6% share of the company for $240 million.<ref>hosted.ap.org</ref> An outright sale of Facebook is said to be unlikely as founder Mark Zuckerberg would like to keep it independent.
On November 7 2007, Facebook announced Facebook Ads; a marketing initiative which includes a system for websites to allow users to share chosen information about their activities on the sites with their Facebook friends (Facebook Beacon);<ref name="Facebook Beacon">Modèle:Cite press release</ref> the capability of businesses to host pages on Facebook for various brands, products and services (Facebook Pages); a targeted ad serving program based on user and friend profile and activity data (Facebook Social Ads); and a service for providing businesses with advertisement analytic data including performance metrics (Facebook Insights). With respect to privacy, Facebook states that "no personally identifiable information is shared with an advertiser in creating a Social Ad," and that "Facebook users will only see Social Ads to the extent their friends are sharing information with them".<ref name="Facebook Ads">Modèle:Cite press release</ref> Facebook Ads replaces the site's previous Facebook Flyers program.<ref>http://www.facebook.com/flyers/create.php</ref> On November 30 2007, it was reported that Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing had invested $60 million in Facebook.<ref> All Things Digital
(2007-11-30) . Facebook Nabs $60 Million Investment from Li Ka-shing
. Retrieved on 2007-12-01. </ref>
On 5 December 2007, Mark Zuckerberg publicly apologized for the way that Facebook launched the Beacon system, saying "The problem with our initial approach of making it an opt-out system instead of opt-in was that if someone forgot to decline to share something, Beacon still went ahead and shared it with their friends."<ref> Mark Zuckerberg
(2007-12-05) . Thoughts on Beacon
. Retrieved on 2007-11-06. </ref> Beacon can now be disabled through a new External websites section in Privacy.<ref> Facebook
. My Privacy
. Retrieved on 2007-12-06. </ref>
Site features
The Wall
The Wall is a space on each user's profile page that allows friends to post messages for the user to see. One user's wall is visible to anyone with the ability to see their full profile, and different users' wall posts show up in an individual's News Feed. Many users use their friend's walls for leaving short, temporal notes. More private discourse is saved for Messages, which are sent to a person's Inbox, and are visible only to the sender and recipient(s) of the Message, much like email.
In July 2007, Facebook allowed users to post attachments to the wall <ref> Der , Kevin
. Facebook is off-the-wall
. Retrieved on 2007-07-30. </ref>, whereas previously the wall was limited to textual content only.
Gifts
In February 2007, Facebook added a new gift feature to the website. Friends could send "gifts" -- small icons of novelty items designed by former Apple designer Susan Kare -- to each other by selecting one from Facebook's virtual gift shop and adding a message. Gifts given to a user appear on the recipient's wall with the giver's message, unless the giver decided to give the gift privately, in which case the giver's name and message is not displayed to other users. Additionally, all gifts (including private gifts) received by a user are displayed in the recipient's "gift box" (right above their wall on their profile), marked with either the first name of the user (for public gifts) or the word "Private." An "Anonymous" option is also available, by which anyone with profile access can see the gift, but only the recipient will see the message. None will see the giver's name, and the gift will go in the recipient's gift box but not the wall.
Facebook users are given one free gift to give upon account signup. Each additional gift given by a user costs USD $1.00. The initial selection of gifts was Valentine's Day themed, and 50% of the net proceeds (after credit card processing fees were taken out, etc.) received through February 2007 were donated to the charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure. After the month of February, the proceeds were no longer donated. Soon after, Facebook began making one new gift available each day, most of which had a limited supply or were available for a limited time.
With the advent of Applications came a way to subvert the required US$1.00 payment; however, the gifts in the "Free Gifts" application, created by Zachary Allia<ref>"
facebook gifts " , insidefacebook.com . </ref>, are not the same as the official gifts, as they are displayed in a different manner.
Marketplace
In May 2007, Facebook introduced the Facebook Marketplace allowing users to post free classified ads within the following categories: For Sale, Housing, Jobs, and Other. Ads can be posted in either available or wanted format.<ref> Facebook Adds Marketplace of Classified Ads
(2007-05-12)
. Retrieved on 2007-05-15. </ref> The market place is available for all Facebook users and is currently free.<ref>http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=24</ref>
Pokes
Facebook includes a "poke" feature which allows one user to send a "poke" to another. According to Facebook's FAQ section on the Poke Feature, "a poke is a way to interact with your friends on Facebook. When we created the poke, we thought it would be cool to have a feature without any specific purpose. People interpret the poke in many different ways, and we encourage you to come up with your own meanings." In principle this is intended to serve as a "nudge" to attract the attention of the other user. However while many Facebook users, as intended, use the feature to attract attention or say hello,<ref> Arrington , J. Michael
. " 85% of College Students use FaceBook " , TechCrunch , 2005-09-07 . Retrieved on 2007-06-26 . </ref> some users construe it as a sexual advance.<ref> Facebook 'poke' leads to awkward one-nighter
.</ref> This interpretation of the feature inspired a popular Facebook group titled "Enough with the Poking, Lets Just Have Sex," which, as of October 2007, has more than 300,000 members.
