The risks and benefits of Facebook and social media.

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Aude Puechberty

Group 2

Nowadays, who doesn’t use Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Youtube, Linkedin or other kind of social media? Even parents and grand parents get cracked for them. Social media are omnipresent in our lives. But before going further, let’s define what social media are.

Social media are forms of electronic communication (as Web sites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content as pictures, videos, links and so on. As for traditional media, they delivers content but don’t allow readers, viewers and listeners to participate in the creation or development of the content.

More and more people are attracted by this kind of communication, especially by Facebook, because it is simple, free, and it is a way to keep always in touch family and friends. Furthermore, a lot of firms use them to spread adverts, and to make their own business. However, do Facebook and social media mean an opportunity or a threat for users?

It is indeed at the beginning of the 21st century that users were beginning to see the appeal of social networking and blogging sites like Friendster, Linkedin, and MySpace. The last one (MySpace), had grown to be the most popular social network in the world. Users could create their own profile, and then post music from artists or videos from others websites.

Although MySpace was destined to be the most used social media all time, Facebook started out in 2004. First it was only a social network for Harvard students. Nevertheless, it quickly expanded to other schools, then to businesses, and finally, everyone (in 2006). That’s why, in 2008, Facebook became the most popular social networking site, surpassing MySpace, and continues to grow. Currently, the number of Facebook users has reached more than 700 millions.

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It can be said that social media, and especially Facebook started a trend. “Do you have Facebook?” became a famous sentence in the young generation conversation. Most of teenagers and young use social media to talk about their own life. Why? Let’s talk about the main reasons, which have made social media so famous.

First of all, making connexions. Join any social networking is the best way to know a lot of people in a short while and in a free way. You can be able to find friends on social networking and to chat with them ...

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