The Fundamentals of Facebook

While Facebook is far from a small business today, it got its start in a Harvard University dorm room in February 2004. The social networking site was only available to students at Harvard to begin with, but quickly expanded to include other Boston-area colleges and universities, and eventually colleges and universities across the United States. and Canada. Now Facebook is open to all users, not only those in college, and currently boasts 800 million active users.

In its less than ten years of operation, Facebook has been the subject of a blockbuster movie, several lawsuits, and a media storm. The beauty of the free social networking site is that it allows users to see what their friends and family are doing and lets them stay connected through a centralized location. Users can find long-lost friends as well as make new friends who share common interests or play the same games.

Although other companies, including Google Inc., have tried to launch their own social networking sites, Facebook remains the most popular social network choice. Continued development brings new features regularly, including the ability to log into other sites using your Facebook login information. Additionally, most smartphones offer Facebook apps, so users can stay connected on the go, uploading pics they snap with their camera phone and “checking in” at area locations.

One of the biggest benefits for businesses advertising on Facebook is the ability to target consumers based on the information they provided in their Facebook profile as well as the pages they’ve liked. This allows advertisers to target the consumers most likely to use their goods and services. This benefits consumers as well as they are made aware of local offers as well as offers that are based on their interests and likes.

Facebook is currently estimated to be worth more than $66 billion and an initial public offering is expected in the spring of 2012.