Facebook In Mass Communication Mass communication can be described as a process a message is created and transmitted by an individual, group of persons, or an organization. This usually involves the use of some medium and the message is spread to a large, anonymous, heterogeneous audience (Pearce, 2009). Mass communication has undergone a lot of evolution from the prehistoric forms of art and writing to the current methods of communication such as the internet. The term mass communication became relevant when messages could be transmitted from a single source to multiple receivers. The study of mass communication is therefore viewed as an application of diverse media options such as television, radio, advertising, and social media among others.

The growth of social network sites has been very significant for the last two decades and over thirty major sites being launched since 1997. In the midst of all these developments came the now popular site Facebook. These social network sites cannot be ignored in the study of mass communication since they have been embraced widely in spreading information and have led to the participation of a larger population leading to what may be referred to as "citizen journalism." For instance, the spread of messages such as emergency warnings, or even activism campaigns have been done reliably through Facebook. This is because many people focus on such sites to obtain news, facts, product information, and entertainment. Content that is posted in such sites by friends are easily trusted as compared to news from the conventional media. It is also important to note that relaying messages via Facebook easy, cheap, and rapid (Hodge, 2006).

Like any other new communication network, Facebook has influenced other media in various ways. Since the messages posted or shared on Facebook are instantly accessed by the...

Facebook also has a worldwide coverage whereas other media like television and radio are limited in range which has greatly reduced the popularity of these media. Advertising has also shifted to Facebook whether commercial, political campaigns or general awareness campaigns. This is forcing other media come up with more creative ways of presenting their advertisements to lure clients to choosing them over Facebook. Generally, the growth of Facebook has led to the other media being considered second in line especially when the message involved is urgent.
With the popularity of Facebook increasing every day, a number of changes take place in the society or in terms of policy. Information flows easily and globally through Facebook thereby exposing the society to a lot of information some of which may be harmful. This is especially a concern where underage children are involved (Hodge, 2006). Some members of the society also join Facebook for the wrong reasons like tracking the activities of an individual or stoking. The society has also been victims of misinformation since some people post or share wrong information, either intentionally or otherwise, and the unsuspecting users take it as the truth. Facebook has also been used to spread hate messages against governments and institutions leading to serious uprisings. Subsequently, various authorities have come up with policies to control the use and access of Facebook and in some instances the use has been banned.

The popularity of Facebook has been gained over a period of time since its inception in February 2004. The main man behind this web site is Zukerberg working hand in hand with…