2011

Social networking websites, such as Facebook and MySpace, have grown in tremendous popularity, particularly amongst current college and graduate students (Buckman, 2005). Facebook was created in 2004, and now, according to the most recent statistics listed on Facebook itself, there are more than 500 million active users, 50% of whom log in daily (Facebook statistics, 2010). On the Facebook website, people connect by asking to be a friend to another online participant. The recipient of this request has a choice to accept or decline the friend invitation. The average Facebook user has 130 friends (Facebook statistics, 2010).