Like many people out there, I have a Facebook account, but rarely use it. Having last logged in one day when I was home sick and bored out of my brains. To put it simply, I didn't have enough time to get the most out of the social networking site.

With RIM's development of a Facebook application for BlackBerry, Facebook has become a lot more appealing. I downloaded it the day RIM announced it. The result: I have never been more active on Facebook, nor enjoyed it more.

The first thing I would like to point out about the Facebook BlackBerry application is that it does not do everything that Facebook can from a desktop.

You can update your status, send message, write on walls, poke, upload pictures, and invite someone to Facebook. Any other activities have to be done on a PC or via the mobile Facebook Web site (m.facebook.com), which is accesible from the Facebook for BlackBerry application menu.

      
                           Facebook Icon                                                         Facebook Mobile Site

The Facebook BlackBerry application is simple and easy to use. So much so, I now update my status regularly when on the move.

When you receive something new in Facebook, such as message, a little Facebook icon appears in the top banner to make sure you know it is Facebook that needs attention and not something else.

      
                           Facebook Main Screen                                                         Facebook Menu

The application also appears as an entry in your BlackBerry profiles, so you can set a ringtone for when your Facebook account becomes active. You can set your BlackBerry to vibrate or have the LED blink. And because it is in your profile when you change from Normal to Vibrate, there is no need to worry about Facebook making a sound you don't want it to; such as when you're in a meeting.

Each Facebook activity you can perform from your BlackBerry receives a shortcut key. For example, there's S for Status Updates or U to upload a picture. If you prefer to use a trackball, you can also navigate manually to icons that launch these functions at the top of Facebook application.

      
                           Facebook Invite                                                         Facebook Poke

Because the Facebook application knows who your friends are, when you begin to type in a name to poke someone it'll begin to pull up friends with matching names. So there's no need to remember the full name of a friend. This makes it easier to send pokes, messages, or write on a wall.

Some folks have voiced concern regarding the effect the Facebook application on battery life. I, however, haven't noticed any power problems. And I leave Facebook up and running all the time and stay pretty aware of my battery level during the day, as my worst fear is to run out of Blackberry power and not be able to charge it.


                                     Facebook Wall Post

The popular social networking site has, at it has with many others, become popular among BlackBerry users. So its good news that RIM's new Facebook application makes basic Facebook functions easy to perform from a BlackBerry when you're away from your desktop computer. Even better, it's free.