There are several applications such as "X Me" and "SuperPoke!", that allow users to put any action in place of the word "poke."
Status
The "status" feature allows users to inform their friends and the Facebook community of their current whereabouts and actions. Facebook originally prompted the status update with "User name is..." and Facebook users filled in the rest. However, on December 13, 2007, the requirement to start a status update with "is" was removed, and all status updates read "User name ..." <ref> Facebook is... reconsidering the word "is"
. Retrieved on 2007-13-12.
</ref>
Status updates are noted in the "Recently updated" section of a users' friend list.
Events
Facebook events are a way for members to let friends know about upcoming events in their community and to organize social gatherings. <ref>http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=13</ref>
Applications
On May 24 2007, Facebook launched the Facebook Platform,<ref name=F8>"
Facebook Platform Launches " , Facebook , 2007-05-27 . Retrieved on 2007-09-03 . </ref> which provides a framework for developers to create applications that interact with core Facebook features. Even games such as chess and Scrabble are available. As of 5 December, 2007, there are more than 10,000 applications.<ref> Facebook
. Application Directory
. Retrieved on 2007-12-05. </ref>
Third-party websites such as Adonomics, which provides application metrics, and blogs such as AppRate, Inside Facebook and Face Reviews have sprung up in response to the clamor for Facebook applications.
On July 4 2007, Altura Ventures announced the "Altura 1 Facebook Investment Fund," becoming the world's first Facebook-only venture capital firm.<ref name=Altura>"
Altura Ventures news " , Altura Ventures , 2007-07-04 . Retrieved on 2007-09-03 . </ref>
On August 29 2007, Facebook changed the way in which the popularity of applications is measured, in order to give more attention to the more engaging applications, following criticism that ranking applications only by the number of users was giving an advantage to the highly viral, yet useless applications.<ref name=Facebook> Morin , Dave
. " A shift to engagement " , Facebook , 2007-08-29 . Retrieved on 2007-08-31 . </ref>
Tech blog Valleywag has criticized Facebook Applications, labeling them a "cornucopia of uselessness."<ref> Can a Facebook app possibly be useful?
. Valleywag.com (2005-09-26)
. Retrieved on 2007-10-16. </ref> Others have called for limiting third-party applications so the Facebook "user experience" is not degraded.<ref>Zack Timmons, "Useless applications plague Facebook" 2007-12-03 The Lantern, Ohio State University</ref><ref> Tim Lee, “Irritating Your Customers Is Almost Never A Good Business Strategy" 2007-11-30 Techdirt</ref>
Primarily attempting to create viral applications is a method that has certainly been employed by numerous Facebook application developers. Stanford University even offered a class in the Fall of 2007, entitled, Computer Science (CS) 377W: "Create Engaging Web Applications Using Metrics and Learning on Facebook". Numerous applications created by the class were highly successful, and ranked amongst the top Facebook applications, with some achieving over 3.5 million users in a month.<ref name=StanfordDaily> Kamil Dada
(2007-11-30) . Kamil Dada from Stanford University explains the success of Facebook applications developed in a class at Stanford University
. Retrieved on 2007-12-15. </ref>
Facebook Video
During the time that Facebook released its platform, it also released an application <ref>Facebook Video Launches: YouTube Beware! May 24, 2007</ref> of its own for sharing videos on Facebook. Users can add their videos with the service by uploading video, adding video through Facebook Mobile, and using a webcam recording feature. Additionally, users can "tag" their friends in videos they add much like the way users can tag their friends in photos. This feature was expected to increase competition with MySpace.[citation needed] However, the Facebook Video Application does not allow sharing videos outside of Facebook. Users will not be able to export or download videos from Facebook. Despite this, a Greasemonkey Userscript was posted on Userscripts.org which allows both the downloading of Facebook Videos and the embedding<ref>Embed Facebook Videos On the Net August 20, 2007</ref> of Videos on sites outside of Facebook's website.
Technical details
Facebook Markup Language
Facebook Markup Language ("FBML") is a variant evolved subset of HTML with some elements removed. It allows Facebook application writers to customise the "look and feel" of their applications, to a limited extent. It is the specification of how to encode your content so that Facebook's servers can read and publish it, which you will need to use in your Facebook-specific feed so that Facebook's system can properly parse your content and publish it as specified.<ref name=Acce125>Modèle:Cite press release</ref> You set the FBML for a profile box by calling profile.setFBML through the API. The FBML is cached on Facebook's server until profile.setFBML is called again through a canvas page.
The official FBML documentation is now hosted on the Facebook Developers Wiki.
