Facebook has taken the world by storm. As we all know by now, Facebook was started in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and several of his Harvard peers and roommates. While membership was initially restricted to students attending Harvard University, the social networking site became an immediate success and quickly expanded to other colleges, universities, high schools, and eventually, membership became available to anyone over the age of 13 with a valid e-mail address. And, as they say, the rest is history.

With over 500 million users visiting Facebook on a monthly basis, Mark Zuckerberg has built an empire that has a tremendous global reach, as can be seen in the picture above. At first glance, the photo may seem like a standard outline of the world, but take a closer look and you will begin to see the huge impact that Facebook has had on our generation.

Paul Butler, the creator of the above image which is based on visualized data, was “interested in seeing how geography and political borders affected where people lived relative to their friends. [He] wanted a visualization that would show which cities had a lot of friendships between them.” Each link represents a connection, a connection that goes beyond continents, countries, and cities. Each connection goes beyond governments and municipalities. In the end, the plots of data are people, like you and I, and the lines represent real human relationships.

While people and companies may complain that Facebook has become a giant distraction or waste of time, there is an inherent social value that is not easily seen: The connections that are made can change lives. Earlier this month, a plea was made on Facebook by a woman watching the man she loved suffering through the pain of kidney failure. Out of desperation, she posted – and prayed – for a type O Kidney donor to “fall from the sky.” Almost instantly, a Facebook friend responded to her post and answered her prayer.

Although there are many stories like this that are often left untold, it must be stated that social media has become quite an extraordinary force. A force that is strong enough to power revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, a force that can connect people thousands of miles away, and even more touching – a force that can save a life.

Photo by Paul Butler via Facebook