What, you’re not on Facebook?  According to InsideFacebook.com  as of May 1, 2010, there were over 120 million active Facebook users.  So that approximately one in three people in the US have a Facebook account.  Facebook was launched in 2004 but has only really taken off in last couple of years.  

Before I go on let me take a step back.  I was assuming that everyone knows what a Facebook (account) is but just in case; let me explain what it is in a nut shell.  Facebook is a free on-line service which allow it’s users to share information with a selected group of people (friends), people with similar interest (groups, networks) or anyone (everyone).  You can control who can see your postings or just leave it wide open (not recommended for individuals but maybe okay for organizations or companies).

So the first misconception is that people only share things like “I’m standing in line.”  or “Waiting for my Starbucks.”   Not true. The information shared can be just about anything from your thoughts, feels or evening plans to photos and video of your last outing (concerts, dinner, club).  You can share what you like about movies or TV shows, restaurants or other people.  Once you share (post) your information, your social group can reply or comment back to you.  Also one of the most powerful features of Facebook is the users ability to recommend something to their Friends.  Social Marketing is a big business and I will cover that in a later article.  This is different than an e-mail which normally is a one to one communication.  It’s also different than a blog which you post up information for people to see but generally don’t get responds back.

I’m just scratching the surface of what you can do in the virtual world of Facebook but I could fill many articles with all the uses and applications which are available and getting added on Facebook every day.

So does everyone need a Facebook page?  The answer is “maybe” but it depends on who you are.  So who is using Facebook?  If we look at the demographics per InsideFacebook.com, there are more females on Facebook (55% vs 45%) and the largest group is females, 18-25 years old (17 million).  However, the largest growth in the last year has been in the 55+ age group (923%) per istrategylabs.com.  For more demographic data click here.  There are many reasons why you may get a Facebook page.  MySpace which was launched a couple year earlier became popular among the under 17 year old crowd.

So initially the college students and older wanted a space for themselves (you need to be at least 14 to have a Facebook account).  With the popularity of Facebook, you would be hard press to find a young adult without a Facebook account.  This group has no problem posting up their thought s for everyone to see and so they account for the largest group.  It’s a convenient way for them to let the people they want know, what they are doing, what is on their mind and entertainment themselves (games is one of the largest uses of Facebook). 

The older age groups are not as open to letting everyone know what they are doing and what they are thinking about.  However, they still have a desire to stay connected to their friends and family.  So one of the popular usages of Facebook by parents is to stay current with what their kids are doing.  That was my initial reason to get a Facebook page. 

This group doesn’t add much of their own information to their Facebook page but just watches everyone else.  Related to that trend, this older groups also is the TV generation and therefore the TV is their first place to look for entertainment.

Lastly I would like to leave you with a note on safety.  Like anything else, the more personal information you put on-line, the more potential of abuse.  Facebook and other social media services have put into place security features to protect its users.  However, the best defense is for the person using the service to be careful what they are putting on-line.  Personal information such as addresses, phone numbers and birth dates should not be posted if possible.  Birth dates are commonly requested to verify the age of the user but it should be blocked by the user on their profile.  Since you can never be sure who is able to look at your Facebook page or you are unsure how to use Facebook, you should think twice before posting information that you may not want seen by more than your family or friends.

There are many reasons to have a Facebook no matter what age you are.  Many millions of user enjoy Facebook and have an unprecedented level of connection with family and friend because of it.  You just need to be thoughtful about  what you’re posting because like an e-mail, you don’t know who ultimately see what you posted.