The following is the first post in a series of the best-of from students in Mike Sweeney’s Georgetown School of Continuing Studies Interactive Marketing class.  The following  post is by Erika LaChance, Communications Director at Cookology.

Ask students who have just completed a course in interactive marketing what social media is, and you’re likely to get a range of answers, from dictionary-esque responses to thoughtful observations of how they’ve used social media in their jobs and daily lives.

Ask anyone else, and you’ll get a very straightforward, one word answer: Facebook.

So why is Facebook so popular? How has the word Facebook become synonymous with social networking, while other sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, StumbleUpon, and Match.com look on like lonely wallflowers at a school dance? Three reasons are key.

1. It’s an easy way to keep up with (okay, spy on) the Joneses

Facebook notoriously allows you to follow your friends’ every move. Who hasn’t heard the complaint “Why would I want to know that you fed your cat then went to Starbucks? Who cares?!” Well, someone does. 250 million someones, in fact.

This curiosity to find out what other people are doing is somehow hardwired into the human DNA, and Facebook, more than any other site, has found a way to make all of this information accessible. One click on Facebook can spread the news of your best friend’s job promotion, or tell you where your ex lives, works, and last ate lunch. For businesses, this means an easy way to share constant content updates (think sales announcements, pictures, and video) without the formality of an e-mail or (gasp!) traditional paper mailing or advertisement.

One comScore study found that the average minutes per visitor on Facebook in 2009 was 182.8 versus only 25.6 on Twitter. Why? Facebook has created a community that provides all the information in one place – updates, pictures, and YouTube videos stream directly on the page. On the other hand, Twitter relies on external links. The study states that the top Twitter marketing tactics were driving sales by linking to promotional and marketing web pages, while the top tactics on Facebook were driving traffic using status updates and “friending” new customers.

Facebook: a website that appeals to both our curiosity AND our overwhelming laziness? Solid gold.

2. It’s the world’s longest and most interesting narrative (and the story has pictures!)

Seth Godin says all marketers tell stories. Why? Because stories “are able to capture the imagination of large or important audiences.” And what story could be more engaging and important than one featuring you and all your friends? Through detailed profiles, status updates, and pictures, everyone on Facebook creates their own story and shares it with their friends. Consciously or not, we get sucked in.

“Alarm didn’t go off, going to be late for work!” (booo!) “Found $20 in my pocket!” (yay!) “Heading to the show at 8pm!” (see you there!). With a few clicks of a button we become intimately connected with people – we are invested in their story, so we keep returning to see what happens next.

This free form of instant story telling is great for businesses. What better way to drive customers to sign up for your cooking classes than to post pictures of students’ beautiful dishes, or videos of students  in crisp white aprons, showing off their impeccable knife skills? Your story appears instantly on students’ newsfeed, then they “share” it with their friends, and before you know it, your Sunday afternoon French pastries class is booked.

Compare the 3,198 impressions of a status update that took 45 seconds to write with the 1,137 opens of a newsletter that takes hours to create, and you can see Facebook’s value as an easy, instant vehicle for narrative marketing.

3. Simply put by one high schooler, “Facebook does, like, everything.”

Think about it. What CAN’T you do on Facebook? The site makes it easy to connect with friends, RSVP to this weekend’s Notre Dame watch party, upload photos of yourself rocking your blue and gold face paint at said party, and “like” all the nearest diners to find out who’s running the best greasy food special to satisfy your late night hunger. Okay, as one student pointed out, Facebook cannot wipe your behind for you (and you might need it after that 2am bacon cheeseburger), but with just a few clicks you could find out from your friends what the best type of toilet paper is and where you can find it. Post a very persuasive status and you might even get one of them to deliver it for you!

Many of the other sites that come up in a discussion about social networking have a specific purpose. Use LinkedIn to find a job, Match.com to find a date, or StumbleUpon to find an article telling you all the reasons why you can’t find a date. The problem for these sites? Facebook can do all those things too. As one friend pondered on his blog, “Why should I waste my time logging into Twitter when I can do the same thing on Facebook, reach more people, and do a ton of other stuff like sign up for events, and look for bikini pictures of ‘friends’?” Touché.

So, is Facebook the end all be all of social media? Almost certainly not. A Google search for “what is social media” yields about 567,000,000 results, a figure that illustrates just how complex the concept of social media can be. But until other social networking sites find a way to create stories featuring you and all your friends. with pictures and videos—all at the click of a button—Facebook will remain the front runner in the social media race.

About the Author: Guest blogger Erika LaChance is Communications Director at Cookology. LaChance's post is the first in a series of the best posts written by students in Mike Sweeney's Interactive Marketing Class at the Georgetown School of Continuing Studies.