Facebook For Dummies

Carolyn Abram worked for Facebook when the site was in its infancy and helped it develop through its largest period of growth. She is also a published fiction writer. Amy Karasavas helped launch app directories, developers' resources, and user testing tools for Facebook. Today she works as a freelance writer and marketing strategist.

Introduction 1


About Facebook for Dummies 1


Foolish Assumptions 2


Icons Used in This Book 3


Beyond the Book 3


Part 1: Getting Started with Facebook 5


Chapter 1: The Many Faces of Facebook 7


So What Is Facebook, Exactly? 8


Discovering What You Can Do on Facebook 10


Keeping in Mind What You Can’t Do on Facebook 15


Realizing How Facebook Is Different from Other Social Sites 17


How You Can Use Facebook 18


Chapter 2: Adding Your Own Face to Facebook 23


Signing Up for Facebook 23


Getting Started 25


What to Expect in Your Inbox 29


Your New Home Page 31


Adding More Friends 32


Filling out Your Profile Information 33


Chapter 3: Finding Your Way Around Facebook 35


Checking Out the Blue Bar on Top 36


Search 39


The Left-side Menu 40


Viewing News Feed 45


Right On 46


The Littlest Links 47


Part 2: Day-To-Day Facebook 49


Chapter 4: The Daily Facebook: News Feed and Posting 51


Your Daily News Feed 52


Trending 58


Interacting with News Feed 59


Adjusting News Feed 67


Sharing Your Own News 71


Chapter 5: Timeline: The Story of You 83


Scrolling Through Time 84


First Impressions 85


Telling Your Story 91


All About Me 100


Your Friends and Your Timeline 109


Chapter 6: Privacy and Safety on Facebook 111


Know Your Audience 112


Privacy on the Go 115


Privacy Shortcuts 117


Privacy Settings 119


Timeline Privacy 136


Privacy Tools 139


Remembering That It Takes a Village to Raise a Facebook 142


Peeking Behind the Scenes 143


One Final Call to Use Your Common Sense 145


Chapter 7: Facebook on the Go 147


The Facebook App 148


Facebook Messenger 178


The Facebook Family of Mobile Apps 184


Facebook on Your Mobile Browser 185


Facebook Texts 188


Part 3: Connecting with Friends on Facebook 191


Chapter 8: Finding Facebook Friends 193


What Is a Facebook Friend? 194


Adding Friends 195


Finding Your Friends on Facebook 198


Managing How You Interact with Friends 204


Chapter 9: Just between You and Me: Facebook Messages 213


Sending a Message 214


Message Options 220


The Chat Menu 224


Messenger Inbox 227


Messaging on the Go 232


Chapter 10: Sharing with Facebook Groups 233


Evaluating a Group 234


Sharing with a Group 237


Creating Your Own Groups 244


Group Dynamics 247


Being a group administrator 249


Part 4: What to Do on Facebook 257


Chapter 11: Filling Facebook with Photos and Videos 259


Viewing Photos from Friends 260


Adding Photos to Facebook 264


Editing and Tagging Photos 273


Working with Video 279


Discovering Privacy 282


Chapter 12: Buying, Selling, and Fundraising 285


Getting the Most Out of Marketplace 286


Belonging to Buy/Sell Groups 292


Fundraising for Causes 296


Chapter 13: Scheduling Your Life with Events 303


You’re Invited! 303


Public Events 306


Viewing Events 306


Creating Your Own Events 307


Managing Your Event 310


Chapter 14: Creating a Page for Promotion 313


Getting to Know Pages 314


Creating a Facebook Page 317


Sharing as a Page 323


Using Facebook as Your Page 330


Managing a Page 331


Insights: Finding Out Who Is Using Your Page 344


Chapter 15: Using Facebook with Games, Websites, and Apps 347


What Apps Need 348


Games on Facebook 350


Using Facebook Outside of Facebook 355


Mobile Apps and Facebook 358


Managing Your Games, Websites, and Apps 359


Part 5: The Part of Tens 365


Chapter 16: Ten Ways to Make the Most of Your Facebook Content 367


Remember the Past 367


Scrapbook Your Baby Photos 368


Say Thanks 369


Give Your Photos Some Flair 369


Review the Last Year (or Years) 369


Make your status stand out 370


Add Tags 370


Go Live 370


Use Stickers or GIFs in Your Messages 371


Friend-a-versaries 371


Chapter 17: Ten Ways Facebook Uniquely Impacts Lives 373


Keeping in Touch with Far-Away Friends 373


Preparing to Head Off to School 374


Going on Not-So-Blind Dates 374


Meeting People in Your New City or Town 375


Reconnecting with Old Friends 375


Keeping Up with the ’Rents or the Kids 375


Facebook Networking 376


Facebook for Good 377


Going to the Chapel 377


Hey, Facebook Me! 378


Chapter 18: Ten Frequently Asked Questions 379


Do People Know When I Look at Their Timelines? 380


I Friended Too Many People and Now I Don’t


Like Sharing Stuff — What Can I Do? 380


What’s with the New Facebook — Can I Change It Back? 381


I Have a Problem with My Account — Can You Help Me? 381


What Do I Do with Friend Requests I Don’t Want to Accept? 382


Why Can’t I Find My Friend? 383


Will Facebook Start Charging Me to Use the Site? 384


How Do I Convince My Friends to Join Facebook? 384


What If I Don’t Want Everyone Knowing My Business? 385


Does Facebook Have a Feature That Lets Me Lock Myself Out for a Few Hours? 385


Chapter 19: Ten Tips for Parents of Teens on Facebook 387


Talk to Teens about General Internet Safety 388


Beware of Strangers 388


Teach Teens How to Report Abuse 388


Teach Teens How to Block People 389


Learn to Use Privacy Settings 389


Talk about Posts and Consequences 390


Remember the Golden Rule 390


Respect Teens’ Boundaries 390


Don’t Send Friend Requests to Teens’ Friends 391


Make Space for Your Own Social Life, and Your Family Life, on Facebook 391


Index 393