The FBML will expand to something like this:
<input type="hidden" name="fb_sig_profile" value="1160"/> <input type="hidden" name="fb_sig_user" value="1160"/> <input type="hidden" name="fb_sig_session_key" value="b12d7f73fc47536b32e89e-1160"/> <input type="hidden" name="fb_sig_time" value="1176705186"/> <input type="hidden" name="fb_sig" value="773af1263c2b7bade7958e6b58d3152f"/>
The fb_sig value is generated using all of the other fb_sig_ parameters (but without the "fb_sig_" prefix included in their names) identically to how it is generated in the API authentication scheme. The fb_sig_user and fb_sig_session_key parameters will only be included if the user has a valid session with the application.<ref name=Acce126>Modèle:Cite press release</ref>
Model of the domain
The diagram on the right, expressed using the UML standard notation for class diagrams, represents a subset of the information managed by Facebook. It gives a concise picture of the various entities, relations and fields stored in the database.
For instance, the diagram shows what fields are associated with the notion of Job, School, CreditCard, ScreenName, and so on (see the corresponding yellow boxes representing classes).
Note that this is a conceptual class diagram: it describes the concepts rather than the implementation and the detail of the database. For more information about technical models, see FQL - Facebook Query Language (SQL-like query language).
Infrastructure
For running its operations Facebook uses the software bundle known as LAMP.<ref> Steven Grimm
(2006-12-13) . The Spirit of Openness
. The Spirit of Openness</ref>
Sale rumors
In 2006, with the sale of social networking site MySpace to NewsCorp, rumors surfaced about the possible sale of Facebook to a larger media company. Zuckerberg, the owner of Facebook, had already said that he did not want to sell the company and denied rumors to the contrary.<ref> Zuckerberg , Mark
(2006-09-08) . Free Flow of Information on the Internet discussions . Facebook
. Retrieved on 2006-09-13. </ref> He had already rejected outright offers in the range of $975 million, and it was not clear who might be willing to pay a higher premium for the site. Steve Rosenbush, a technology business analyst, suspected Viacom might.<ref> Rosenbush , Steve
. " Facebook's on the Block " , BusinessWeek Online , 2006-03-28 . Retrieved on 2006-08-14 . </ref>
In September 2006, serious talks between Facebook and Yahoo! took place for the acquisition of the social network, with prices reaching as high as $1 billion.<ref> Delaney , Kevin
. " Facebook, Riding a Web Trend, Flirts With a Big-Money Deal " , DowJones , 2006-09-21 , pp. 1 . Retrieved on 2006-09-21 . </ref> In October 2007, after Google purchased video-sharing site YouTube, rumors circulated that Google had offered $2.3 billion to outbid Yahoo!.<ref> Miller , Jason
(2006-10-10) . First YouTube, Now Facebook? Rumors Circulate . WebProNews
. Retrieved on 2006-10-11. </ref> Peter Thiel, a board member of Facebook, indicated that Facebook's internal valuation is around $8 billion based on their projected revenues of $1 billion by 2015, comparable to that of Viacom's MTV brand<ref>Facebook, Courted By Yahoo, Won't Sell, Director Says (Update3)</ref> and based on shared target demographic audience.
In September 2007, Microsoft approached Facebook, proposing an investment in return for a 5% stake in the company. Microsoft would pay an estimated 300 to 500 million dollars for the share. Other companies such as Google had also expressed interest in buying a portion of Facebook.<ref>Microsoft in Talks to buy Facebook Stake</ref> On October 24 2007, Microsoft announced <ref name="MSPR1"> Facebook and Microsoft Expand Strategic Alliance
. Microsoft (2007-10-24)
. Retrieved on [[2007-11-08]]. </ref> that it had bought a 1.6% share of Facebook for $246 million<ref name="CNETNEWS1"> McCarthy , Caroline
(2007-10-24) . Microsoft acquires equity stake in Facebook, expands ad partnership . CNet
. Retrieved on [[2007-11-08]]. </ref><ref> Michael Liedtke, AP Business Writer
(2007-10-24) . Microsoft Buys Facebook Stake for $240M
. Retrieved on 2007-12-05. </ref>
Use in investigations
The information students provide on Facebook has been used in investigations by colleges, universities, and local police. Facebook's Terms of Use<ref>Facebook Terms of Use May 24, 2007</ref> specify that "the website is available for your personal, noncommercial use only", misleading some to believe that college administrators and police may not use the site for conducting investigations. However, there are settings on Facebook that allow a user to make his/her profile private (only people the user approves may see his/her profile).
Alcohol policy violations
There have been incidents where colleges and universities use Facebook to investigate underage drinking and violations of dry campus policies or discover them while investigating other incidents. For example, several Residence Community Advisors at Northern Kentucky University lost their jobs when pictures were discovered of them having drinks in a residence hall one night towards the end of semester.<ref name=northerner> Chalfant , Drew
. " Facebook postings, photos incriminate dorm party-goers " , The Northerner (Northern Kentucky University) , 2005-11-02 . Retrieved on 2006-04-03 . </ref> Many high schools have also begun to use Facebook to crack down on underage drinking and other illegal activities.
