If you saw the movie "Shrek," you may remember how Shrek the ogre tried to explain himself to the donkey with one word: layers. While the donkey couldn't get past the comparison to an onion, it's pretty clear that the ogre felt he was a complex individual and that the example of layers was the proper metaphor to gain an insight into his life.

The concept of layers is also useful in understanding the development of the Internet. As the Internet and then the World Wide Web have evolved, there has been a tendency for new technology to layer itself over previous efforts. At one time, Web sites were static and typically simple entities. Over time, Internet technology has enabled sites to become more dynamic and certainly more useful. The recent development of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter is a perfect example of how a new technology functions on top of what has come before it.

It's amazing how quickly and to what extent social networking has become so popular online. Everywhere you look now you find that sites and services of all kinds are integrating a social networking model into their design. Photo and video sites, document sharing services, all new offerings seem to either include a social design or provide links to Facebook, Twitter and other such sites. It's evident that social networking will be prevalent for some time to come, and any site or online service will need to have some social implementation to succeed.

Most of you know that for some time the Chattanooga Times Free Press has had a Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/timesfreepress. This page has attracted a large audience of followers and provides updates on stories of interest to its subscribers. I have been on Facebook, too, for some time using my personal account to share technical stories and links to interesting content.

Today I'm pleased to announce that last week saw the introduction of the Times Free Press Tech Talk page on Facebook, located at www.facebook.com/tfpdonniejenkins. You do not have to be a member on Facebook to access this page or the Times Free Press page, but you will need to join Facebook to subscribe or to comment on either page. If you prefer to use Twitter, I have set the TFP page to automatically update my Twitter account at @donniejenkins.

I have developed this page specifically to support this column and to augment it by providing more extensive details on stories I cover here, as well as to present other tech news and stories. I update this page daily with several links and comments on tech news and trends, and I try to find stories in all areas that reflect how technology has become part of every aspect of our modern life.

Recent posts include links to tech video tutorials, music videos that illustrate answers to e-mail questions I've received and so on. Also, many readers who have subscribed to the page have told me that it's much easier to seek an answer to a question by commenting directly on a post or link.

I'm currently studying the possibility of providing a discussion forum on the page, which Facebook makes easy to provide, and I am working on some custom content that I will make available only on this page for regular readers and followers. You can also look for links to other Times Free Press content on the paper's web site. On Facebook, as in this column, I frame my efforts based on your comments and interests, and I'm always glad to receive reader feedback.

I hope that you will join us on Facebook and on the Times Web site at timesfreepress.com as we attempt to keep you updated on all fronts. The Web is the next frontier for all things technical, and it will be exciting to watch as each new advance opens possibilities we can only imagine now.

E-mail Donnie at donniejenkins@yahoo.com