INTRODUCING FACEBOOK

Keeping In Touch

With the Younger Generation

By

 John Melville

Facebook LogoThis article was originally published as notes accompany a PowerPoint Presentation made to Senior Net members, “Introducing Facebook, Keeping In Touch With the Younger Generation.”

In this article we will:

  • Introduce you to Facebook.
  • Give you an overview of the layout, and
  • Show you that anyone can use it safely.

Please note that this is not a “How To” or a “Hands-on” Workshop.

Detailed “How To” workshops will be conducted in the future so please don’t try and absorb it all at once. Sign up and experiment.

(You will find more resources on www.facebook.com/seniorsonline )

All you need to do is take from this presentation is enough to be able to make a start.

What is Facebook?

Facebook is a social net working website which enables you to:

  • Connect and share with friends, family, and business associates.
  • Find old friends you may not have seen for years.
  • Set up special interest groups, such as church, cooking, reading, and anything else you can think of.
  • Organise events such as reunions, parties etc

A Little History:

Facebook was founded by 2004 by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg and originally called “thefacebook”. It was quickly successful on campus and expanded beyond Harvard into other Ivy League schools. With the phenomenon growing in popularity, Zuckerberg enlisted two other students, Duston Moskovitz and Chris Hughes, to assist. Within months, thefacebook became a nationwide college networking website.

Zuckerberg and Moskovitz left Harvard to run thefacebook full time shortly after taking the site national. In August of 2005, thefacebook was renamed Facebook, and the domain was purchased for a reported $200,000 US Dollars (USD). At that time, it was only available to schools, universities, organizations, and companies within English speaking countries, but has since expanded to include anyone.

Facebook has contributed to major changes to the way in which we communicate. It has enabled people to have a voice where before they may have had none and it has enabled people to come together and mobilise in a more coordinated way. Getting in touch with family and friends inChristchurchafter the earthquake was much easier using the internet than it was by phone.

Facebook Activity

There are more than 500 million active users of which:

  •  50% log on to Facebook in any given day.
  • The average user has 130 friends. InNew Zealand124 friends;
  • The average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events
  • The average user creates 90 pieces of content each month,
  • There are more than 30 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photo albums, etc.) are shared each month.

Who uses Facebook

  •  Just about everybody
  • From children to the elderly
  • The over fifties is now the fastest growing group on facebook.

 How Does it Work.

Facebook enables you to keep in touch with family and friends.

  • Facebook allows you to network with business associates.
  • Facebook enables you to create special interest groups, and to keep in touch with each and every member.
  • Facebook enables you to organise special events, such as reunions, family events, both on line and in the real world.
    • Facebook enables you to become fans of movie stars, sports stars. Savvy politicians can use Facebook to get their message across. (President Obama is the best example and John Key has his own Facebook Page.
    • Facebook enables you search for old friends and make contact with them.
    • Facebook enable you to share photographs.

How do I Start?

First: Sign Up!

You need a Facebook account. Search for Facebook using Google or simply type in http://facebook.com.  Fill in the form and proceed. You are obliged to use your real name and genuine details.

Next Facebook will take you through a series of steps which you may skip at this time. You should now find yourself at a screen which has a yellow band across the top asking you to check your emails for an email from Facebook asking you to complete the sign-up process.

Go to your email client, find the email (if necessary check the Spam bin), click on the link and you will be taken to a screen that says “Account Confirmed” and you are good to go.

Facebook  Layout

Facebook has many Facets, but we need only concern ourselves with two:

  • Our News Feed: and
  • Our Timeline

News Feed/Home Page

The News Feed is the place where we see all the updates put on Facebook by our friends, people we are following, and pages we have “liked”.

Navigation Bar

Across the top of the page is a blue band which is the main navigation bar. On the left side following the word Facebook are three tiny (almost) invisible icons. From time to time you will see tiny numbers appear beside the icon. These numbers let you know when someone has sent you a friend request, a message, and/or Facebook is notifying you of some activity by your friends.

In the centre is a white box with the word “Search” typed into it. This is the search box and from here you can search for any other person who has a Facebook account and it will also return relevant web pages.

On the right side we have your name, which if you click will take you to your Timeline. The item gives you the ability to find friends. The next item “Home” returns you back to the Home page from wherever you are. If you click on the tiny little down arrow a dropdown list will appear fro where you can choose from various items such as “Privacy Settings”.

 

News Feed: The Left Column

This column contains various “tabs”. The first set of tabs under the word “Favourites” includes the News Feed, Messages, Events, and Find Friends by default. You can add to or remove any of the favourites except for these four.

In the next set under the word Friends are lists of all your friend’s lists that you may have separated your friends into such as special interest friends. Remember that the all your friends are first placed into a master list which remains in place even if you compile different lists for them.

Under Apps we have all the applications such as “Farmville” and games which we may be interested in.

As you use Facebook the groups in this column will increase.

News Feed: The Centre Column

This column contains all the status updates that your friends have posted including the photos they have shared.

At the top is a box where you can enter your own status updates and set your audience (privacy) for those updates and the things you share.

You can also Like, Comment, and Share the posts your friends send you. Your friends have their own friends which you are part of, but you will also have friends of your own which you can share with. They in turn can share with their friends and so on..

News Feed: The Right Column.

This column contains notifications for your games and apps, the people you subscribe to, people you may know and sponsored ads.

