Pure Potential

The Facebook Phenomenon

If you thought Facebook was just a brilliant new way to stay in touch with your friends then think again, these days it is a powerful tool that can help you develop your career and expand your network of connections, at the same time as having fun!

History

Currently Facebook has been valued at $15 billion dollars – a figure that is getting higher and higher. Founded by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg in February 2004, it started off small as a way for Harvard students to stay in touch online. It soon expanded to Ivy League colleges in US, and then universities and colleges across the world. Due to unprecedented popularity and demand Facebook dropped the restrictions to colleges and is now available to anyone with a valid email address and has 49 million active users. Facebook quickly overtook competitors such as MySpace and Bebo due to it’s user-friendly features such as tagging, the news feed and clear page design.

Facebook generates money by selling advertising space to companies and displaying their advertisements on the profile pages of their chosen demographic. Over 60% of Facebook users log into their account every day, so companies quickly spotted the advertising opportunities that had opened up and with the recent launch of Facebook Business Pages there are even more ways to bring companies, services and brands and consumers together.

Social Benefits

Facebook has become a cultural presence that cannot be ignored. It offers us an easy way to keep track of our friends, get in touch with old friends and make new ones. Facebook makes friendship convenient and enables the like-minded to congregate with an array of easy to use applications and fun features, both public and private messages, groups and events. You can also update your status to let friends know of your whereabouts, state of mind and latest news - word spreads a lot faster online than it ever could face-to-face.

Career Benefits

Facebook has made getting in touch with the people we meet so much easier – it brings thousands of people together with shared career aspirations and jobs, and while there’s a lot of useless trivia on Facebook, you’ll also find groups like ‘Pure Potential Lawyers’, or ‘Budding Medics’ or even ‘I’m on a gap year and need a job!’. Joining these groups, networking with your peers and contributing to discussion groups can only open new doors of opportunity. Just think of the millions of people on Facebook – some of them will have the job you want, be at the university you want to study at, have the connections you need to help you get ahead, have a pearl of wisdom or two to share – you just have to find them! Facebook is like an enormous community – but thanks to the search engine – it’s not hard to track down what it is you’re looking for.

Facebook is a modern day phenomenon that can put you in touch with friends, employers, brands and services across the world. Don’t underestimate it’s power to help you get ahead. See you online!