News: Site Previously for Students Will Be Opened to Others

News/Social Network/Facebook/Saul Hansell
Found on: nytimes.com

Facebook, the popular social networking Web site that has mainly focused on college students, is preparing to open its membership to everyone.

The move is meant to help the site expand, but it risks undercutting one of its attractions: it has been more exclusive and somewhat more protected than MySpace, its larger and more freewheeling rival.

Started two years ago, with Mark Zuckerberg, a Harvard undergraduate, as a co-founder, Facebook first restricted membership to people who had e-mail addresses issued by a college or university. It has expanded somewhat since then, allowing high school students to join (if they are invited by an existing member) along with people who work for certain large companies (if they have a corporate e-mail address).

Facebook plans to expand its membership within a month. It had planned to open its doors wider today but postponed the decision after new features begun last week provoked protests among members who complained that the changes revealed too much personal information. The site quickly introduced new options that allowed users to control how information about them is displayed.