If you are interested in a person, but don’t wish to befriend them or they have their full quota of friends (5000) you can follow them by subscribing to their posts.

Facebook likes to connect you to people so it will look for people that you have a connection with through mutual friends and will suggest that person as a possible friend for you, hence “People You May Know”.

The Timeline

The Timeline is a collection of photos, stories, and experiences that tell your story in Chronological order.

On your timeline you can:

  • Add a cover photo
  • Change our profile photo.
  • Edit your basic info
  • Jump to the past
  • View your activity log
  • See highlights from each month
  • Star stories you want to highlight
  • Add life events
  • Update your status
  • View and add photos
  • Share your app activity

From the timeline you can view and edit your personal information, access your photos, update your status, set your audiences and much more.

Finding Friends

The first question many beginners ask is “How do I find friends”?

Facebook provides a number of different ways to find friends accessible from the News feed as well as the timeline. On the time line click on the Tab “Friends” and this will take you through to the page which lists all your friends.

At the top right of the page just below the Menu bar are two buttons, the edit button and the find friends button.

The edit button determines who you allow to see your friends list, however to find friends click on the “Find Friends” button and you be taken to a search page. In the left hand column you can enter various search criteria  such as your Hometown,CurrentCity, High School, College, Employer, and a few others. This search finds those that have entered these criteria into there personal information and have allowed it to be visible.

When you have found a person you would like to contact click the Add Friend button and a message will be sent to that person asking if they would like to accept your Friend Request. It helps to find their page and send a personal message. To find out about that person simply click on their name and you will be taken to their profile to  see any information they have publicly shared.

You will also receive friend requests from others. You do not have to accept their requests. Be a little choosey:

  • Accept only those friend requests from people you wish to be friends with.
  • Group your friends according to their relationship to you. IE close family, extended family, club associates, Senior Net members, and just friends.
  • Remove friends you no longer wish to associate with, without embarrassment. Nobody will know. No messages are sent when you de-friend another.

Photos and Videos

Facebook makes it easy to share photos, especially of events such as family get to-gethers, parties, and anything else. Restrict who you share family photos with. Each album has its own audience selector.

To view your albums go to the Timeline and click on Photos. This will take you to your album page where you can upload more photos, edit existing photos by typing a few words about the photo and setting the audience you wish to share with. You can also tag yourself and others in a photo which is useful when naming those in a group shot.

Privacy

Philosophy

To stay safe on line all you need is a little knowledge and common sense.

Your privacy is your responsibility, but there are added precautions you can take. If something is really private and it would embarrass you if it got out don’t share it online with anybody.

The Private You

  • If you met a stranger on the street would you share your innermost personal stuff? You probably wouldn’t even share it with a friend unless you were really close.
  • To stay safe on line “Do Not Share” personal information or anything you may regret.
  • You would be surprised how many do… and open the door to those that would prey upon them.

Ultimately your privacy is your responsibility, but there are added precautions you can take.

Facebook privacy can be as simple or as complicated as you like. If you so desire, you can really lock it down.

Each post has its own audience settings which can adjusted as you post. The same goes for photos.

The audience for each part of your personal information can be set in the same way.

Split your friends into lists so that you can direct posts to your friends that share your special interests.

Facebook also has global settings which mean you can almost set and forget. To access go to the far right of the menu bar and click on the down arrow. From the dropdown list select “Privacy Settings” which will take you through to the “Privacy Page”.

At the top there is a brief description of the audience selector for Posts.

Next are the global settings for devices that do not have audience settings such as mobile devices.

The lines below give you access to more detailed settings. Work through each until you are satisfied with your settings.

Consider how much privacy you require. I recommend being a little cautious to begin with, so use the custom settings, but don’t over do it because you do need some exposure. Settings can always be changed later.

Messages

Friends are able to send messages to each other that are private and not exposed to prying eyes. When such a message is sent you will receive an email with the message. When asking people to be friends you can also send a message with the request.

Create Groups

Groups can be created by users. These can include anything from grade school connections to hobbies and interests.

Groups can be public and available to everyone or private, meaning only those invited can join and view discussions.

You can create a group by clicking “Create Group” in the left hand column of the home page. If you have existing groups, you may need to click “More” before you see this link. A pop-up box will appear, where you will be able to add a group name, add members and select the privacy setting for your group. Click “Create Group” when you are finished.

Organise Events

Similarly, the Events feature allows friends to organize parties, concerts, and other get to-gethers in the real world.

You can create an event directly from the “Events” box on the right-hand column of your home page. By typing your event into the “What are you planning?” field, a form will open. After you add a time and place, your event will be created.

Having created your event you can send out invitations.

Become a Fan

Users can also become fans of everything such as people, organizations, television shows, movies, and musicians. Go to their page and click the “Like” button.

Special Applications

There are countless applications (Apps) available such as Farmville, and various games. Most of these applications are created by individuals outside of Facebook’s employment who are known as Developers.

So What is Facebook

Facebook is a place where you can keep in contact with friends, family, and special interest groups.

Users of Facebook can share news stories, video, and other files. Most websites have Facebook buttons that can be clicked to automatically share the story. The person sharing can make comments about the shared item that their friends will see.

Thank you

John Melville

Down load the PDF:  Introducing Facebook, Keeping in Touch With The Younger Generation.

Down load the PowerPoint slides as a PDF:   Introducing Facebook: Keeping In Touch With The Younger Generation.

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