Live Q&As

Working at Facebook is fun and challenging. We all have a common goal of helping you connect and share with the people you care about and we take that job very seriously. Many employees at Facebook choose to be friends on Facebook just as we are in the offline world. It’s particularly helpful for those of us in the Washington, DC office to be Facebook friends with our colleagues in Palo Alto, London, and around the world.

There are a lot of educators using Facebook in some really innovative ways, both in and out of the classroom.  Professor Zaharna's snow-day class is a great example, and there are more great uses from teachers across the country.  I was talking to a teacher earlier today who said that she has used Facebook Groups to provide a forum for students to continue classroom discussions online, encourage one another, and talk about things that might  never have come up in a classroom setting.  So there are definitely opportunities to use the platform to enhance the learning experience.

As a former journalist, I’m excited to see how media outlets – large and small – have embraced Facebook. We think our platform empowers news and media companies by enabling them to connect with their audiences in an authentic way, distribute information quickly, and gain a presence through viral networks. Personally, I like being able to “like” a story on WashingtonPost.com or CNN.com and see stories that my Facebook friends have also “liked.” Over the past week, I’ve been particularly struck by how news outlets have used Facebook to report from the front lines in Egypt as news breaks.

You aren't the only parent with questions about greek life. At many schools, the message officials want to send is that greek life has likely changed since you were in school -- it's less Animal House, and more leadership, philanthropy and service. (Not always, but a lot of the time.)

Rather than contact individual houses, you should feel free (with your son's permission) to contact the student affairs department that oversees greek life. Chances are, an administrator or staffer there can answer most of your questions. And a lot of this information is online. (Here's a parents' guide at Vanderbilt, and another at Elon.)

Plus, use your friends as resources -- do any of them have sons in fraternities? If so, ask them about their experiences.

And your son can always rush, see if he likes any of the houses and then make up his mind if frat life is for him.

We saw a drop in Egypt traffic last Thursday and for several days saw minimal to no traffic since the Internet was turned off. We're pleased that Internet service has been restored and the 5 million people who use Facebook in Egypt can continue using our service. I was interested to learn that since access was restored, we have more users than ever in Egypt. 

In class!?! Students shouldn't be doing anything in class but attentively listening, learning and participating, right? I can't imagine students doing anything but that...

This is a great question. The Internet overall is moving in a more social direction, and information is increasingly disseminated via social sharing, instead of a more traditional point-to-multipoint broadcasting model.  I think we've only started to scratch the surface of how this new mode of information dispersal will change our everyday lives, so the future for the field is bright!  Good luck with your job search!

That's a good question. Facebook lets you decide what information you want to share and with whom. Check out facebook.com/privacy for more information. You can create friend lists to limit what certain sets of people see about you. There's a great tutorial here that explains how to control how you share.

So just my personal perspective: my friends keep telling me that Facebook should get a "dislike" button (but my friends are cynical DC-types who don't like anything!).  But what I really want is an "acknowledge" button.  As in, "Oh, I'm sorry about your recent break-up, which I learned about in my News Feed.  I don't 'like' your breakup, but I 'acknowledge' that it has happened, and you have my sympathy."

As a future PR practitioner in the age of the 24/7 news cycle, you'll want to be pretty familiar with Facebook, Twitter and other social services. They are increasingly important in all aspects of business. You might want to "like" our PR on Facebook page where you'll find best practices  and conversations around using Facebook for PR. Go forth and conquer! 

Here's an awesome Facebook photo gallery that will show you how our site has evolved over the years . It's amazing to see how profiles have changed to meet the changing needs and desires of people who use our service

This is indeed one of the great questions of our time, and one that I'd be hard pressed to answer if I were about 10 years younger.  One thing I can say is that Facebook gives users very granular control over which of their data is shared with whom.  So my advice is to take the time to educate yourself about how to control the privacy of your data, and then go ahead and friend Mom and Dad.  Added bonus? A good working knowledge of the Facebook privacy controls will come in handy once you've graduated and start your job search!

Ah, a great question... It really depends on you and your field of work, as I think creative fields often allow their employees to have a little bit more fun than workplaces where wearing patterned tights is considered edgy. And if you are applying for a job specifically in social media, you really need to have a strong, professional online prescence. (I get suspicious when I can't find someone anywhere online.)

But, with all of that aside, you really want your employer to judge you on your resume, references, experience and interviews -- not your charming YouTube videos. If you are already have too much of a life online, just go through and edit down anything that's too edgy or embarrassing (and maybe get rid of that high school MySpace page). Use your privacy settings so that random people can see your profile picture and maybe a little info about you, but not your family holiday pictures. 

