Facebook All-in-One For Dummies, 2nd Edition (2014)

Introduction

Facebook is the most prolific social media platform so far, with over 1.19 billion active users at the time this book went to press. If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world, edged out by China (1.36 billion) and India (1.29 billion).

Facebook itself can be overwhelming. Some people worry about their privacy, while others can’t share enough. Some worry that Facebook is getting too big, while others appreciate the innovation that comes from a growing user base. We hope that you focus first on the sections that will help you the most. Don't get bogged down with details. Most people use Facebook to keep up with friends and family, meet new people, and network with colleagues across the world. You'll find that these tasks are easy to perform.

About This Book

Maybe you are not on Facebook yet and are wondering about the hype. Or maybe you’re on Facebook, but you have questions and need some answers. We’ve written this book with the beginner and intermediate social media user in mind. As you work with Facebook, we’re confident you’ll discover why it’s so popular.

Our goal in writing this book is to introduce you to Facebook, explain how you can use it personally and professionally, and show you some tips and tricks along the way. We cover a wide range of topics — this is an All-in-One book, after all — and you may or may not want to read everything we offer. This book isn’t meant to be read cover to cover like a novel. Use it as a reference when you get stuck and need help.

Social media changes almost daily, and Facebook is no exception. Although Facebook likes to change things up here and there, it generally doesn’t change much more than the location of tabs and the size of ads. However, sometimes Facebook does make a drastic change — usually by making the site more useful overall. We kept up with changes as they were happening, and we’ve documented all the new stuff that’s come out of Facebook HQ since December 2013, but new features continue to roll out. You can keep up with the most recent changes to Facebook by checking www.facebook.com/help/whats-new-on-facebook periodically.

Throughout this book, we’re consistent in how we present certain information. You find these conventions throughout the book:

· Whenever you need to type something, we put what you need to type in bold so it’s easy to see.

· When we introduce a new word that you may not be familiar with, we put it in italics and define it.

· When we share website addresses (URLs) with you, they look like this: www.dummies.com. If you’re reading this book as an e-book, URLs are clickable links.

Facebook is a website, so it’s not specific to PCs or Macs. If you can surf the web, you can get on Facebook. However, if we share instructions for tasks that are specific to a Windows PC or Mac, we tell you. For example, if you need to copy text, press Ctrl+C (Windows) or ⌘+C (Mac).

Foolish Assumptions

It would be impossible to consider every single type of reader for this book, so we’ve had to make some assumptions:

· You have a computer and know how to use it.

· You know what a web browser is and can surf the web.

· You have an e-mail address and know how to use it.

· You know what a mobile device is.

Icons Used in This Book

To make your experience with the book easier, we use various icons in the margins of the book to indicate particular points of interest.

When we share something we think is useful or will make life easier for you, we use the Tip icon.

If we want to reinforce a point or a concept, we use the Remember icon. The information we present here is worth committing to memory.

If we need to warn you about something that could give you problems, we use the Warning icon. Pay close attention when you see a Warning, because when we use it, we mean it!

Information tagged with the Technical Stuff icon gets, well, technical. Technical Stuff isn’t essential to your understanding of Facebook, so you can skip these paragraphs if you’re not interested.

Beyond the Book

We have written extra content that you won’t find in this book. Go online to find the following:

· Online articles covering additional topics at

www.dummies.com/extras/facebookaio

Here you’ll find some guidelines for customizing your business page, suggestions for increasing your security and privacy online, tips for creating a Facebook ad, and more.

· The Cheat Sheet for this book is at

www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/facebookaio

Here you’ll find an explanation of Facebook lingo, information on customizing your Facebook browsing, links to important Facebook documents, and more.

· Updates to this book, if we have any, are at

www.dummies.com/extras/facebookaio

Where to Go from Here

You can always start by turning the page and reading the first chapter (Book I, Chapter 1). Or look over the table of contents and find something that catches your attention or a topic that you think can help you solve a problem. Or peruse the index to find a specific item or topic you need help with.

We encourage you to Like our business pages on Facebook:

· Post Planner: http://facebook.com/postplanner

· Crowdshifter Media: http://facebook.com/crowdshifter