Facebook Case

Even though some people have considered Facebook a threat to face-to-face communication, this application has continued to prove its function as a social network that brings the world together though socialization. Facebook is both a web and mobile application that provides its users with a means of communication and is used in almost every country in the world. This application was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerburg while he was attending college and has since accumulated five hundred million users (Vargas, Jose 2010). By allowing users to customize their own Facebook page, people can share everything about themselves in order for their friends and family to see.

Not only does facebook allow others to share their information and comment on others, but it also contains many web applications within itself. There have been more than four thousand applications added to the software platform of Facebook since it has opened up to applications created by outside developers (McGirt, Ellen 2007). Among these applications is one that has become very popular known as Farmville. This is a game application created by Zynga Game Network Inc that allows the user to create and manage a virtual farm that can be shared by others. This application has been proven to be socially addictive because it provides the user with an illusion of progress along with offering rewards and consisting of required timelines in a social sharing environment (Marotta, David 2011).

The Facebook application has brought about many changes to its users by providing them with an interpretive tool allowing them to connect with history and exciting places through the posting of comments or photographs (Sexton, Phil 2012). By also being a mobile application users can take photographs of places such as museums or national parks with their phone and use the mobile Facebook applications to display them along with comments describing their experiences of what they have learned (Sexton, Phil 2012). The ways we communicate with each other have changed dramatically with the development of this application. For example, my sister’s family had recently taken a vacation in the Virgin Islands and within hours of their arrival I could see what they were experiencing by the photos along with comments she was posting through her mobile Facebook application on her cell phone. The best part about that was that I learned a lot things that I never knew about the Virgin Islands by reading the information she used in her comments along with seeing pictures of what she was describing.

The future uses of this application could also bring about many changes in our educational system. By allowing teachers to conduct online discussions, tutorials, and sharing their resources, Facebook could create new ways to assess the learning development of their students while connecting with their interests (Malita, Laura 2011). Because many students already use this application, teachers have the