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Facebook and Twitter show how social networking is changing the Net and communication
It may not really be the case that food, water, sleep, clothes, shelter and Facebook are each a necessity of daily life, but it seems almost true for hard-core FB'ers. And their ranks keep swelling swiftly. The social networking site, born five years ago in a Harvard dorm room, last week passed 200 million users -- double the number logged just eight months earlier. Go ahead and say "wow" -- lots of folks are. "That staggering growth rate . . . suggests Facebook is rapidly becoming the Web's dominant social ecosystem and an essential personal and business networking tool in much of the wired world," says The New York Times. At the same time, Facebook is the target of widespread member complaints -- most recently over changes it made to users' home pages. In a poll on the site, more than 1 million people voted against the new look.
Facebook also struggles to match the momentum of hot new start-ups like Twitter, the micro-blogging service that has 1.8 million members. One sign of its impact came last week, when a Washington Post reporter covering President Obama at a European summit posted minute-by-minute tweets (short updates) on his activities. Another challenge is to meet the diverse needs of Facebook's young early adopters along with growing numbers of moms, dads and companies promoting themselves.
Front Page Talking Points is written by
Felix Grabowski and Alan Stamm for NIEonline.com, Copyright 2013
We welcome comments or suggestions for future topics: Click here to Comment Front Page Talking Points Archive►Fresh population figures show the changing face of America ►U.S. scrutiny of online communication and calls stirs debate over snooping vs. security ►Facebook draws the line: Hateful, nasty posts about women are out of bounds ►Summer brings movie lineup of superheroes, zombies, sci-fi and comedies ►Federal safety board urges tougher drinking-and-driving cutoff limit to match other nations ►Northeast braces for noisy invasion: Flying cicada bugs return after hiding for 17 years ►U.S. military prison at Guantanamo, Cuba, remains a tricky problem for President Obama ►Doctors warn about serious health risks from 'The Cinnamon Challenge' video craze ►Earth Day on April 22 focuses attention on how we can protect the natural environment ►Thousands of past players take on the National Football League over brain injuries |
Show and discuss how newspapers build special-interest communities through events, giveaways, reader forums and other interactive features.
How many social media references can you find in one issue? Do any writers give a Twitter address at the end of articles or columns? 
Does it make sense for daily papers to have a social media presence, such as a "fan page" on Facebook? See if your paper is there. 
Facebook founder says: "It's great that we reached [200 million], especially in such a short amount of time. But there is so much more to do." -- Mark Zuckerberg, 24-year-old chief executive officer