ghana on facebook

Everybody is on Facebook, from basic school pupils to the trendy grandma and grandpa, almost everybody is now hooked to the social network in Ghana: In some high schools, you are termed "collo" old school when you do not have a Facebook account. So what is so special about Facebook? What is Facebook and why are most people especially young Africans especially Ghanaians obsessed with it.? How many Ghanaians are on Facebook? What do they do on Facebook? Are they any pros and cons of Facebook? This article is an attempt to briefly educate Ghanaians on the above questions.
Ghana has a total of 1482280 people using Facebook today as at the time of publication. We believe that this number excludes all Ghanaians residing abroad. Of the total statistics, 70% are men and the 30% women. To quote directly from the source here are the details:
"Our social networking statistics show that Facebook penetration in Ghana is 6.09% compared to the country's population and 63.63% in relation to number of Internet users. The total number of Monthly Active Facebook Users (MAU) in Ghana is approximately 1482280 and declined by more than -191760 in the last 6 months. Monthly Active Users measures the number of people who have been active on Facebook during a 30-day-period."
So what then is Facebook?
According to WISEGEEK, Facebook is a social networking website intended to connect friends, family, and business associates. It is the largest of the networking sites, with the runner up being MySpace. It began as a college networking website and has expanded to include anyone and everyone.
The GCFLEARNFREE site defines Facebook as the world's most popular social networking website. It makes it easy for you to connect and share with your family and friends online. Facebook has even helped the web become more open and social.
On its site BBC UK's WEBWise explain the social network site as having started in the United States as a way for some college kids to stay in touch when they had left campus - and it's evolved since then to become one of the largest social networks in the world.
WIKIPEDIA describes Facebook as an online social networking service, whose name stems from the colloquial name for the book given to students at the start of the academic year by some university administrations in the United States to help students get to know each other.
According to WISEGEEK, the history of Facebook started at Havard. It was founded by 2004 by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg and some of his friends, and originally called thefacebook. It was quickly successful on campus and expanded beyond Harvard into other Ivy League schools. With the phenomenon growing in popularity, Zuckerberg enlisted two other students, Duston Moskovitz and Chris Hughes, to assist. Within months, thefacebook became a nationwide college networking website.
Zuckerberg and Moskovitz left Harvard to run thefacebook full time shortly after taking the site national. In August of 2005, thefacebook was renamed Facebook, and the domain was purchased for a reported $200,000 US Dollars (USD). At that time, it was only available to schools, universities, organizations, and companies within English speaking countries, but has since expanded to include anyone.
Facebook users create a profile page that shows their friends and networks information about themselves. The choice to include a profile in a network means that everyone withing that network can view the profile. The profile typically includes the following: Information, Status, Friends, Friends in Other Networks, Photos, Notes, Groups, and The Wall.
Facebook is a great way to meet friends and keep up on what they are doing. Once you add a friend to your Facebook friend list you will always know when they are adding things to their blog or updating their profile. Join Facebook groups to meet people like you, or browse the profiles to find new friends. Facebook's classmates and co-worker search is good for finding friends too.
Pros
Keep Track Of Friends: Facebook tells you when your friends are updating their profiles, adding to their blogs or have some other news on their website.
Photo Album: Add photos and photo albums to your Facebook profile.
Blog Merge: Use the blog feature to create your own simple blog or you can merge your existing blog right into Facebook's blog.
Excellent Search and Browse: Search and browse for people on Facebook using just about any search features.
No Chatroom: I really would have thought that a site like Facebook would have a chatroom or general forum so people can get together online and just chat and say "hi". They don't. They do have an IM feature though, it's called Chat.
Cons
No Music: You can not add music to your Facebook profile.
No Video: You also cannot add video to your Facebook profile.
WHY FACEBOOK

Facebook and other social networking websites can be very confusing for those who have never used it. So if you are having friends and family request that you get on Facebook, but aren't sure why you should use Facebook, continue reading.
Why Facebook?
Facebook can be thought of as your home on the Internet. It's a place people can go to leave you a message, browse through your photo collections, or even chat with you while you are online. It can be a great way to keep in contact with friends and family, and even find long lost friends that you haven't spoken to in years.
The Facebook "wall" is where it all happens. This is where you write comments on what you are up to or share photos and articles with your friends. You'll also see what your friends and family are posting on their wall, and anyone on your friends list can come by and write a comment on your wall. So not only is the Facebook wall a great place to let everyone know you are back from vacation and post trip photos, it is also a place where conversations are started.
Facebook is your online photo album
In addition to keeping up with friends and family, Facebook is a great place to upload all of those family photos. Ordinarily, you'd have to whip out the photo album when people are over at the house, but uploading them to Facebook means the parents can look at their grandchildren anytime they want.
Facebook for fun, games and more
There is also a lot more to Facebooking than just post on your friend's wall. You can play online games like Mafia Wars whereby you will enlist the aid of your friends to knock off a bank or take down a gang leader. You can also use Facebook applications to map out who you are related to on Facebook and even chat with any friends and family that are online.
Facebook for business
You can also use Facebook to connect with co-workers and old co-workers to keep the workplace networking going. It's a fact that one of the best ways to find a new job is to be recommended by a friend, so keeping up with business contacts can be very important.
Facebook for finding old friends
Ever wonder whatever happened to your prom date? Or your best friend from middle school? With more and more people joining Facebook, it is becoming a great place to look up old friends and getting back in touch.
Remember to start slow
Now that you know what all you can do with Facebook, the trick is to not become overwhelmed by trying to do everything at once. Start slow by sending friend requests to your friends and family and reading what's up on their wall. Once you get accustomed to the interface, you can expand your use to uploading photo albums, and from there, begin experimenting with some of the neat Facebook applications.