Facebook is an online social platform that enables in-app text messaging, sharing of pictures, data, and voice and video calls among users. It stands out among the most popular social network sites in today’s generation. Facebook is a very interesting platform for interaction where people share experiences with friends, families, and acquaintances. It currently has approximately 3 billion users worldwide. The popularity of Facebook is a result of its multipurpose and ease of communication to its users. The application allows users to share text conversations, pictures, events, and statuses on a single platform. It is not only a social platform but also an educational hub where it is highly informative on topics such as science, health, exercise, and education. Facebook primarily achieves its purpose of keeping people in contact with the outside world through quick and constant updates as compared to the mainstream forms of media and communication such as e-mail, TV, radio, phones, etc.
More recent technologies in mobile phone companies have enabled users to access Facebook on all android handsets. It is interesting to experience that Facebook has evolved to accommodate the needs of all its users. Accessibility and efficiency of the app over time have been enabled by improvements introduced in the social media site. At its early stages in 2004, Facebook was only available to college students at Harvard University and only accessible on PCs. Initial improvements made Facebook public to every person. The most recent and interesting improvement on Facebook is the online gaming portal that offers hundreds of thousands of games which users can play at any time. These games include Zuma, Poker, Diamond Dash, and Farm Heroes Sage among other games available for users of the app. The game feature is a uniquely special and special experience for Facebook and users have no additional costs for playing the games as it is absolutely free.
Facebook has recently emerged as the most popular, powerful, and effective digital marketing tool for businesses. Its ability to enable written and audio-visual information makes it an ideal place for widening consumer segments. Companies use Facebook as a swift channel to make their products “go viral” and visible to millions of people that have the app installed on their devices. Product visibility is now very efficient on Facebook at no additional costs of operating a page for marketing products online. Of course, Facebook is more affordable for digital marketing than all other mainstream media in product marketing. Many small businesses have become successful because visualizing their brands on Facebook has immensely given them financial recognition and success. People can practically order anything on Facebook from online stores and make payments for home delivery of the products. This aspect has transformed Facebook from just being a social media site to a real business hub for both small and large businesses.
However, Facebook continues to encounter a lot of criticism over its misuse to perpetuate social and economic crimes. Impersonation through fake Facebook profiles has been used by criminals to swindle monies from unsuspecting users, cyberbullying, child pornography, and fake news. Scammers have taken advantage of the freedom found in Facebook usage to humiliate other users by luring them into their trap. Facebook is yet to introduce a feature that will prevent crime or compensate victims of crimes happening on its pages. This trend has discouraged many people from believing in Facebook news, marketing, or educative factors because they easily assume that reports unveiled belong to scammers. Facebook crimes have recently tarnished the positive side of the platform, hence, the company needs to upgrade the app for security enhancement to protect users from all forms of crime.
