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'''[[Facebook]]''' is a [[social network service|social networking]] [[website]]. This is a list of '''features''' that can be found on the website. Basic features include friend networking with others and posting on a "wall".

==Features==
===News Feed===
On [[6 September]] [[2006]], [[Ruchi Sanghvi]] announced a new home page feature called News Feed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=2207967130|title=Facebook Gets a Facelift|accessdate=2008-02-11|last=Sanghvi|first=Ruchi|date=2006-09-06|publisher=The Facebook Blog}}</ref> Originally, when users logged into Facebook, they were presented with a customizable version of their own profile. The new layout, by contrast, created an alternate home page in which users saw a constantly updated list of their friends' Facebook activity. News Feed highlights information that includes profile changes, upcoming events, and birthdays, among other updates. News Feed also shows conversations taking place between the walls of a user's friends. An integral part of the News Feed interface is the Mini-Feed, a news stream on the user's profile page that shows updates about that user. Unlike in the News Feed, the user can delete events from the Mini-Feed after they appear so that they are no longer visible to profile visitors.

Initially, the addition of the News Feed caused some discontent among Facebook users. Many users complained that the News Feed was too cluttered and full of undesired information. Others were concerned that the News Feed made it too easy for other people to track activities like changes in relationship status, events, and conversations with other users.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=2208197130|title=Calm down. Breathe. We hear you.|accessdate=2008-02-11|last=Zuckerberg|first=Mark|date=2006-09-06|publisher=The Facebook Blog}}</ref> In response to this dissatisfaction, creator Mark Zuckerberg issued an apology for the site's failure to include appropriate customizable privacy features. Thereafter, users were able to control what types of information were shared automatically with friends.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=2208197130|title=An Open Letter from Mark Zuckerberg|accessdate=2008-02-11|last=Zuckerberg|first=Mark|date=2006-09-08|publisher=The Facebook Blog}}</ref> Currently, users may prevent friends from seeing updates about several types of especially private activities, although other events are not customizable in this way.

<!-- User:Greg_Tyler => I removed a paragraph here about the most comments ever posted on a status update. Please don't return it before discussing this on the talk page. -->
With the introduction of the "New Facebook" - a total redesign of the pages and the implementation of several new features - News Feeds were changed. On their personal Feeds (now integrated with Walls), users were given the option of removing updates from any application as well as choosing the size they show up on the page. Furthermore, the community feed (containing recent actions by the user's friends) contained options to instantly select whether to hear more or less about certain friends or applications.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Feed|title=Feed - Facebook Developers Wiki}}</ref>

===Wall===
The Wall is a space on each user's profile page that allows friends to post messages for the user to see while displaying the time and date the message was written. One user's wall is visible to anyone with the ability to see their full profile, and different users' wall posts show up in an individual's News Feed. Many users use their friends' walls for leaving short, temporal notes. More private discourse is saved for Messages, which are sent to a person's Inbox, and are visible only to the sender and recipient(s) of the Message, much like [[E-mail|email]].

In July 2007, Facebook allowed users to post attachments to the wall,<ref>{{cite web |last=Der |first=Kevin |url=http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=3532972130 |title=Facebook is off-the-wall |accessdate=2007-07-30 }}</ref> whereas previously the wall was limited to text content only.

===Photos===
One of the most popular applications on Facebook is the Photos application, where users can upload albums of photos, tag friends, and comment on photos. According to Facebook,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=2406207130|accessdate=2008-03-05|title=The Facebook Bifts|publisher=facebook.com|}}</ref> there are
* 1.7 billion user photos
* 2.2 billion friends tagged in user photos
* 160 terabytes of photo storage used with an extra 60 terabytes available
* 60+ million photos added each week which take up 5 terabytes of disk space
* 3+ billion photo images served to users every day
* 100,000+ images served per second during peak traffic windows

===Gifts===
[[Image:Facebook gifts.png|thumb|300px|Some of Facebook's gifts, as displayed in the website's gift shop.]]
In February 2007, Facebook added a new gift feature to the website. Friends could send "gifts" -- small icons of novelty items designed by former [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] designer [[Susan Kare]] -- to each other by selecting one from Facebook's virtual gift shop and adding a message. Gifts given to a user appear on the recipient's wall with the giver's message, unless the giver decided to give the gift privately, in which case the giver's name and message is not displayed to other users. Additionally, all gifts (including private gifts) received by a user are displayed in the recipient's "gift box" (right above their wall on their profile), marked with either the [[Given name|first name]] of the user (for public gifts) or the word "Private." An "Anonymous" option is also available, by which anyone with profile access can see the gift, but only the recipient will see the message. None will see the giver's name, and the gift will go in the recipient's gift box but not the wall.

