Create a Facebook Account
1. After you sign up for Facebook, you will create a profile. Be sure to protect your privacy. Check the box that says to not include the year of your birth to the public. You can give as little or as much information as you wish. Some people like to put their hometown, high school, college, etc. After you get your profile set up, you will want to add some pictures to personalize your site including the profile picture and cover picture that you want on your timeline. There are tools in your timeline for uploading photos from your computer. These can be changed around as time goes on.
2. The next thing you will want to do is to go into your account settings (click the little arrow at top right.) Here you might want to enable the secure browsing feature, set up notifications that you want for when people post on your timeline or respond to you, etc. Then click in the same area and choose privacy settings. This is the area where you can choose who can see your posts. You can choose “only me,” “friends, “friends of friends,” “public,” etc.
3. Once you have set up your profile and settings, you will want to find some friends. If you know people that are already on Facebook, you can type in their Facebook name in the search window at the top of your Home Page. You can also search by city, school, email address, etc. When you see someone that you would like to be friends with, you click on the Add Friend button at the top of the page. A request will be sent to that person, and once they approve it, they will appear on your timeline under Friends. When you receive a friend request from someone, you will have to approve it or reject it or ignore it.
4. Whenever you log into Facebook, you will be taken to your News Feed by default. The blue bar at the top of the screen will help you to navigate. At the far right are three icons or symbols. The left one will notify you if someone sends you a friend request. The middle one is for when people send you a private message, and the one on the right will notify you when people respond to your posts, comment on a site you are following, etc. So always look up there to see if there is a notification waiting for you. (Depending on how you set things up in the account settings, you may also get an email notification.) What you post on your timeline will be seen by everyone that you allow for in the settings. However, what you post as a private message (middle icon at top or from the Messenger app) can only be seen by the person that you are messaging. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU POST ONLINE!
5. On the top of your News Feed, you will find a scroll to the right near the top. This is where you will see what your friends have posted or commented on. It allows you to quickly find that conversation. You will also find birthdays of friends listed, game requests, etc. in that area. (You will not find the ticker on mobile devices.)
6. You can not only privately message in Facebook, but you can instantly chat with people who are online at the same time as you. The Chat window is at the bottom right where you can see who is online. If you don't want to be seen online, turn it off.
7. You can instantly go back and forth between your News Feed and your Timeline by clicking on Home or your Name at the top right on the blue bar. If games are your thing, youll find many apps by typing in Facebook Apps or games in the search window at the top. Keep in mind that when you use the apps, you will be leaving Facebook and going to another site. Caution should be used when you go to different sites on the internet. As you start to find different things on Facebook, they will be easily reached from your Home Page shown on the left sidebar where they will be listed.
8. As you start to get more friends, you might want to create lists. To do that, go to Friends on the left sidebar from your News Feed. Click on MORE and then Create List. Type in the name of the list (family, work, a location, etc.) From the box that opens up, set it for Friends, and then click on the people that you want in that particular list. Click on FINISH. You can create as many lists as you wish. You will find this useful when you start getting more friends. If you just want to see if people in your family posted, then you just click on that list rather than to scroll through all the posts on your News Feed
9. Once you start using Facebook, you will find you can do things with what your friends post too. If you see a photo that you like, you can double click on it and then have the option of downloading it, sharing it or tagging it. If you share, it will go on your timeline. If you tag it, it will go on the timeline of the person you tagged. (Some people may have their settings so that you can't tag them.) On Mobile devices, tap on it and then tap again to Save or Tag.
10. Facebook is constantly changing things, so be aware of new things that are posted and changes on your News Feed, etc. Occasionally you will want to go to your settings to be sure that they are the way you set them. When new features are added, it is possible for the settings to change. Remember to protect your privacy by only revealing what you feel you would like others to know. You may or may not want your home address or phone number to be out there for all to see. Once you have revealed something to the public, even if it is later removed, it is out there!
FACEBOOK TIPS
Settings
Privacy.......set who can see your posts, timeline,
who can contact you or look you up.
Timeline & Tagging.....control who can post on your timeline or tag you. You can set it so you have to approve it first.
Blocking.....block apps, invites, people.
Notifications.....set how you want to be notified of things
and what you get notified about.
Followers.....control who can follow you.
Apps.....turn apps and other features on or off.
Video.......turn off “auto play” of videos.
Ads.....control whether Facebook uses you in ads based on your
Facebook activities, etc.
Activity Log
Can access either through settings or on your timeline. You can set whether things go on timeline or are hidden, etc. Click on MORE at the and clear out SEARCH periodically.
News Feed
Shows all the posts of anyone who is on your friend list or anyone that you follow or any business that you liked. (Not every post will show. Facebook decides which ones based on whether the business pays to “boost” their post, etc.) You have the option of Top Stories (their choices) or Recent posts.
When you log on, always watch for notifications at the top of the page. The three symbols are the top (from left to right) are: Friend Requests, Messages (private and won't show on any news feed or timeline) and Comments to either your posts or something you commented on or a post by one of your favorites.
Posting – you can post directly from the News Feed by clicking on “what's on your mind” or from your timeline or by going to another person's timeline. You can access your timeline by clicking on your name on the top title bar or from the left sidebar. To add a photo to your post, click on Photos and upload before clicking or tapping on Post. You can also control who sees your post in that window. Keep in mind that your posts will be seen by many or a few depending on what your settings are.
A word of caution.....for those on mobile devices, there is an
opportunity to tap on Check In at the top of the screen. Be
advised that by doing so, you allow people to know your whereabouts at the time.
TIMELINE
Tap or click on your name to get to your timeline. At the top of your timeline, you can access your settings, personal info, add or delete photos, notes, friends, etc. Protect your privacy and make sure that your birth YEAR is set to “only me” so that your entire birthdate is not available to the wrong parties. (Note: you will see it when you go on your timeline, but the public won't.)
Miscellaneous Info
You can “unfollow” someone without “unfriending” them. They don't know if you have done either unless they specifically go on your timeline to see that they are not listed as a friend OR if they notice that your name no longer appears on their friend list. If you notice that someone that used to be your friend is no longer listed on your friend list, it could mean that they unfriended you or that they deactivated their Facebook account.
You can click or tap on the little arrow on the top right of a friend's post for options such as unfollow, don't want to see this, etc. You can do the same for posts about people playing games. You can also go to someone's timeline and click on Friend or Follow.
Be careful of what apps (games, etc.) you allow on your Facebook account. Some of them contain viruses.
Messenger
To private message someone, click on the middle icon at the top to the right of “Find Friends.” Only you and the person (people) that you send it to can read it. You can also use the Facebook Messenger app.You can also chat with a group of people too. You can upload photos or files in Messenger as well as video chat, etc.
