Facebook Takes on Politics, Forms Political Action Committee

Facebook has been undergoing a lot of changes lately, to the chagrin of many, but the latest change has the social network taking on politics.

Strengthening its ties with Washington politicians, Facebook is forming a political action committee that will give our employees a way to make their voice heard in the political process by supporting candidates who share our goals of promoting the value of innovation to our economy while giving people the power to share and make the world more open and connected, Spokesman Andrew Noyes said in a statement.

With 800 million users worldwide, Facebook's PAC widens its footprint in Washington, where it has expanded its office and hired big names from the White House and Capitol Hill, The Washington Post reported.

On Monday, Republican lawmakers, including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., held an event at Facebook to discuss technology and jobs.

Facebook Implementing Big Changes

Facebook's sweeping changes announced last week stirred up controversy, primarily among those concerned about their privacy. In a survey of over 1,000 people conducted by Sodahead, a social-voting-based site, roughly 86 percent of the Facebook audience said they strongly disliked the changes to the site. The highest disapproval rating was among teens, with 91 percent.

The social networking site also recently launched the Ticker and the Timeline applications, which, essentially, replace the News Feed and Profile, respectively. Although people can opt out of the new profile page initially, people will eventually have to switch to the Timeline format.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at the F8 technology conference Thursday that the changes will help build a completely new class of social apps, allowing users to share every face of their lives on the site.