Is Facebook a Great Invention or the end of Privacy?

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Is Facebook a great invention or the end of privacy?
Facebook has become one of the most popular sites among several social networks sites; Facebook like most social sites is a great invention that allows users to interact with other people across the universe. Facebook is, with no doubt, a wonderful innovation that has some disadvantages and also creates some obligation too. This essay examines if Facebook is a great invention or if Facebook has ended privacy.
Facebook represents the beginning of a new era; users can learn more about the internet. It has created new communities and relationships. Facebook originally was invented by Mark Zuckerberg along with his roommate as an online yearbook containing names and faces of students living in Harvard residence hall. The main purpose was for students to get to know each other easily and share valuable information. When it went public in 2006, Facebook has since become the fastest growing exchange of messages (Stem 9). The site is popular around the world, with billions of people having signed up. However, experts question if people are losing privacy without knowing, or if it is appropriate to share almost everything happening in individuals’ lives.
The reason Facebook is with no doubt a wonderful innovation is that the invention is free and considered one of the best means of communication; when using Facebook, users connect to all types of people from everywhere. This gives users the opportunity to reconnect with old friends all over the world. People can search for their old friends and interact often in a closed group. People with the common interest can easily interact often through Facebook. With the dynamic functions, Facebook has become useful for learning as students can create study groups. Facebook is considered as a second learning tool as it increases user's skills in technology. Students share ideas about several issues affecting them as teachers also have recognized the importance of Facebook modifying their teaching styles (Atmaca 182).
Recently, Facebook revolutionized the way online businesses are conducted. For instant, small business can share their latest products to a few friends or people all over the world through Facebook. Sales promotion can also be done through Facebook reducing advertising costs. Facebook users can easily interact and share their feedback and experience of a product through Facebook. Privacy is managed through the privacy settings. All the post of a particular group can be modified to make it a closed group. This means anyone cannot see the group contents unless he becomes a member of the group (Atmaca 191).
Many scholars are constantly concerned about security, privacy, and inappropriate contents and cyber bullying that comes along with using such sites. Some colleges have the restriction on the use of Facebook to avoid its addiction especially to students as a way of controlling distraction. However, some scholars argue that Facebook cannot be used for learning because it is a tool for free time activity. Most students use it as a time killer and if one uses Facebook to learn, might get distracted and get interested in other things, forgetting to learn. Therefore, they emphasize that...