In response to the monitoring, some students have begun to submit "red herring" party listings.<ref name=boingboing> Pescovitz , David
(2006)
. Facebook prank on police
. Boing Boing
. Retrieved on 2006-04-03. </ref> In one case at The George Washington University, shown at the now defunct CakeParty.org, students advertised their party and were raided by campus police. The police found only cake, no alcohol, and later claimed the break up had been triggered by a noise complaint.<ref name=collegehumor> Chains , Benny
(2005)
. Case Closed
. CollegeHumor
. Retrieved on 2006-04-03. </ref><ref name=hass> Hass , Nancy
. " In Your Facebook.com " , The New York Times , 2006-01-08 . Retrieved on 2006-08-29 . </ref>
Other investigations
- There have been several incidents where candidates in student government elections used Facebook for campaigning in a way that was not permitted by their campaign policies.<ref name=maneater> Freeman, Alyssa and Jamie Scott
. " MSA election results postponed " , The Maneater (University of Missouri) , 2005-11-11 . Retrieved on 2006-04-03 . </ref><ref name=dailypenn> Wissner , Jennie . " 18 violations delay results " , Daily Pennsylvanian , 2005-09-30 . Retrieved on 2006-04-03 . </ref><ref>Elections Committee Statement</ref>
- At the University of Mississippi, a group of students were brought before the University's Judicial Board in April 2005 and forced to remove a Facebook group that professed their love for a professor in a sexually suggestive manner.<ref name=nwa> Epstein , David
. " Cleaning Up Their Online Acts " , Inside Higher Education , 2005-10-03 . Retrieved on 2006-06-29 . </ref>
- One Miami University student was arrested after he set a composite sketch of a rape suspect as his profile picture.<ref name=miami> Wolfe , Graham
. " Student arrested for inducing panic with Facebook picture " , Miami Student , 2006-02-10 . Retrieved on 2006-04-03 . </ref>
- At Morehead State University, a student was arrested because he allegedly posted a threatening message on Facebook. <ref name=collegian>Template error: argument title is required. </ref>
- Others have been punished for rushing the football field at Penn State. (Many "I rushed the field" groups were created after the Nittany Lion football team defeated Ohio State in October 2005, and State College Police and Pennsylvania State Police used the groups to arrest those who they believed rushed the field in violation of school policy.)<ref name=collegian> Lash , Devon
. " Site used to aid investigations " , The Daily Collegian (Pennsylvania State University) , 2005-11-10 . Retrieved on 2006-04-03 . </ref>
- A Duquesne University student was punished for hate speech against homosexuals.<ref name=wpbf>"
Student Sanctioned For Comments On Homosexuality " , WBPF News 25 , 2005-10-28 . Retrieved on 2006-04-03 . </ref>
- Four Syracuse University students were reprimanded for harassing an instructor in a Facebook group and were threatened with expulsion, though the final result was academic probation. <ref name=dailyorange> Pepitone , Julianne
. " Freshmen claim Judicial Affairs threatened expulsion for creation of Facebook group critical of TA " , The Daily Orange (Syracuse University) , 2006-02-08 . Retrieved on 2006-04-03 . </ref> On the other hand, University of Louisville students who had created a Facebook group to complain about a professor's teaching shortcomings helped lead to the dismissal of their targeted instructor in February 2006, and the students were not punished.<ref name=louisville> Williams , Sasha . " Psychology professor replaced after complaints " , The Louisville Cardinal (University of Louisville) , 2006-02-06 . Retrieved on 2006-04-03 . </ref>
- In February 2007, following the hit-and-run death of freshman Carlee Wines, University of Connecticut campus police used Facebook to link the suspected driver, Anthony P. Alvino of Lindenhurst, N.Y., to the university.<ref name=newsday20070216> Merritt , Grace E.
; Andrew Stricker, Zachary R. Dowdy, Bill Mason . " Arrests in hit-and-run " , Newsday.com (registration required) , 2007-02-16 .
- First 2–3 paragraphs available in Access My Library (registration required for full text);
- Free article preview at newsday.com.</ref> By following leads via Facebook, police learned of the connection between Alvino and his girlfriend, Michele A. Hall, a UConn student.<ref> Carra , Nicholas
. " Two Arrests Made " , The Daily Campus , 2007-02-16 . Retrieved on 2007-06-17 . </ref> Alvino was charged for the hit-and-run, while Hall was charged with helping cover it up and hindering prosecution.
