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The Popular Social Networking WebsiteFacebook

Abstract
Nowadays, with advance and progress of technology, the Internet has become an indispensable medium in our lives. In particular, social networking websites develop prosperously, and even play an important role in our lives. For example, the popular social networking websites Facebook is loved by all ages. The reason why Facebook causes a sensation is it has various kinds of games and psychological tests. People can view the latest situation of their friends, which makes it easy for people to grasp where friends are all the time by smart phone. Through questionnaire survey, we learn that the most attractive game on Facebook is Happy Farm. In addition, we analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of Facebook.The advantages include the functions like blogs as well as a lot of games, while the disadvantage is that its stability is not enough. Some users consider that the games on Facebook lacking the sense of freshness. Besides, they hope Facebook can present new games constantly. Other users think that although Facebook possess the functions such as blogs. However, they dont have the authority to design their website content by themselves. Therefore, they cant show their uniqueness. Even so, most users are satisfied with Facebook. We believe that as long as Facebook can improve the problems which were proposed by users. Facebook will be more and more popular in the world. Keywords: Facebook, Social Networking Website

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Table of Contents
Abstract-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------i Table of Contents-------------------------------------------------------------------------------ii I. Introduction------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 I.1. Background of the Study---------------------------------------------------------------1 I.2. Motivation of the Study----------------------------------------------------------------1 I.3. Purposes of the Study-------------------------------------------------------------------1 II. Methods of the Study----------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 II.1. Literature Review-------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 II.2. Questionnaire Survey-----------------------------------------------------------------2 II.3. Flow Chart -----------------------------------------------------------------------------2 III. Discussion---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 III.1. Major Social Networking Service of Facebook---------------------------------- 2 III.2. The Issues of Privacy---------------------------------------------------------------- 4 III.3. The SWOT Analysis of Facebook------------------------------------------------- 5 III.4. Others Competing Websites-------------------------------------------------------- 5 III.5. The Questionnaire Data Analysis-------------------------------------------------- 6 IV. Suggestions---------------------------------------------------------------------------------11 V. Conclusion-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------11 VI. References ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------12 VII. Appendix-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------13

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I. Introduction
I.1. Background of the Study
We are in a computerized world. Without a doubt, using computer plays an important role in our lives. Howard Gardner is an educational doctor in Harvard University. He thinks aside from language and intelligence, the wisdom of human beings also includes space, body, interpersonal relationship, music, introspection, observation and so on. As the proverb goes,A scholar does not step outside his gate, yet he knows the happening under the sun. Internet can help us realize the development of the world. Nowadays, the functions of Internet even contain chatting, sending letters, writing articles, sharing films, videos and so on. In recent years, the social networking website of Harvard University has become an international extensive social networking website. It uses games to help make friends. Making friends becomes simple and no stress. Because Facebook only takes little time to make you know each other, the range of making friends become wider. As a result, Facebook get a great popularity.

I.2. Motivation of the Study


The age layer of Facebook users are diverse and Facebook may cause some privacy problems. There is no doubt that Facebook is a common social networking website nowadays. Therefore, our team thinks that any success depends on the support of the public. We even want to comprehend and discuss the reason why Facebook gets such an unexpected success.

I.3. Purposes of the Study


(1) To realize the most attractive game for the users on Facebook (2) To research the advantages and disadvantages of Facebook (3) To understand the satisfaction of the users on Facebook

II. Methods of the Study


II.1. Literature Review

We search the topic of Facebook through books, magazines, and the sources on the Internet. We archive the information about this topic to understand the development of Facebook.

II.2. Questionnaire Survey


According to the questions on the questionnaire, we try to divide and define Facebooks group. Then, we try to explore Facebooks disadvantages and advantages based on the results from the questionnaire. Finally, we organize the results in the papers and make suggestions and conclusions.

II.3. Flow Chart


develop the research subject confirm the research subject study the research subject search related information arrange typesetting design and deliver the questionnaire recover and count the questionnaire conclusion and suggestion

complete the project


Figure 1. The Process of Researching Project

III. Discussion

III.1. Major Social Networking Service of Facebook


Social networking websites provide internet pals who have similar interests a place where they can build and strengthen the social interaction on the Internet. Most of social networking websites provide services for users to interact with each other, including chatting, sending e-mails and videos, sharing files, writing articles on blogs
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and taking part in the group of discussion. It is Facebook that it combines these functions after the revision. The reason why Facebook is more popular than any other social networking service is that it is not limited by what we called the Limited Groups. Mark Zuckerberg expressed that he designed his logo as figure2 with simple blue words and white background. Moreover, he considered simplicity means that everyone can use this web. He considered that people may dislike those gorgeous layouts so he used the blue to represent freedom and the white to stand for simplicity to constitute the logo. In addition, the logo makes a good impression on people. Facebook provides some functions which are the keys to success:

