Facebook Nation

n the last few months Facebook has become one of the most talked-about social networking sites on the internet. The network, originally intended for US college students but now thoroughly infiltrated by the military (officer class only) and media (%u2018for research%u2019), is also one of the fastest-growing networks of its kind. Once a critical mass of people you know have signed up, their evangelical zeal becomes irresistible and it%u2019s only a matter of time before you%u2019ll cave in too. Here is Times Online%u2019s quick guide to hit the virtual ground running: 1: Read The Billy Goat Curse%u2019s...

There comes a time in every young person's life%u2014soon after teething, usually%u2014when she must make a momentous decision: MySpace or Facebook? One's preference is a matter of taste. MySpace, if you ask me, is a spam-infested state of nature. The average user page comes with a crapload of embedded music and video players, some seizure-inducing wallpaper, and a bunch of friend requests from "models" who want to "get to know you." (It also happens to be nearly three times the size of Facebook.) Facebook, on the other hand, is much less customizable but also a lot more reassuring. The interface...

I HAVE reached a curious point in life. Although I feel like the same precocious know-it-all cynic I always was, I suddenly am surrounded by younger precocious know-it-all cynics whose main purpose appears to be to remind me that I%u2019ve lost my edge. Many of these people are teenagers. Some of them I gave birth to. One was in a breech position. And the other day, as I drove home with one of my tormenters in the passenger seat, she started laughing at the way I pronounced %u201CHenri Cartier-Bresson.%u201D %u201CHa ha ha, is that how you think his name sounds?%u201D my daughter said. %u201COh,...

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Facebook may turn out to be a lot more important than any of us thought. It has just launched a major change in its strategy that will transform its role in the Internet ecosystem and could create a raft of new opportunities for companies of all sizes. No longer will Facebook consider itself merely another social network. Instead it is becoming a technology platform on which anyone can build applications for social computing. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg invited me to spend time with executives of Facebook and partner companies in advance of the announcement. (Here's an...

Facebook was launched in February 2004 by Harvard undergrad students as an alternative to the traditional student directory. Its popularity quickly spread to other colleges in the US by word of mouth, and the site now registers close to 15M monthly UVs and over 6B page views per month. Facebook has completed two rounds of venture financing at very high valuations, the first at a valuation of ~$100M and the second at ~$550M (valuations are unconfirmed). These valuations were driven by the multiple acquisition offers that Facebook has reportedly turned down (the latest was a rumored $750M offer)....

After talk of a $750 million buyout offer, Facebook today settled instead for a mere $25 million investment from venture-capital firm Greylock Partners. The companies announced today Facebook's third round of funding. The $25 million is nowhere near Facebook's rumored $2 billion price tag, but spokeswoman Melanie Dietch said Facebook did not plan to sell anyway. "We've had offers to purchase the company," she told internetnews.com. "It's not something we're looking to do. We've always been focused on building this company for the long term." Rumors of Facebook's pending acquisition began shortly...

Face it, you're hooked on Facebook. The moment you get off it, you want to leap right back on just to check if any new people joined your "Biker Mice from Mars " fan group (creator: me). Yes, Facebook is indeed as about addictive as a crack-flavored milk shake, but it wasn't always as popular and saturated with students as it is today. It all started at Harvard in 2004 with four enterprising students who had no idea their little venture into connectivity on campus would soon expand across the world. Mark Zuckerman, Eduardo Saverin, Chris Hughes and Dustin Moskovitz got the idea for Facebook...

Company: FaceBook Launched: February 4, 2004 Status: Funded by Peter Thiel and Accel Partners Employees: 32 in Palo Alto, 4 in Boston Location: Palo Alto Overview I%u2019ve long been intrigued by FaceBook, the fantastically popular social network site for college and university students. FaceBook raised about $500,000 from Peter Thiel in an angel round, and $12.2 million from Accel Partners in April 2005 (at a rumored valuation of around $100 million). I%u2019ve read the articles that describe a vibrant and growing social network, but lamented that I simply could not get in to it! To get past...

The Facebook. You know you%u2019ve been there. The URL bar on your Internet browser recognizes the familiar letters as you enter the address: thefacebook.com. You hesitate momentarily at the home page. Should you log in and sacrifice the next hour or two of your life? Or should you resist for just a bit longer? You have so much work to do, but the temptation is eating away at your waning self-control. What about that Spanish exam you have tomorrow or that paper due Thursday in your anthropology class? Can the paper wait? You can start studying in an hour or two and still be okay, right? Having...