Facebook users are given one free gift to give upon account signup. Each additional gift given by a user costs US$1.00. The initial selection of gifts was [[Valentine's Day]] themed, and 50% of the net proceeds (after credit card processing fees were taken out, etc.) received through February 2007 were donated to the charity [[Susan G. Komen for the Cure]]. After the month of February, the proceeds were no longer donated. Soon after, Facebook began making one new gift available each day, most of which had a limited supply or were available for a limited time.

On November 8, 2008, Facebook changed the $1.00 per gift model to a micro-payment model of 100 "points" per $1.00, with the existing gifts costing 100 "points". They plan to allow a wider variety of gifts in the future.

With the advent of Applications came a way to subvert the required US$1.00 payment; however, the gifts in the "Free Gifts" application, created by Zachary Allia,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.insidefacebook.com/2007/06/08/free-gifts-one-ups-facebook-using-their-own-platform|title=facebook gifts|publisher=insidefacebook.com|}}</ref> are not the same as the official gifts, as they are displayed in a different manner.

===Marketplace===
In May 2007, Facebook introduced the Facebook Marketplace allowing users to post free classified ads within the following categories: For Sale, Housing, Jobs, and Other. Ads can be posted in either available or wanted format.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.physorg.com/news98196557.html |title=Facebook Adds Marketplace of Classified Ads |accessdate=2007-05-15 |date=2007-05-12}}</ref> The market place is available for all Facebook users and is currently free.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-03-05|url=http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=24|title=Marketplace|publisher=Facebook}}</ref>

===Pokes===
The ''poke'' feature allows one user to virtually poke another. According to Facebook's FAQ section on the feature, "a poke is a way to interact with your friends on Facebook. When we created the poke, we thought it would be cool to have a feature without any specific purpose. People interpret the poke in many different ways, and we encourage you to come up with your own meanings." In principle, this is intended to be a "nudge" to attract the attention of the other user. However, while many Facebook users, as intended, use the feature to attract attention or say hello,<ref>{{cite news |last=Arrington |first=J. Michael |title=85% of College Students use FaceBook |publisher=[[TechCrunch]] |date=2005-09-07 |url=http://www.techcrunch.com/2005/09/07/85-of-college-students-use-facebook/ |accessdate=2007-06-26}}</ref> some users{{who}} construe it as a sexual advance. There are several applications on Facebook which extend the idea of the poke feature by allowing users to perform other actions to their friends (such as "kick" or "wave to").

===Status===
Facebook has a [[micro-blogging]] feature called "status updates" which allows users to inform their friends of their current whereabouts, actions, or thoughts. For example "Billy visited Jen," "Sam called Jen," "Matt dated Jen," or "Jen is a total idiot." Facebook originally prompted the status update with "''User name'' is..." and Facebook users filled in the rest. However, on [[December 13]] [[2007]], the requirement to start a status update with "is" was removed. While "is" still appears by default, a user may backspace to delete it when entering a status update. <ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.news.com.au/technology/story/0,25642,22822400-5014108,00.html | title=Facebook is... reconsidering the word "is" | accessdate=2007-12-13}}</ref>

Status updates are noted in the "Recently updated" section of a user's friend list.

===Events===
Facebook events are a way for members to let friends know about upcoming events in their community and to organize social gatherings.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-03-05|url=http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=13|title=Events|publisher=Facebook}}</ref> Events require an event name, tagline, network, host name, event type, start and end time, location & city, and a guest list of friends invited. Events can be open, closed, or secret. When setting up an event the user can choose to allow friends to upload photos, video, and posted items.

===Networks and groups===
Facebook allows different networks and groups to which many users can join. It also allows privacy settings on basis of networks. Groups are used for discussions and events etc. Groups are a way of enabling a number of people to come together online to share information and discuss specific subjects. They are increasingly used by clubs, companies and public sector organizations to engage with stakeholders - be they members of the public, employees, members, service users, shareholders or customers. A group is comprised of but not limited to the following: the members who have joined, recent news contents, discussion board contents, wall contents, photos, posted items, videos and all associated comments of such items.

===Video===
During the time that Facebook released its platform, it also released an application<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mashable.com/2007/05/24/facebook-video-launches/|accessdate=2008-03-05|title=Facebook Video Launches: YouTube Beware!|author=Cashmore, Pete|date=2007-05-24}}</ref> of its own for sharing videos on Facebook. Users can add their videos with the service by uploading video, adding video through Facebook Mobile, and using a webcam recording feature. Additionally, users can "tag" their friends in videos they add much like the way users can tag their friends in photos. Users also have the option of video messaging.