Figure 2. The Picture of Facebook Logo

III.1.1. The participation of fans Facebook will hold some simple activities from time to time. For instance, they will invite some popular stars to take part in the activities so as to have the fans realize what is called a sense of participation. The games on Facebook will even introduce new activities or new features so that the users will not feel bored but were attracted by the website. III.1.2. The immediate response to fans comments and problems Facebook set an important department to respond to the comments and questions of fans. Behind the successful websites, there are vast fans to support them. Therefore, as long as fans have difficulty in something, Facebook will respond and deal with the questions immediately that make them feel being valued so that they are willing to support Facebook. Besides, Facebook will integrate all the negative comments to find out how to make progress. III.1.3. The establishment of effective talking space and enhanced interpersonal relationships

Facebook offers people a simple setting that makes it possible to contact strangers. People will like this website because they feel that they are popular by means of this function. However, people will only interact with the people whom they know on Facebook by chatting because they are unfamiliar with those Internet pals. Those who will spend a lot of time on Facebook are usually unpopular in the real world. Because people do not have to communicate with them face to face in the real world, they are not under stress and are protected by the Internet. This is the key to success of social networking website that deliberately maintains some kind of distance and thus enables the contact and communication to be easier. III.1.4. Commercial use The application on Facebook can not only be used to play games, but also be used in commercial applications such as Yu-Jan-Shin. Yu-Jan-Shin release theMazu cookiesin the way to send bonus(free exchange gifts) by Facebook to attract more customers. As the result, the sales volume reaches up to NT$ 20,000 each day. In order to attract new clients to join, as long as you enroll your account, you can get the bonus points. Therefore, it often gets the majority of the response on the Internet. Shops can use this simple way to improve their sales. Besides, customers can discuss on the Internet and communicate with the shops. Therefore, the shops can know what products the customers really need. Then, the shops can have a wider range of orders than before. III.1.5. Community service Facebook can also be used in the community service, such as a charity bazaar club which initiates an activity namedDonate Hundred Dollars Each Month to Save Dogs and Catson the Facebook. Their goal is to help stray animals lives to be safe and healthy. Only donate one hundred NT dollars can exchange one CD or DVD even album. Although this is a simple act but it can bring a lot of assistances to animals. Facebook which is widely-known to people around the world is willing to help those animals in need. Facebook uses this way to help those who are benevolent combine their power.

III.2. The Issues of Privacy


We offer the complete control to the users, so the information of Facebook will not be leaked to the whole Internet. The users desire to have further control over their
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personal information which the people can view. (Kelly C, 2007). According to these words, the purpose of Facebook is to improve the relations among people. Yet, there are still some problems of privacy. Recently Facebook allow users to set the using right so that they can share their pictures as well as articles to specific groups or people that the users appoint. This is Facebooks improvement for privacy.

III.3. The SWOT Analysis of Facebook


SWOT analysis can be used to realize the superiority of the product on the market with the simple chart. Therefore, our team make a simple SWOT chart. The following is the analysis and discussion of Facebook which is made by our team.
Chart1. The SWOT Analysis of Facebook

Strengths 1. The most popular social networking service recently. 2. Facebook has many simple and easy games and people can easilier use it. 3. Its easy for people to make new friends. 4. Facebook has a wide selection of games and suits people from all ages. Opportunities

Weaknesses 1. Have less personal privacy. 2. Some negative news continuously make impacts on Facebook. 3. Some users spend too much money on the Facebook games.

Threats

1. Combining the commercial products help 1. Other social networking services release improve peoples willingness to take part their new games continuously. in. 2. Its easier for others social networking 2. Most users of this social networking services to imitate the games because of service are young people. Therefore, to thier simple designs. grasp the young people also grasps the 3. If Facebook does not revise or release new business, too. games, it will likely to be replaced. 3. Smartphone combining the function of Facebook makes people use this web easilier.

III.4. Others Competing Websites


There are some social networking websites which compete with Facebook as follows 1. MySpace: Thanks to excessive commercialization, most users do not like it.
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2. Twitter: Presently, most of the twitters users are in western countries. Because the interface is presented in English, it is not popular in Taiwan. 3. Plurk: It has gotten a lot of popularity in Taiwan. If it keeps on adding new functions, it will pose a threat to Facebook.
Chart 2. The comparison between Facebook and Other Social Networking Websites

The name of social networking website Facebook

Advantages

Disadvantages

1. Own the functions 1. Not have enough stability. such as blogs. 2. Have some negative news. 2. Have ample games and psychological tests. 1. Have straightforward functions. 2. No limitation on the quantity of friends. 1. Most celebrities, movie stars, and the news of media choose to use it. 1. After excessive commercialization, the popularity decreases quickly. 2. Not have games or psychological tests. 1. The limitation of messages is within 140 words. 2. Presently, it is still presented interface in English, so it doesnt attract to Internet Pals in Taiwan.