- In April 2007, just days after the Virginia Tech shooting, a student at the SUNY College at Cobleskill who was from Sri Lanka was remanded into psychiatric care and suspended from college after posting a photo of himself on his profile with a vaguely threatening message underneath. This story became even more controversial as it grew across the news.<ref>"SUNY Cobleskill student says his Internet posting troubled officials" The Daily Star, 2007-04-26</ref><ref>Facebook, Guns & the Virginia Tech Fallout</ref>
- It has been reported that staff at the University of Oxford have been looking at students' Facebook pages in investigating poor behaviour. Staff have been searching through photos in an effort to root out poor conduct from students celebrating their exam results and graduation. The Oxford University Student Union has urged students to restrict access to 'friends only' in an effort to protect privacy. <ref> Gosden , Emily
. " Students' trial by Facebook " , The Guardian , 2007-07-17 . </ref>
- In July 2007 the University of Kent issued a strongly worded statement protesting that a group of students had created a hate page about a library employee, which the site quickly removed. <ref>Daily Telegraph Number 47, 319 Wednesday 25th July 2007 p2</ref>
- In November 2006, two students were expelled from the University of Texas fraternity Pi Kappa Alpha based on racist images posted on Facebook.<ref>Fraternity works against racial insensitivity: Black student group helps organize mandatory orientation sessions November 16, 2006]</ref>
- Facebook has been used by the Police to find people smoking marijuana on Farrand Field in Boulder,CO.[citation needed]
Other uses of profile information
Some employers look at Facebook profiles of prospective employees or interns. Information posted on Facebook is potentially accessible to employers with faculty or alumni accounts.<ref name=redandblack> Morgan , Lauren
. " Facebook can hurt employment chances " , The Red and Black (University of Georgia) , 2005-12-05 . Retrieved on 2005-12-09 . </ref>
Information posted on the site is sometimes distributed publicly. Students who are related to politicians or other public figures have had screenshots of their profiles or photo albums taken and shared in an attempt to embarrass their relatives.<ref name=hotline> Todd , Chuck
(2006)
. The Facebook Oppo
. Hotline On Call
. National Journal Group
. Retrieved on 2006-04-03. </ref> After profile information was posted on Gawker and Wonkette, two popular weblogs, Facebook's Chief Privacy Officer, Chris Kelly, sent the sites' publishers cease and desist notices.<ref name=privacycd> Douglas , Nick
(2006)
. Facebook C&D's Gawker for showing super-secret profiles
. Valleywag
. Gawker Media
. Retrieved on 2006-06-08. </ref> Also, a group calling itself Performing Politics, Inc. publicly displayed the profiles of students at Yale who had made comments about homosexuality in an effort to show evidence of homophobia at the school.<ref name=yaledailynews> Tuna , Cari
. " Posters allege misogyny, homophobia " , Yale Daily News , 2006-02-02 . Retrieved on 2006-04-03 . </ref>
In Wrentham, Massachusetts, State Senator Scott P. Brown (R) was invited to speak at King Philip Regional High School to talk about his position against gay marriage. During the speech, Brown read verbatim several posts attacking him from a Facebook group dedicated to a pro-gay rights history teacher. Often he included both verbatim profanity and the names of the students who wrote them.<ref name="senbrown">"
Senator repeats bad language written about him " , Associated Press , 2007-09-02 . Retrieved on 2007-10-03 . </ref>
Militant members of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) in Britain have threatened students at Oxford who support the university's proposed South Parks laboratory saying they are legitimate targets for attack. A counter-activist group called Pro-Test has warned students not to support the lab's construction on Facebook as they believe ALF is monitoring the site.<ref name=oxford> Goodman , Jessica
. " Students will be the next target " , Oxford Student , 2006-02-02 . Retrieved on 2006-04-03 . </ref>
After the death of a teenager under suspicious circumstances in July 2007, the Ottawa Citizen used comments from a Facebook memorial group in a slanderous manner to create a dramatic article on the front page city section showing the irresponsibility of the teen and his peers. The Citizen claimed that the teens thought they were supermen and were invincible and that they had no respect for the law. This sparked outrage amongst the users who wrote many letters to the editor of the Citizen, and the Citizen released an unofficial apology on the wall of the group.<ref> Ma , Suzanne
. " Net Postings a 'Heartbreaking' Sign of Young Peoples' Superman Attitudes " , Mothers Against Drunk Driving , 2007-11-07 . Retrieved on 2007-22-10 . </ref>
According to Facebook's privacy policy, Facebook reserves the right to release the information that users provide (including favorite movies, television shows, books, music, etc.) to organizations.
Facebook was used by reporters in the Hendrick Hudson Senior Prank Bomb case to contact the involved students. The reporters had a facebook profile and left messages encouraging them to talk to the press about the legal case at hand. <ref>Nicole Neroulias, Critics, supporters weigh in on Hen Hud pranksters, The Journal News, 2007-06-21.</ref>
In October 2007, photos of an intern at Anglo Irish Bank, who was allegedly away at a "family emergency" in New York, were distributed around the office when it was discovered he had in fact attended a Halloween party.<ref> Bank intern busted by Facebook
. Valleywag (2007-10-31)
.</ref>
Blocking of Facebook in Syria
In November of 2007, Facebook was blocked by the Syrian government on the premise that it promoted attacks on the authorities.<ref> « »
</ref><ref>" Syrian gov't blocks use of Facebook " , The Jerusalem Post , November 24, 2007 . </ref>. No comment was made from the government that blocked it, which has started a crackdown on online political activism in the past few months.
