“Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life.” Facebook By Lana Maric, Shawneese Drake and Dan James

How is Facebook Used? 1. Sign up and create a Facebook account In order to create an account, you must have a valid address. For our Facebook page, we created a gmail address just for our group. Then click “register” to complete a short registration form.

Registration Process: Go to the Facebook homepage by tying Enter your name. Enter your address and password. Select Male or Female. Mark your birthday. Click on “signup.” Open the that you used to join Facebook. Open the Open the Registration Confirmation from Facebook. Click on the verification link. By registering, you now have your log in information, which allows you to finish creating your profile.

How is Facebook Used? 2. Are your Friends Already on Facebook Search This step enables you to quickly find your friends on Facebook through your search (or instant messenger): “Many of your friends may already be here. Searching your account is the fastest way to find your friends on Facebook.”

How is Facebook Used?

3. After uploading our avatar picture, our profile was created.

Exploring Facebook Toolbar Home Button: enables you to return to your Facebook home page. Profile Button: 1. Enables you to view and edit your profile. 2. Allows you to share information with your friends. You can exchange photos and messages. 3. You can set privacy options here as well, which determine who can see your profile and whether or not you want your profile to be public or private. Profile Tabs: 1. Wall—shows messages that your friends write for you. 2. Info—displays basic information about yourself such as your , contact information and work. 3. Photos—shows all of the pictures you posted Tab—Allows you to add a new tab such as links, notes, events and even videos! Once selected, the additional tabs then get added to your profile page.

Exploring Facebook Toolbar Friends button: to view your friends, find friends, and add new friends. Your friends can see your status updates, view your profile and even receive news feeds about you.

Exploring Facebook Toolbar Inbox Button—enable friend to friend communication on a more personal level. These messages are private. 1. Click on Compose New Message. 2. Enter the name of the message recipient. Type the message. 3. Click the Send button. Note about Networks: You can join up to five networks, but one network must be classified as your primary network.

Pros and Cons of Usability Factors that encourage use: Tabs are clearly labeled Most browsers are supported Privacy control options, security filters, and ignore features allow more user control and maximize user experience One of the best methods on the net to organize and share photos and share events in terms of user experience and ease of navigation Live chat and instant mass promotion— very viral Has reputation of being “safer than Myspace” Ability to tag your friends in the photos Factors that discourage use: Site can appear cluttered with information decreasing user satisfaction Animation and text from ads decrease user control Spam and influx of useless applications, e.g., What were you in your previous life? What color of the rainbow are you? Even when you block some applications, new get created and the process continuous— applications can decrease user productivity and be a big annoyance Information you post may be used against you in the future—at work, school, with your loved ones, etc. Opens doors for stalking opportunities No easy metric to measure how many of your Facebook interactions convert to sales.

Why is Facebook Used?

Over 300 million active users Half log in to Facebook every day Second most trafficked PHP site worldwide A Facebook user has 130 friends on average Free Quick relay of information Fantastic Viral Marketing Source Individuals with high Social Networking Potential are within reach Create marketing buzzwords, increase brand awareness, and create product groups Status updates, wall posts, pokes, tags, and gifts are way s to personalize user interaction ( communication is multi-dimensional). Groups are a great way to target specific markets and allow users of that group to promote the brand through user interaction. For example, the Apple group is one of the largest groups; it enables group followers to be the first ones to learn about discounts and promotions. Applications-One stop for all your marketing needs Number 1 photo sharing application on the internet When compared to evites.com, three times more people are invited through Facebook for events Video uploading feature enables product promotion and instant awareness

Who is Using Facebook?

Facebook is not just for your average folk; political leaders, celebrities, professional athletes, media outlets, and public figures are all using Facebook. According to “Who’s Sharing on Facebook” press release,the following are all utilizing its features: “President Obama is rallying support for new U.S. policies and initiatives” “The Oprah Winfrey Show is giving viewers a new way to interact” “U2 is connecting with fans of their new album” “CNN is providing breaking developments to news junkies” “Stanford University is sharing its discoveries and knowledge” “The NBA’s star athletes are posting photos and video highlights from their games”

35 years old and older currently represent the fastest growing group on Facebook. 65 million active users are accessing Facebook through their mobile devices; they are on average 50% more active than non-mobile users. Students represent one of the most carefree groups on Facebook: 60 percent of students do not utilize privacy options.