MySpace

Twitter

Plurk

1. Have interface of 1. The limitation of messages is Chinese. within140 words. 2. Have the better privacy 2. Have no functions of photo protection. album.

III.5. The Questionnaire Data Analysis


We can let the users understand easily through the questionnaires. We present the findings of survey through sampling and statistics. We found one hundred participants to fill out this questionnaire.

III.5.1. The analysis about age and gender


45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 12~ 15 16~ 20 21 ma l e fe ma l e

According

to Figure 3, female participants are 71% users and male participants are 39% users. Besides, the majority of the users age is between sixteen and twenty. According to the statistics, we can learn that the female users are more than male. Moreover, most users are junior high school and senior high school students.

Figure 3. The chart of usersage and gender

III.5.2. The rate of users whether get in touch with Facebook or not
60 50 40 30 20 10 0 co n tact n o t co n tact m ale f em ale

Based on Figure 4, we can learn that there are 90% of participants once getting in touch with Facebook. As a result, we can learn Facebook has expanded into the group of young people.

Figure 4. The proportion of contact of Facebook

III.5.3. The analysis of use frequency for users


25 20 15 10 5 0 m ale f em ale

Figure 5 shows that there are 50% of participants who use Facebook everyday, and there are 19% of participants using Facebook once a month.

ev er y d ay

Figure 5. The chart of the use of frequency 7

o n ce a week

o v er a m o n th

III.5.4. The analysis on how much time users spend on Facebook


30 25 20 15 10 5 0 under 30 minutes 1 to 2 hours over 2 hours male female

Figure 6 indicates that there are 44% of participants who use Facebook under 30 minutes once a time, and there are 24% of participants who use Facebook above two hours once a time.

Figure 6. The time chart

III.5.5. The analysis of using place


50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 a t hom e a t sc hool a t of f ic e othe r pla c e s m a le f e m a le

According to Figure 7, it shows that 90% of participants use Facebook at home, and the percentage of using at other places is very low. Through this, we can conclude that users regard Facebook as an entertainment after they finish their all day work.

Figure 7. The chart of using place

III.5.6. The analysis of enjoying the games on Facebook or not


50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 li ke di sl i ke ma le fe ma le

Based on Figure 8, there are 75% of participants enjoying playing Facebook games; however, there are just 20% of participants dont like to play the games on Facebook. Therefore, most of participants are satisfied with Facebook.

Figure 8. The chart of liking build-in games

III.5.7. The analysis of why they like Facebook


40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 for fun ki l l t i me ma ke ne w fri e nds ot he rs ma l e fe ma le

According to Figure 9, there are 56% of participants who contact Facebook just to kill time without speific purpose. Besides, 26% of particpants using Facebook just for fun. The purpose of 12% of people is to get acquainted with more friends. As a result, most of participants use Facebook because they have no idea about what they can do in their spare time.

Figure 9. The reason why they are fond of Facebook

III.5.8. The analysis of games of Facebook that is popular among men and women Figure 10 shows that there are 29% of male participants like Happy Farm, 24% like My Kingdom, 18% like Happy Aquarium, 11% like Animal Paradise, and 11% like Littlewar. The statistics above shows the most popular games among males are Happy Farm and My Kingdom.

Ha ppy Aqua ri um Ha ppy F a rm Ani ma l P a ra di se Li tt l e wa r My Kingdom ot he rs

Figure 10. The chart of the games of Facebook that male like.

Ha ppy Aqua ri um Ha ppy F a rm Ani m a l P a ra di s e Li t t l e wa r My Ki ngdom ot he rs

Figure 11. The chart of games which female like

Based on Figure 11, 30% female participants like Happy Aquarium, 25% like Happy Farm, 15% like My Kingdom, 14% like Animal Paradise, and 10% like Littlewar. According to the statistics above, the most popular games among females are Happy Aquarium and Happy Farm. Due to the two statistics in Figure 10 and 11, men and women like different kinds of games, but Happy Farm is popular both with male and female users.
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III.5.9. The analysis on the games of Facebook which male and female users dislike
Ha ppy Aqua ri um Ha ppy F a rm Ani ma l P a ra di se Li t t le wa r My Ki ngdom ot he rs

Figure 12 indicates that 23% of males dislike My Kingdom, 13% dislike Happy Farm, 13% dislike Littlewar, 11% dislike Happy Aquarium, 8% dislike Animal Paradise, and 29% dislike other games.

