14. Fill as much of it in as possible
Remember, you can always come back and add, or subtract
information. It’s usually something people don’t do often though, so
spending those extra few minutes at sign up to create a proper profile is
well worth it.
15. Security from the outset
We talk more about security later, but some people join Facebook
simply to keep up with a tiny group of friends – if you’re one of these
people, then you will want to ensure your security is as tight as can be
(see security and privacy)
16. Finding friends, colleagues and ‘fan’ pages
Facebook has made it fairly easy to find people and add them, but in
the mix with the people you can find are fan pages – which are like mini
profiles (we talk about these more in section) and groups. It’s important
to remember that people, such as authors or local personalities may
have multiple listings in search results, so you may need to contact
them and ask which to add. You also have to take one extra step to
make sure people can find you. You can currently have 5,000 friends
total.
17. Searches
Searching by name may bring back dozens of results, so if you know
the person well enough, find out what email they use and add them via
that. Adding people via email is often easier than searches too because
it means you’re certain you’ve got the right person, without opening
yourself up to unwanted attention. If you add someone that isn’t
actually the person you wanted to add, they can see your profile.
18. Adding people via friends
If you’re a close knit group of friends, or a new group that met through
University or similar pursuit, it’s normally ok to go through another
friend’s list and find those that you know, but don’t abuse this – adding
everyone from every friend’s list can get you flagged as a spammer by
Facebook.
19.More than one profile?
Be careful not to create more than one Facebook page – it’s against
their TOS and can lead to confusion when people add you. It is possible
to create a main account and make the rest of your ‘accounts’ as pages,
but again be careful – Facebook has a policy about fake pages, fake
names or abusing that facility.
20.Fan pages too much for you?
You can hide fan page (and app, and even ‘friend’ updates) from view
easily by setting your feed up (we talk more about this in the feed
management section). Hiding fan pages, even temporarily, can let you
get your Facebook reading back under control, and let you decide
whether you want to follow them long term.
21.Removing friends, or pages
Removing friends is easy – you just go into your friends list and click the
x beside their name. You can find your friend list by looking at the left
column of your main feed based Facebook page. Or you can go to
‘Account’ and then ‘edit Friends’
You can remove pages in a similar way, in ‘Edit friends’ then scrolling
down to around the middle of the page and clicking on ‘pages’ (it has an
orange flag next to it).
We finished at number 8 so lets continue.
9. Profile information – personal information
Many people don’t list all of their hobbies- instead list the ones you’re
interested in attracting friends for. If you’ve got a ‘guilty pleasure’
remember that people may be able to access your information, even
before you add them, so you may not want to publish that. The boxes
in this section are entirely optional.
10.Contact information
One of the boxes you can fill in is ‘contact information’. Be aware that
depending on your security settings (see security and privacy) you may
then place your ID out in the ‘open’ which can open you up to spam or
bot contact.
11. Profile information – Network
If you’re interested in chatting with, or meeting up with people in your
region, you can add where you life and join that ‘uber-group’. Some
require email addresses or other information that ‘proves’ affiliation, but
Facebook has recently improved that interface, so it works very well.
Your network affiliation is listed on your profile, unless you change the
security settings (see security and privacy)
12.Profile information – friends
As we’ll explain later, you can keep those that you’ve added from
appearing in your search, but your friends list is always visible. Be
careful when adding ‘controversial’ people in your life, as it’s very easy
for other friends to use your list to find others to add – the only
exception to this is if you add someone with extremely tight security
settings
13. Profile information – relationships
Facebook allows the listing of relationships in your profile – but until the
person you’re in a relationship confirms it; you will only be listed as in a
relationship. Otherwise you will be tagged as ‘in a relationship’ but not
with whom.
Read the rest of this entry »
Facebook. Having passed the $1 billion revenue mark some time ago, Facebook is now closing in on 1 billion users. The company claimed 800 million users in September, so it’s not surprising that claiming membership of one-seventh of humanity is now within the social network’s grasp.
Facebook is a great platform for meeting friends, creating a following for your hobby, service, or project, and for relaxing. There’s an app for every taste, and several of them are incredibly fun and addictive.
These 101 tips will get you navigating Facebook like a pro in no time.
Over the next few weeks I will be giving you 101 Facebook Tips. If you are into Facebook you may find that there are a few new things here. If you are new to Facebook then just go through each step in order, don’t be tempted to jump all over the shop. As I said theses Tips will come out weekly.
Part 1 – finding friends and influencing people
Depending on why you join Facebook, you may find it easy to make
friends, or may only have it to stay in touch with friends in distant parts
of the world. No matter what you do, signing up can be a process that
will take up to a couple of hours (including your profile).
1. Signing up
Your own name
You should use your own name or your nickname if people use it more
commonly, to sign up. It’s important to ensure that your friends, family
and colleagues can find you easily.
2. Your email
Facebook sends out a lot of notifications once you start signing up with
various groups and fan pages, apps and even comments. But people
can also find you by your email, so you should probably use a personal
email account. Check it frequently for friend requests and more. It has
to be real though, because Facebook uses it and sometimes your
mobile number to verify who you are.
3. Read the terms and conditions
You should always read the terms and conditions on any site, and
Facebook is no exception, though, it should be noted that Facebook
frequently updates it’s TOS causing a lot of outrage in the community.
Know where your rights are and read their documentation.
Read the rest of this entry »
