Facebook Effect, David Kirkpatrick, Part 3

    Facebook has become a major impact upon  our culture since its introduction. Social networking has become a large part of our society now. Time spent on social networking greatly exceeded time spent by internet users on e-mail, according to the Nielsen Company research firm in March 2009. Time spent on social networks grew 63 percent in 2008 around the world. However, Facebook would greatly exceed this, as time spent on Facebook had grown 566 percent in a year. This just shows the very impact Facebook had upon our society and culture. Nielsen calculated that by the end of 2008, 30 percent of the world’s Internet users were on Facebook. In fact, the only service with more users than Facebook was Google.
    The idea of total domination by Facebook seemed like a joke, but the reality of it seems surprisingly close. Facebook had become globalized, in that Facebook was available to nearly every major nation in the world. In fact, the freedom that comes with Facebook greatly clashes with ideology of people and nations around the world. Kirkpatrick mentions how a father in Saudi Arabia caught his daughter interacting with men on Facebook, and killed her. Certain group arose throughout the world, and governments, in response to some, attempted to ban them. It is here that we see how Facebook has grew to encompass a global position in our culture. Facebook now effects and is effected by the world and the ideology that people have. Cultural differences would affect Facebook as well, as people of many different cultures would come to Facebook and interact with each other. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen had supporters on his Facebook page. He used it as a way to connect with the ordinary voters. Obscure Colombian rock bands like Koyi K Utho found an audience on Facebook to promote concerts and albums. These are just some examples of how Facebook is being utilized in our day and age. President Obama had set up social networking pages during his presidential campaign as well, showing the impact Facebook had upon our society.