===Chat===
On [[April 5]], [[2008]], Facebook pre-released Facebook [[Online chat|Chat]].<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-03-15|url=http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/04/06/facebook-chat-enters-pre-release-beta/|title=Facebook Chat at TechCrunch |publisher=[[Facebook]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-03-15|url=http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=713|title=Facebook Chat at Facebook's support sites |publisher=[[Facebook]] }}</ref> As of [[April 23]], [[2008]], Facebook Chat was released to the entire Facebook userbase. Users are only able to chat with their Facebook friends and on a one-to-one basis. Instant messaging clients that currently support Facebook Chat include [[Digsby]], [[Adium]], and [[Scrapboy]], as well as [[Pidgin (software)|Pidgin]] with a cross-platform plugin. Facebook Chat can also be run on the desktop using Gabtastik, a dedicated web chat browser. On [[May 13]], [[2008]], a Facebook developer announced that they are working on [[XMPP]] support, allowing [[List of Jabber client software|hundreds of instant messaging clients]] to interoperate with the service.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-05-14|url=http://developers.facebook.com/news.php?blog=1&story=110|title=Using Facebook Chat via Jabber |publisher=[[David Reiss]] }}</ref>

=== Pages ===
Individuals or companies can create "pages" which allows users to "become a fan" of the individual, product, service, or concept. Pages are integrated with Facebook's advertising system, allowing Page owners to easily advertise to Facebook's users. Owners can send updates to their fans, which shows up on their news feeds. They also have access to [[Insight#In_marketing|insights]] and analytics of their fan base.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.facebook.com/business/?pages | title=Facebook Pages | author=[[Facebook]]}}</ref>

==Platform applications==
On [[May 24]] [[2007]], Facebook launched the '''Facebook Platform''',<ref name=F8>{{cite news | url=http://developers.facebook.com/news.php?blog=1&story=21 | title=Facebook Platform Launches | publisher=Facebook | date=[[2007-05-27]] | accessdate=2007-09-03}}</ref> which provides a framework for third party developers to create applications that interact with core Facebook features. Even games such as [[chess]] are available. As of [[January 31]] [[2008]], there are more than 14,000 applications.<ref>{{ cite web | url=http://www.facebook.com/apps/ | title=Application Directory | author=Facebook | accessdate=2008-01-31 }}</ref>

Third-party websites such as Adonomics, which provides application metrics, and blogs such as AppRate, Inside Facebook and Face Reviews have sprung up in response to the clamor for Facebook applications. On [[July 4]] [[2007]], Altura Ventures announced the "Altura 1 Facebook Investment Fund," becoming the world's first Facebook-only venture capital firm.<ref name=Altura>{{cite news | url=http://www.altura.com/ | title=Altura Ventures news | publisher=Altura Ventures | date=[[2007-07-04]] | accessdate=2007-09-03}}</ref>

On [[August 29]] [[2007]], Facebook changed the way in which the popularity of applications is measured, in order to give more attention to the more engaging applications, following criticism that ranking applications only by the number of users was giving an advantage to the highly viral, yet useless applications.<ref name=Facebook>{{cite news | first=Dave | last=Morin | url=http://www.facebook.com/developers/ | title=A shift to engagement | publisher=Facebook | date=[[2007-08-29]] | accessdate=2007-08-31}}</ref>
Tech blog [[Valleywag]] has criticized Facebook Applications, labeling them a "cornucopia of uselessness."<ref>{{cite web
| title = Can a Facebook app possibly be useful?
| publisher = Valleywag.com
| date = [[2005-09-26]]
| url = http://valleywag.com/tech/facebook/can-a-facebook-app-possibly-be-useful-303819.php
| accessdate = 2007-10-16 }}</ref> Others have called for limiting third-party applications so the Facebook "user experience" is not degraded.<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=2008-03-05|url=http://media.www.thelantern.com/media/storage/paper333/news/2007/12/03/Campus/Useless.Applications.Plague.Facebook-3128521.shtml|title=Useless applications plague Facebook|publisher=The Lantern|author=Timmons, Zack|date=2007-12-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://techdirt.com/articles/20071130/110033.shtml|title=Irritating Your Customers Is Almost Never A Good Business Strategy|accessdate=2008-03-05|date=2007-11-30|author=Lee, Tim}}</ref>