Figure 12. The chart of games which male dislike

Ha ppy Aqua ri um Ha ppy F a rm Ani ma l P a ra di se Li t t l e wa r My Ki ngdom ot he rs

Based on Figure 13, 4% of female dislike My Kingdom, 9% dislike Animal Paradise, 12% dislike Happy Farm, 15% dislike Happy Aquarium, 15% dislike Littlewar, and 21% dislike other games. The figure 12 and figure 13 show that users like well-known games best.

Figure 13. The chart of games which female dislike

III.5.10. The analysis of why users do not play the games of Facebook anymore According to Figure 14, there are 15% of participants thinking playing those games is a waste of time, 35% of participants think that the quality of those games is bad, 40% of participants think those games dont attract them anymore. The statistics show that most users are tired of the consistent and unchanged styles so that they will think that playing those games is a waste of time.

25 20 15 10 5 0 the games are too monotonous the qulaities of games are unstable male female

Figure 14. The reasons why they dislike play the games on Facebook

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III.5.11. The analysis of those who never connect Facebook would like to give it a try
25 20 15 10 5 0 ma le fe ma l e

ye s

no

Figure15. There are 75 % of participants who are willing to give it a try. However, there are 25 % of participants who have no interest in those games. Therefore, if the corporation of Facebook wants to make their social networking even better than before, they should take this potential market into account.

Figure 15. The scale drawing of those who never connect Facebook would like to try it

IV. Suggestions
Generally speaking, Facebook has been a popular social networking website, users are able to play games on Facebook, chat with friends, and acquire news without paying anything. Through the response of users, we think Facebook should improve itself in order to gain more users to use it. Besides, because the users on Facebook complain that the computer will be suddenly out of control when playing the games on Facebook. We think Facebook should improve the unstable weakness. The cycle time of market is very short. Therefore, we think Facebook is supposed to release new games constantly, which help users maintain the sense of freshness so that Facebook is able to grasp the whole market. Facebook has the similar functions as blog, but users cant be free to design their own blog on Facebook. In order to attract those people, Facebook probably can add the function to allow users to build a homepage by themselves .Then, every time they log in, they can see the interface which they design. Through this, users can show their uniqueness. Therefore, Facebook can become more diverse and make users enjoy it more.

V. Conclusion
In the beginning, we were not familiar with Facebook, but after investigating, we
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learned more about it, including the differences between Facebook and other social networking websites, the age of users, a variety of functions on Facebook, and why Facebook is more popular than others. We realized the users opinions toward Facebook through questionnaire survey. We think after using it for a period of time, most users will like it and enjoy the convenience and advantages it bring. On the other hand, Facebook should present more interesting games and services than before to maintain its dominant status in market. Facebook can be used in the commerce and other public aspects. Therefore, Facebook has a great potential to develop other functions in the future.

VI. References

1. 2005 2. 2010Facebook1259-67 3. 2011Twitter2011918 http://www.ithome.com.tw/itadm/article.php?c=56200 4. Facebook20082011926 http://www.bnext.com.tw/article/view/cid/0/id/9472 5. Kelly C. 20072011102 http://www.zdnet.com.tw/news/software/0,2000085678,20120863,00.

VII. Appendix
Questionnaire survey Hello: We are students from Department of Applied Foreign Language in National Tsaotun Commercial and Industrial Vocation Senior High School. This questionnaire is made up to understand your viewpoint on Facebook. There are no rights or wrong answers to questions in this questionnaire. Please choose the best answer according to your point of view. The information you provide is only for the academic research. The questionnaire is only for our senior project. Its not open to public, please fill in 12 according to your recent condition, thank you!

1. Gender : Male

Female

2. Age : 12~15 16~20 above 21 3. Have you ever used Facebook ? Yes question12. ) No ( If you chooseNo,please turn to

4. How often do you use Facebook ? everyday once a week once a month 5. How long do you use Facebook a time ? less than 30 min above 2 hours 6. Where do you usually use Facebook ? at home at school others 1 hour to 2 hours

at office

7. Do you enjoy playing the games of Facebook ? Yes No ( If you chooseNo,please turn to question11.) 8. Why do you like Facebook ? just for fun just to kill time just to acquaint more friends others 9. Which games do you like most : Happy Aquarium Happy Farm Paradise Littlewar My Kindom others 10. Which games do you dislike most ? Happy Aquarium Happy Farm Animal Paradise Littlewar My Kindom others 11. Why dont you like Facebook ? The sense of freshness disappear too fast It wastes time The quality of games is unstable 12. Do you want to contact Facebook ? Yes No (This question is prepared for the people who answer No at the question 3. ) * This is the end of the questionnaire survey, thank you very much * Animal

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