Facebook

Launched by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004, Facebook.com (originally thefacebook.com), has grown to become the second most popular website in the world. Google holds the number one spot. Facebook was first used by Harvard University, then it expanded to Stanford, Columbia, and Yale. Within the first year of its operation it spread to most colleges in the United States and Canada, and now is open to anyone. By September 2011, there were 800 million users, about 11% of the world’s population. A movie, The Social Network, was made about the site and Zuckerberg in 2010.

Facebook allows people to network between friends, classmates, coworkers, and anyone else on the site. Users post photos, links, and status updates; play games like Farmville and Words With Friends; make groups and plan events; and instant message friends. People like it because it allows them to keep up with friends they wouldn’t normally keep in touch with and easily communicate with people because nearly all young people are on it.