Primarily attempting to create viral applications is a method that has certainly been employed by numerous Facebook application developers. [[Stanford University]] even offered a class in the Fall of 2007, entitled, Computer Science (CS) 377W: "Create Engaging Web Applications Using Metrics and Learning on Facebook". Numerous applications created by the class were highly successful, and ranked amongst the top Facebook applications, with some achieving over 3.5 million users in a month.<ref name=StanfordDaily>{{cite web | url=http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2007/11/30/farmmadeFacebookAppsPopular | title=Kamil Dada from Stanford University explains the success of Facebook applications developed in a class at Stanford University | author=Kamil Dada | date=[[2007-11-30]] | accessdate=2007-12-15}}</ref>

===APIs===
Different [[API]]s are available for a third party application including authorizing APIs. Facebook offers "API calls" to third party to access facebook information, and Facebook Query Language (FQL) functions to fetch data.<ref name=autogenerated1> [http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Main_Page facebook developers wiki]</ref> Other than fetching user data, APIs for access to facebook core features like notifications, invites, feeds and adding profile boxes available.

===Facebook Markup Language===
[[Facebook]] Markup Language ("FBML") is a variant-evolved subset of [[Hypertext Markup Language|HTML]] with some elements removed. It allows [[Facebook features#Applications|Facebook Application]] [[developer]]s to customise the "look and feel" of their [[Application software|applications]], to a limited extent. It is the [[specification]] of how to encode content so that Facebook's [[server]]s can read and publish it, which is needed in the Facebook-specific feed so that Facebook's system can properly parse content and publish it as specified.<ref name=Acce125>{{cite press release | publisher = Mashery | date =2007-05-26 | title = '''Facebook Markup Language - A "Reverse API"''' | url = http://oren.blogs.com/praxis/2007/05/facebook_markup.html}}</ref> The FBML for a profile box is set by calling ''profile.setFBML'' through the [[Application Programming Interface|API]]. The FBML is cached on Facebook's server until ''profile.setFBML'' is called again through a [[canvas page]]. The official FBML documentation is hosted on the [http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Main_Page Facebook Developers Wiki].<ref>[http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Main_Page Main Page - Facebook Developers Wiki<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

This FBML will add following parameters to any HTML form:
<blockquote>
<pre>
<input type="hidden" name="fb_sig_profile" value="[profile ID of the user using the app]"/>
<input type="hidden" name="fb_sig_user" value="[user ID of the user using the app]"/>
<input type="hidden" name="fb_sig_session_key" value="[browser session hash key]"/>
<input type="hidden" name="fb_sig_time" value="[current timestamp]"/>
<input type="hidden" name="fb_sig" value="[fb_sig variable]"/>
</pre>
</blockquote>
The ''fb_sig'' value is generated using all of the other ''fb_sig_'' [[parameter]]s (but without the "''fb_sig_''" [[prefix]] included in their names) identically to how it is generated in the API [[authentication]] scheme. The ''fb_sig_user'' and ''fb_sig_session_key'' parameters will only be included if the user has a [[valid session]] with the application.<ref name=Acce126>{{cite press release | publisher = [[Facebook]] | date =2007-05-26 | title = '''Facebook Developers"''' | url = http://developers.facebook.com/documentation.php?doc=fbml
}}</ref>

Facebook also offers specialised Facebook Javascript (FBJS) and library.<ref name=autogenerated1 />

===Facebook Connect===
'''Facebook Connect''' was announced on 23 July 2008 at Facebook's annual conference for developers and [http://developers.facebook.com/connect.php made available to users] in December 2008. A [[single sign-on]] service that competes with [[OpenID]]<ref>http://www.techcrunchit.com/2008/10/22/facebook-connect-and-openid-relationship-status-%E2%80%9Cit%E2%80%99s-complicated%E2%80%9D/</ref>, the service enables Facebook users to login to affiliated sites using their Facebook account and share information from such sites with their Facebook friends. Here is Facebook's own list of all the sites that have implemented Facebook Connect ([http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Facebook_Connect_Live_Sites partially only]) with a full scale implementation of it at [http://www.brainfall.com Brainfall.com]

<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/technology/24facebook.html?ref=business New Tool From Facebook Extends Its Web Presence - NYTimes.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Criticism of Facebook]]
*[[Facebook Beacon]]
*[[Google Friend Connect]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [http://20bits.com/2007/06/04/an-introduction-to-fbml/ An Introduction to FBML]
* [http://marketingasolicitor.com/?p=148 Facebook Status Suggestions]
* [http://calebbrown.id.au/blog/2008/04/complete-list-facebook-chat-emoticons Complete list of Facebook Chat Emoticons]

{{Facebook}}

[[Category:Facebook]]
[[Category:Online social networking]]
[[Category:Software features]]

Revision as of 04:15, 20 January 2009

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