Facebook is a social networking website that is operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. Users can add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Additionally, users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region. The website’s name stems from the colloquial name of books given at the start of the academic year by university administrations with the intention of helping students get to know each other better.
Facebook是一个社交网络服务网站，是由私营企业Facebook, Inc.公司运作的。用户可以添 加好友并发送消息，也可以通过更新个人信息来告诉朋友关于他们 的情况。另外，用户还可以加入城市、工作场所、学校或者地区组织 的网络社区活动。网站的名字Facebook来自传统的纸质花名册。学 校管理人员把这种花名册发放给新入学的大学生,协助大家更好地 了解彼此。
Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook with his roommates Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes while he was a student at Harvard University. The website's membership was initially limited to Harvard students, but was expanded to other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League，and Stanford University. It later expanded further to include any university student, then high school students, and, finally, to anyone aged 13 and over. The website currently has more than 250 million active users worldwide.
Facebook的创办人是Mark Zuckerberg，他是哈佛大学的学 生,当时一起加入创办的还有他的室友Eduardo Saverin，Dustin Moskovitz和Chris Hughes。最初，网站的注册仅限于哈佛大学 的学生。随后注册扩展至波士顿地区的其他高校以及长春藤名校和 斯坦福大学。之后只要是大学生都可以加入，再之后是高中生，然后 扩展到只要满13岁就可以。现在的Facebook在世界范围内有2.5亿 的用户。
In September 2008，Facebook permanently moved its users to what they termed the “New Facebook” or Facebook 3.0. This version contained several different sc?ch -^ — features and a complete layout design. Users had the option to use the new Facebook in place of the original design since July, but had also had the option to return to the Old design.
2008年9月，Facebook永久性地改版成为^^Facebook”，或者叫 Facebook3.0。这个版本有几个不同的特点和完整的页面设计。用户 可以从7月就选择换到新版本,也可以选择继续使用旧版本。
Facebook's decision to migrate their users was met with some controversy in their community. Several other groups were started opposing the decision, some with over a million users.
Facebook的改版在社区里引起了一些争议。有些群组还反对 这个决定，反对人数多达百万。
Facebook Inc. is expected to announce a significant plan to open up core parts of its site—namely the information that appears in the stream of updates on users，homepages and profiles—to third-party developers so that they can build new services on top of it, people familiar with the matter say.
知情人士称，Facebook Inc.将宣布一项重大计划,即向第三方软 件开发商开放其网站的核心部分，其中包括不断更新的用户主页及情 况介绍中所包含的信息，以便第三方可以在此基础上开发新的服务。
The announcement, expected Monday, means developers can build services that access the photos, videos, notes and comments users upload to Facebook, with users，permission. That’s a big change for the social-networking site, which has exercised tight control over the look and feel of the service and how developers can interact with it.
Facebook预计将于周一宣布该计划,这将意味着开发商可以开 发一些服务，使得人们可以在Facebook用户允许的前提下，接触到 这些用户上传到Facebook的图片、视频、信息和评论。这是这家社交 网站的一个重大变化。此前Facebook—直严格控制其服务的外观和感觉，以及第三方软件开发商与其服务的互动方式。
Facebook isn’t charging for the feature, instead hoping that the development of new and interesting ways to access the information it houses will build user loyalty, say people familiar with the matter.
知情人士说,Facebook不会对这项功能收费,它希望通过开发出接触其网站上信息的新鲜而有 趣的方式,来增强其用户的忠诚度。
The Palo Alto, Calif., company is also expected to announce that developers can pull Facebook data using an open technology standard that other Web sites can also use, a move likely to broaden the service’s appeal.
位于加州帕洛阿尔托的Facebook预计还将宣布，开发商可以使用一种也能为其他网站使用的 开放式技术标准来査找Facebook的数据,此举可能是为了增强Facebook的吸引力。
The plans, expected to be discussed at a developer event in Palo Alto on Monday, are Facebook’s latest move to be less of a destination and more of a service that allows people to connect and share information with their friends across the Web. The site, which was the first major social network to allow software developers to build services on top of its platform, has seen some momentum around a service it built that allows people to connect with their Facebook friends on other Web sites.
将于周一在帕洛阿尔托举行的一个开发商活动上预计会讨论上述计划，这是FacebookW? 新举措，旨在让自身从信息接收站转变为一家服务提供商，帮助人们通过网络与朋友联系并共享 信息。Facebook是第一个允许软件开发商基于其平台开发服务的主要社交网站，此前Facebook 的一项服务已经显示出良好的发展势头,该服务允许人们在其他网站与自已在Facebook上的朋 友联系。