Responses
Schools blocking access
The University of New Mexico in October 2005 blocked access to Facebook from UNM campus computers and networks, citing unsolicited e-mails and a similar site called UNM Facebook.<ref name=lobo> Fort , Caleb
. " CIRT blocks access to Facebook.com " , Daily Lobo (University of New Mexico) , 2005-10-12 . Retrieved on 2006-04-03 . </ref> After a UNM user signed into Facebook from off campus, a message from Facebook said, "We are working with the UNM administration to lift the block and have explained that it was instituted based on erroneous information, but they have not yet committed to restore your access." UNM, in a message to students who tried to access the site from the UNM network, wrote, "This site is temporarily unavailable while UNM and the site owners work out procedural issues. The site is in violation of UNM's Acceptable Computer Use Policy for abusing computing resources (e.g., spamming, trademark infringement, etc.). The site forces use of UNM credentials (e.g., NetID or email address) for non-UNM business." However, after Facebook created an encrypted login and displayed a precautionary message not to use university passwords for access, UNM unblocked access the following spring semester.<ref name="UNMUnlbock">" Popular web site, Facebook.com, back online at UNM " , University of New Mexico , 2006-01-19 . Retrieved on 2007-04-15 . </ref>
The Columbus Dispatch reported on June 22 2006, that Kent State University's athletic director had planned to ban the use of Facebook by athletes and gave them until August 1 to delete their accounts.<ref> Loew , Ryan
. " Kent banning athlete Web profiles " , The Columbus Dispatch , June 22, 2006 . Retrieved on 2006-10-06 . </ref> On July 5, 2006, the Daily Kent Stater reported that the director reversed the decision after reviewing the privacy settings of Facebook.
Organizations blocking Facebook
Ontario government employees, MPPs, and cabinet ministers were blocked from access to Facebook on government computers in May 2007.<ref>"
Organizations blocking facebook " , CTV news . </ref> When the employees tried to access Facebook, a warning message "The Internet website that you have requested has been deemed unacceptable for use for government business purposes". This warning also appears when employees try to access YouTube, gambling or pornographic websites.<ref>Facebook banned for Ontario staffers: Bureaucrats, MPPs can't visit social website from their work computers May 3 2007.</ref> However, innovative employees have found ways around such protocols, and many claim to use the site for political or work-related purposes. <ref>Ontario politicians close the book on Facebook by Omar Ha-Redeye</ref>
The New South Wales Department of Education and Training has also blocked all users (students and staff) from accessing Facebook, as have many other government departments in Australia.
Facebook memorials
A notable ancillary effect of social networking websites, particularly Facebook, is the ability for participants to mourn publicly for a deceased individual. On Facebook, students often leave messages of sadness, grief, or hope on the individual's page, transforming it into a sort of public book of condolences. This particular phenomenon has been documented at a number of schools.<ref>Net generation grieves with Facebook postings</ref><ref>On Facebook, life after death</ref><ref>Suspect in Souers' Death in Maximum Security Prison</ref><ref name=collegeheightsherald> Prott , Dylan
. " Son, friend remembered as 'free spirit' " , College Heights Herald , 2006-11-14 . Retrieved on 2006-12-14 . </ref><ref name=umkc> Iorg , Emily . " Student Colby McLain remembered " , University News , 2005-12-05 . Retrieved on 2006-04-10 . </ref><ref name=charlottesville> Batista , Sarah . " UVA Student Remembered " , Charlottesville Newsplex , 2005-11-21 . Retrieved on 2006-04-10 . </ref><ref name=freepress> Negrin , Matt . " University responds to SMG junior's death " , Daily Free Press , 2005-11-21 . Retrieved on 2006-04-10 . </ref><ref name=burlingtonfreepress> Gardner-Quinn , Michelle . " UVM Memorializes Slain Student " , Burlington Free Press , 2006-10-15 . Retrieved on 2006-10-15 . </ref><ref name=dailyherald> Bernhard , Stephanie . " Community mourns death of Pagan '06 " , Brown Daily Herald , 2006-01-25 . Retrieved on 2006-04-10 . </ref><ref> Ohio State U.: Facebook used as a memorial to remember Ohio State U. student.
.</ref> Previously, Facebook had stated that its official policy on the matter was to remove the profile of the deceased one month after he or she has died,<ref>Kristina Kelleher, Facebook profiles become makeshift memorials, The Brown Daily Herald, 2007-02-22</ref> preventing the profile from being used for communal mourning, citing privacy concerns. Due to user response, Facebook amended its policy. Its new policy is to place deceased members' profiles in a "memorialization state".<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2007-05-08-facebook-vatech_N.htm?csp=34 | title=USAToday article | publisher=USAToday | date=[[2007-05-08}}</ref>
Additional usage of Facebook as a tool of remembrance is expressed in group memberships on the site. Now that groups are community-wide and available among all networks, many users create Facebook groups to remember not only a deceased friend or individual, but also as a source of support in response to an occurrence such as 9/11 or the Virginia Tech massacre in April 2007.
