Facebook is the most downloaded app on the Apple App Store. On Google Play, it is also one of the most, if not the most, downloaded app with over a billion downloads. Everyone who owns a smartphone, has to have the Facebook app on it.

Importance of Facebook's User Base

Facebook's business model is based entirely on its user base. As it is a free service, all of its revenue is ad-based. And ad-based will only increase if the number of users of the service increase.

Facebook already has an immense user base but it wants to keep on growing. With almost everyone in the developed world using Facebook (or shunning it), all the opportunity for growth lies in the developing world. Its internet.org campaign about bringing internet access to everyone in the world is an indication that Facebook's ultimate goal is to have literally everyone in the world using Facebook. 

Why Facebook Lite?

But as everybody who owns a smartphone, or any computing device for that matter, knows how they have a habit of freezing and getting stuck while doing even simple tasks. Unless you always have the latest smartphone on the market, you must have come across this situation.

As it turns out, Facebook has decided that a significant portion of its user base, at this moment in time, uses low end smartphones which struggle to run the Facebook app smoothly. To solve this, they have developed a new app called Facebook Lite for people running lower end smartphones.

Facebook Lite is all about making Facebook more easily accessible and easier to use than ever before for low end users. If an app freezes or responds very slowly, users will definitely get annoyed and irritated and with time, the time spend using the app will increase. So Facebook has acted, and has developed an app to solve this issue.

With Facebook aggressively targeting the populations of developing countries, it seems that the rise of Facebook will only continue in the coming years.

Facebook has over 1.35 billion users around the world. Such is the saturation of the social networking site that it is hard to see anyone who doesn't have a Facebook account. From kids as young as 10 to old people in their 70s, everybody uses Facebook. 

Facebook Not Worth It

If somebody in today's world does not have a Facebook account, it is safe to assume that he has got a reason behind this decision to not have a presence on the world's most popular online social platform. I have come across a few people who say that they refuse to accept the society's demands to have a Facebook account. They believe that being on Facebook will not be of any benefit to them and will only result in a waste of time and energy. Thus they decide to stay off Facebook. In doing so, they are rejecting the social norm of having a Facebook account. They are rejecting Facebook to make a statement.

Is Facebook Self-Advertisement?

Others who do not use Facebook say they believe Facebook is nothing more than a way to advertise your own life to people who don't really matter. They say they are not interested in sharing their movie nights out and their relationship statuses to an audience of 500 or more friends, some of which they have not seen for years. They believe that posting and sharing updates about your own life is a meaningless way to fuel your own self esteem by getting likes and attention. They thus avoid Facebook and choose to use other ways to get in touch with people they actually care about.

Both of these people have one thing in common. They believe that Facebook is not worth their time and energy. They have decided to use other ways to get in touch with their friends and they have rejected the society's demands to have a Facebook presence. In other words, they refuse to use Facebook and in doing so, they are making a strong statement.

Facebook and other social media services foray deep into our lives has allowed brands and companies looking for customers to get to us in a completely new way. Whether it be through a Facebook page, Twitter account or an Instagram one, brands have found ways to interact with audiences like never before.

Marketing Pages

The primary purpose for a company or a brand to create a Facebook page is marketing. Facebook has proved to be a brilliant marketing took and companies are spending more and more to increase the effectiveness of their Facebook marketing campaigns. However, when companies create a Facebook page, they are also creating a new way for customers to contact them. 

Gone are the days when a toll free number or an email address were the only ways to contact a company and get customer service. Now much more convenient ways exist, Facebook being one of them.

A Facebook page meant for marketing will also receive a lot of feedback through likes, comments and shares. The same people giving that feedback will also be looking for details or have complaints that they want the company to hear.

Replying to Queries

To maintain a good Facebook following, the company has to provide good customer service through their Facebook page. They have to reply to messages in their inboxes very quickly and nicely. Even more important is to answer queries in the comments section on their posts. Such comments are public and when the people see that the company is listening and replying to queries, it automatically creates a positive perception that the company cares about its customers.

In this world of intense competition, it is of utmost importance that you maintain a positive reputation for the company. When a customer has choices, he will choose the company he happens to like the most. And Facebook is now at the forefront of creating that positive image.

It is an undeniable fact that Facebook has had a profound effect on a lot of aspects of our life; none more so than on our personal relationships. Facebook was created with the idea of providing a way for people to interact. In a period of over a decade, it has grown to be much more than just that. It is not only a facilitator of relationships, but it defines personal relationships.

Reigniting Old Friendships

Most of us have a few hundred friends in our friend lists. This includes people we interact with today and also those with whom we have interacted in the past but are no longer in touch with. This means that Facebook is an excellent way to keep in touch with old friends and keep old friendships alive.

Developing New Ones

As for current friends, Facebook provides a very convenient platform to communicate, interact and have fun on. This extends our interaction time by giving us the opportunity to interact even when we are not together. With Facebook so mainstream, you can choose to spend all of your waking hours with a few people if you want to; something which would not have been possible a decade ago.

Relationships & Facebook

As far as relationships are concerned, Facebook provides us with a new way to show our partners that we care about them. A change of the display picture or a meaningful caption goes to show how you feel about your partner without being too over the top. Again, Facebook has provided means to interact with your partner when you are away and helps the two of you connect in ways not possible before. I also recommend you read Top things you should never do on Facebook when in a relationship.

The Negative Effects

All these positive effects of Facebook have helped us develop personal relationships like never before. However, it would be not be right to conclude this without discussing Facebook's negative effects. As a result of Facebook's infiltration of our lives and our time, we often do not have time to interact physically with people as often we should. Gatherings have turned into online chats and group discussions have been replaced by online video calls. This results in an unnatural way of interaction, something which should only facilitate, not replace physical contact.

Altogether, Facebook is a brilliant social interaction tool, but only if it is used to facilitate relationships, not replace existing ones.