You want your online persona to show that you are an interesting human with a life outside of the office -- but you never want that to overshadow your qualities for the job.

Gabriel Shaoolian of Blue Fountain Media wrote a column about polishing your online persona. It was aimed at students applying to college, but the advice applies to job applicants, too!

Thanks very much for the kudos!  Here's a link to the story I think you're referring to, which details how our security team handled the situation.  http://bit.ly/hQ52n9

Facebook is being used by elected officials and government agencies around the world to better connect with citizens, provide information, and deliver services. We think Facebook presents policymakers with tremendous potential for transparency, collaboration, information sharing and citizen engagement. You might want to check out the following pages: Facebook.com/Congress, Facebook.com/Government, Facebook.com/USpolitics. There are some great resources there for elected officials and government agencies at all levels.

No, that's an urban legend and I'm glad we can put that to rest! 

Facebook takes the safety and security of our users very seriously. We don't condone cyberbullying and when users register on our site, they agree to our Statement of Rights and Responsibilities that states they cannot intimidate or harass other users. We will disable accounts that are found to be intimidating others in any way. We encourage people on Facebook to click the "report" links located across the site when they see content that is inappropriate or potentially harmful. Our highly trained team of investigators reviews those reports around the clock. It's also a good idea to confide in a parent, teacher or other family member if you're being bullied online. They can also assist.

I think this hits on a big problem that is facing educators right now: to really reach students, it's important to meet them where they are, and right now, that's on Facebook.  But the other side of that coin is that many educators feel like their students are overly connected to the online world, at the expense of their ability to interact with, analyze, and understand the offline world around them.   The solution, which is easy to say but probably harder to implement, is to strike a balance. 

The high school teacher I mentioned earlier, who created a Facebook Group for one of her classes, asked that the school--which usually blocks Facebook on campus--allow access to seniors, with the hope that they would be able to use the privelige responsibly.  The key is finding ways to incorporate online platforms in ways that complement, rather than compete with, what students are learning in class.

Admittedly that's an incomplete answer. I think the impulse to block Facebook on campuses is slowly being replaced with the idea that it can be incorporated into classroom objectives and used as a tool for connecting with students more meaningfully.  But that's only just beginning to play out. 

We love Betty White! She made those remarks when she hosted Saturday Night Live (after a Facebook fan page helped land her there). She's a great comedian and a careful analysis of the data leads me to believe that she was joking. Saying Facebook is a waste of time is like saying watching the Golden Girls is a waste of time and I bet Betty would beg to differ :)

So I didn't get too into the weeds in my answer about friending family memebers and how users can control which data their various connections are able to see, but it's actually pretty easy.  I'd be happy to send him instructions.  I have a friend or two on Facebook who see something totally different than what the rest of the world sees when they click on my profile. 

Joining the Facebook team was one of the best decisions I've ever made. This is a dynamic company that values its employees and our contributions. My colleagues are some of the smartest, most talented people in the business and I'm excited to come to work every day. Plus, the perks are pretty great. I get to be logged into Facebook all day long! 

I have to agree with Andrew.  I've only been here for about a month, and every day there's something new and awesome to work on.  I feel like we're just at the beginning of what Facebook can do--it's only our 7th birthday, after all--and I look forward to being a part of whatever the future holds!

Although, I am worried that if a dislike button existed I would "accidentally" click it for things like this: Friends who overshare about the wonder of childbirth. Newly weds who post daily announcements of their love for each other. Friends who brag about exotic vacations in fabulous warm locations while I am stuck in dreary D.C. Anyone who goes overboard self-promoting themselves.

How about you guys?

The site we all use everyday is built by a relatively small group of the smartest engineers and entrepreneurs in the world who have a huge impact on 500+ million people. Back at headquarters, we hold all-night coding sessions called Hackathons to give our employees time to explore ideas and experiment with ideas to make Facebook better. As good ideas emerge, we put smart teams in place to accelerate the roll-out of those good ideas. We also depend on feedback from the Facebook community and we're very responsive to what our users tell us. 

I think this really depends on what you are using Facebook for.  My friends in Washington, for example, are avid Facebook users, sharing news stories, adding commentary, checking in at various events, and really working the network.  Some of my friends from college, on the other hand, seem to be more passive consumers of information.  Obviously the platform is more useful the more people share, but there's no right of wrong answer!