Customization and security
Facebook is often compared to MySpace but one significant difference between the two sites is the level of customization. MySpace allows users to decorate their profiles using HTML and CSS while Facebook only allows plain text. However, a number of users have tweaked their profiles by using "hacks." On February 24 2006, a pair of users exploited a cross-site scripting (XSS) hole on the profile page and created a fast-spreading worm, loading a custom CSS file on infected profiles that made them look like MySpace profiles.<ref> Laverdet , Marcel
(2006-02-26) . Why XSS is my favorite type of vulnerability
. Retrieved on 2006-10-15. </ref> Notably, both users are now employed by Facebook. On April 19 2006, a user was able to embed an iframe into his profile and load a custom off-site page featuring a streaming video and a flash game from Drawball. He has since been banned from Facebook.<ref> Romero , John
. The Super Facebook Saga
. Retrieved on 2006-11-27. </ref> On March 26 2006, a user was able to embed JavaScript in the "Hometown" field of his profile which imported his custom CSS.<ref> Facelifting the Facebook
(2006-03-26)
. Retrieved on 2006-11-27. </ref> In each case, Facebook quickly patched the holes, typically within hours of their discovery. In July 2007, a user discovered a cross-site scripting (XSS) hole in the Facebook Platform that could inject JavaScript into profiles, which was used to import custom CSS and demonstrate how the platform could be used to violate privacy rules or create a worm.<ref> Defacing Facebook
(1007-07-27)
. Retrieved on 2007-08-17. </ref> This hole took Facebook two and a half weeks to fix.<ref> Defacing Facebook
(1007-08-16)
. Retrieved on 2007-08-17. </ref>
Legal challenges over concept rights
Lawsuit from Connectu.com
Modèle:Ongoing lawsuit Founder of Facebook.com, Mark Zuckerberg, has been accused of illegally using both the concept and source code from competing site Connectu.com. In November 2003, ConnectU engaged Mark Zuckerberg, then a sophomore at Harvard, to complete the computer programming for their website. Upon joining the ConnectU team, Zuckerberg was given full access to the website source code. Allegedly, Zuckerberg intentionally hampered the development of ConnectU while using code originally intended for ConnectU in the development of Facebook.
Since its original filing in Massachusetts the lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice due to technicality on March 28 2007, but was never ruled on. It was refiled soon thereafter in U.S. District Court in Boston, and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for July 25 2007.<ref>Facebook Tries to Fend Off Copyright-Infringement Claim: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg will defend against copyright-infringement allegations tomorrow July 24 2007]].</ref> Facebook asked the district court to dismiss the case. The attorneys representing Facebook referred to the allegations as "broad brush", "false" and that they are unsubstantiated with evidence.<ref> Facebook site faces fraud claim
(HTML) . BBC News
. Retrieved on 2007-07-25. </ref>
Aaron Greenspan & houseSYSTEM
Aaron Greenspan, a Harvard classmate of Mark Zuckerberg, claims that he created the original college social networking system, before either Facebook or ConnectU were founded.<ref> Who Founded Facebook? A New Claim Emerges
(HTML) . NY Times
. Retrieved on 2007-09-02. </ref>
Privacy concerns
Modèle:See There have been some concerns expressed regarding the use of Facebook as a means of surveillance and data mining. Theories have been written about the possible misuse of Facebook<ref name=cgcs> Smith , Josh
(2005)
. Big Brothers, Big Facebook: Your Orwellian Community
. The Color of Infinity
. Retrieved on 2006-04-03.
(mirrored on Common Ground Common Sense Forums)</ref> and privacy proponents have criticised the site's current privacy agreement.<ref name=privacypolicy /> According to the policy, "We may use information about you that we collect from other sources, including but not limited to newspapers and Internet sources such as blogs, instant messaging services and other users of Facebook, to supplement your profile." However, some features—such as AIM away-message harvesting and campus newspaper monitoring—have been dropped and Facebook has since responded to the concerns. Facebook has assured worried users the next privacy policy will not include the clause about information collection and has denied any data mining is being done "for the CIA or any other group."<ref name=jacobmorse> Morse , Jacob
(2006)
. Facebook Responds
. Cogito
. Retrieved on 2006-04-03. </ref> However, the possibility of data mining by private individuals unaffiliated with Facebook remains open, as evidenced by the fact that two MIT students were able to download, using an automated script, over 70,000 Facebook profiles from four schools (MIT, NYU, the University of Oklahoma, and Harvard) as part of a research project on Facebook privacy published on December 14 2005.<ref name=jonessoltren>Modèle:Cite paper (PDF)</ref>
Another clause that some users are critical of reserves the right to sell users' data to private companies, stating "We may share your information with third parties, including responsible companies with which we have a relationship." This concern has also been addressed by spokesman Chris Hughes who said "Simply put, we have never provided our users' information to third party companies, nor do we intend to."<ref name=informer> Peterson , Chris
. " Who's Reading Your Facebook? " , The Virginia Informer , 2006-02-13 . </ref> It is unclear if Facebook plans to remove that clause as well.
