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Wednesday, 20 February 2008 |
Love it or hate it, Facebook is here to stay.
If you are not one of the 61 million-plus
regular users, you have probably heard about
the Facebook phenomenon. The site is a free
social networking website made up of
hundreds of separate networks based around
schools, businesses and regions. To register
for Facebook, you need to give your name,
birthday, school or university and an email
address. Once you’re registered, you can
start customising your profile. You can
upload unlimited photos, news feeds and
videos from other sources.
Users can choose to join one or more ‘networks’ – a constellation of
people at your school, your company, or in your region. When you join a network, you can let
others in that network read your profile. You can join ‘groups’ around a common interest, like a
band or a hobby. A couple of groups that may be of interest to residents and lovers of France are
‘La Vie en France’ and ‘English Speakers in France’. One of the best things about Facebook is
that it is quite a personal environment, so you have to use a real name and you will only begin
to link up with people by letting others read a little more about you. Only people on your
network, or those you have accepted as friends, can see your profile, but it is worth checking the
privacy settings your account has, as by default they are very open. You can control how tight
your security is by clicking on the privacy link in the top right hand corner of the page when
logged in. There is no doubt that online networking websites like Facebook are popular amongst
millions of people, and they can be very useful for staying in touch with others, but it is
important to have a safety first approach when using them, especially for children – see below.
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