Gob Blog has been created by new media students, Andrew, Brad and Courtney with the purpose of opening your minds to the possibilities and implications of the new media. The new media mediums discussed on this blog are: Social Networks (Andrew), Multimedia (Brad) and Downloading (Courtney). We hope you enjoy exploring our blog and please feel free to leave a comment and have your say too...

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Facebook and its Origins...


I came across an interesting article while surfing the net. The article was by Bobby hash and was Titled, “The Facebook Frenzy, A Social Platform and the Society That Deems It Important.” The article dealt with the origins of this new media phenomena and how it is today one of the most powerful and most addictive communication tools. This post sums up the article but the full version can be found on one the Gobblogger’s links,
Facebook was started by three Harvard students, Mark Zuckerberg, Chris Hughes, and Dustin Moskovitz. It was a small project with the intention being for students getting to know other students in other dorms. He goes on to say that the concept was basically y aimed at helping students find old friends and colleagues and to conveniently send messages and join groups. The concept however started to grow as it was adopted by many other top colleges such as Stanford, Yale, and Columbia.
In the beginning facebook and limited access, only allowing its use to college students as this was its principle use. This reduces its advancement. Facebook was extremely popular as it offered something different. It was more intimate and private as compared to other social networks. With a realisation of the potential of this popular commodity, Facebook finally became available to the public and its numbers grew astronomically making it a mighty social network, over shadowing most if not all of its predecessors.
The full article, The Facebook Frenzy has been linked.

4 comments:

Nirvana Doodla said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Nirvana Doodla said...

Facebook has definitly grown onto people, most people can not even go a day without logging on to facebook. I mean so many people do not even chat to other people, rather they spend their time sending virtual gifts and cards to thier friends.

It is definitly a Frenzy and to some extent a popularity contest, i mean if you don't have facebook your friends regard you as being lame and so out of touch!

Good Post!!

Serisha Padayachee said...

I must admit that i am addicted to Facebook but not once did i ever think about its origins. It is very interesting to know how Facebook was created.

Facebook makes communication amongst friends and family much easier and it very popular amongst people accross the world.

A very informative post!Well done!

Londeka Mathonsi said...

Informative post.I had no idea that facebook was innitially something similar to what UKZN is trying to innitiate, a university centered social network.I'm new to facebook, but am absolutely hooked, i love how i can catch up with old school mates and chat to friends who have gone abroad. Who knows then, maybe our own social network might stand a chance and not be doomed for faliure like most of us think.