9781422277287

Tech 2.0

Facebook is nowused by billions of people around theworld. It has become one of the most successful websites on the inter- net today. The site has changed the way people view and use the internet, transforming the web to something personal. No matter who you are, you can have a page on Facebook that allows you to speak your mind, share photos of yourself and your friends, and tell others what you’re reading or watching online. What was once a passive experience for Internet users is now something in which each person can participate. In a recent survey, almost 25 percent of the time that peo- ple used the internet was on social networking sites like Face- book. Considering that email accounted for only about 8 percent of online time, that’s a lot of time on Facebook and other sites like it! Facebook was also the site that, on average, people spent the most time on per month. On average, internet users spent around two hours per month on Google.com and Yahoo.com, around half an hour on Amazon.com, but more than seven hours per month on Facebook.com. Smartphones have given people even more opportunities to access Facebook. It’s the third-most popular app after email and the web browser. One survey found that 79 percent of smart- phone users check their phone within fifteen minutes of waking up. Facebook accounts for about a fifth of the time users spend communicating on their smartphones, which is just slightly less than texting.

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