Recently serious privacy concerns have been raised over the security of 3rd party applications that users may install on Facebook (for example vampires, super poke etc).[citation needed] Third party applications have access to almost all user information and "Facebook does not screen or approve Platform Developers and cannot control how such Platform Developers use any personal information." <ref name=privacypolicy> Facebook Privacy Policy
(2007-08-12)
. Retrieved on 2007-08-12. </ref>
Facebook staff has the authority to view profiles in the event that the person is suspected of violating the site's terms of service.[citation needed]
In August 2007 the code used to dynamically generate Facebook's home and search page as visitors browse the site was accidentally made public, according to leading internet news sites<ref name=facebooksourcecodepublished2> Hoffman , Harrison
. " Facebook's source code goes public " , CNET News.com , 2007-08-12 . </ref> <ref name=facebooksourcecodepublished3> Richards , Jonathan . " Facebook Source Code Leaked Onto Internet " , FOX , 2007-08-14 . </ref>. A configuration problem on a Facebook server caused the PHP code to be displayed instead of the web page the code should have created, raising concerns about how secure private data on the site was. A visitor to the site copied, published and later removed the code from his web forum, claiming he had been served legal notice by Facebook<ref name=facebooksourcecodepublished4>" Facebook's PHP leak SNAFU " , Computer World , 2007-08-14 . </ref>. Facebook's response was quoted by the site that broke the story<ref name=facebooksourcecodepublished1> Cubrilovic , Nik . " Facebook Source Code Leaked " , TechCrunch , 2007-08-11 . </ref>
Modèle:Cquote In the UK, the Trade Union Council has encouraged employers to allow their staff to access Facebook and other social networking sites from work, provided they proceed with caution<ref>Get a life and allow your staff to use Facebook (Times Online)</ref>.
In September 2007, Facebook drew a fresh round of criticism after it began allowing non-members to search for users, with the intent of opening limited "public profiles" up to search engines such as Google in the following months<ref>"
Facebook Opens Profiles to Public " , BBC Online , 2007-09-07 . </ref>.
In November 2007, Facebook launched a new part of its Ads system named Beacon that published Facebook users' activities on partner websites such as eBay, Fandango, Travelocity, and Blockbuster to their friends. Moveon.org created an online petition due to privacy concerns, and Facebook modified the service to some extent. However, privacy concerns have continued in the wake of a report by a security researcher at Computer Associates that noted that data on users' activites is often still sent to Facebook, even if a user has opted-out on the partner site and logged out of Facebook.
Concerns were also raised on the BBC's Watchdog programme in October 2007 when Facebook was shown to be an easy way in which to collect an individual's personal information in order to facilitate identity theft. <ref>Facebook Security, BBC Watchdog 2007-10-24</ref>
Statistics
(Approximate numbers as of December 2007)<ref name="statistics"> Statistics
. Retrieved on 2007-12-05. </ref>
- Active users: Over 58 million
- Daily new user average: 250,000
- Page views: Over 65 billion per month
- Searches: Over 500 million per month<ref>http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=2535632130</ref>
- Search index size: 200GB
- Largest countries: US, Canada, UK
- Remaining top 10 countries in order of active users (outside of the U.S., Canada and UK): Australia, Turkey, Sweden, Norway, South Africa, France, Hong Kong.
(2007-09-17) . London Calling
. Retrieved on 2007-11-10. </ref>: 1,945,518<ref>London network on Facebook. It is a live counter, and will update instantly (requires registration)</ref> and Toronto, Canada: 1,012,604<ref>Toronto network on Facebook. It is a live counter, and will update instantly (requires registration)</ref>
- Traffic rank: 7th<ref name=alexatrafficrank/>
- Photos: 1.7 billion (which averages to about 44 photos per user) <ref>Facebook Photos Infrastructure May 21 2007.</ref>
On March 2, 2007, a poll conducted by eMarketer.com of American youths in the United States discovered Facebook was the most viewed site among all respondents with more females aged 17-25 (69%) visiting the site than males (56%).<ref>"
Facebook Extends Lead As Fave Young Adult Site " , eMarketer , 2007-03-02 . </ref>
See also
- Social network service
- List of social networking websites
- Use of social network websites in investigations
- Beacon (Facebook)
References
External links
- The Facebook Blog
- Facebook Platform
- Michael Arrington interviewing Mark Zuckerberg at TechCrunch40 videoaf:Facebook
ar:فيسبوك ca:Facebook cs:Facebook cy:Facebook da:Facebook de:Facebook es:Facebook fr:Facebook ko:페이스북 id:Facebook it:Facebook he:פייסבוק ms:Facebook nl:Facebook ja:Facebook no:Facebook nn:Facebook pl:Facebook pt:Facebook ru:Facebook fi:Facebook sv:Facebook th:เฟซบุ้ก vi:Facebook tr:Facebook zh:Facebook
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