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

Book I. Creating a Timeline

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In this part…

· Examine the benefits of using Facebook.

· Set up your account, and find friends on Facebook.

· Understand the ins and outs of your news feed and personal timeline.

· Read about the different ways you can protect your online privacy.

· Get help from Help Center, online documents, and more.

Chapter 1. Deciding to Join

In This Chapter

Answering the question, “What is Facebook?”

Discovering the benefits of being part of the crowd

Using Facebook efficiently

Understanding the statements of rights and responsibilities

Before considering whether or not to join Facebook, you probably want to know what it is, how you use it, and whether it’s going to be invasive in your life. Those concerns are all fair, and the purpose of this chapter is to address them. First, we explain what Facebook is and how it fits into the scheme of social media. Then we discuss the benefits of joining Facebook, the basic rules of doing so, and how you can customize your experience.

Describing Facebook

Facebook is a social networking platform where people share their thoughts, actions, photos, and videos with friends, family, and (in some cases) the public at large.

By setting up a personal timeline (sometimes referred to as a profile), you can create status updates and keep others up-to-date on what you’re doing. Facebook is where you can hang out with friends, even when you’re not in the same location. Through status updates and shared applications, you can listen to the same music your friend is listening to or see where your friend had lunch if he or she checked in (in Book II, Chapter 5 we discuss what it means to check in to a place).

Facebook is becoming more than just a way to keep up with friends or family — it’s a new way of marketing as well. Brands create business pages to connect with their customers on a more personal level and may offer marketing campaigns, coupons, or special deals to Facebook fans. Some brands have gone so far as to launch new products or services to their Facebook fans first.

Enjoying the Benefits of Facebook

When we tell people that we love Facebook, we get all kinds of reactions. Some people don’t get it because they are Twitter or Google+ diehards. Others don’t get it because they think Facebook is fine, thankyouverymuch, but they’re not passionate about it. And some people don't get it because they would never think of sharing their life in the public realm. Luckily, others understand that when we say “we love Facebook,” we mean we love the opportunities it brings.

Facebook is not just a way to share photos of the new baby, your lunch, or Saturday’s party. It’s an integral way of interacting with others — personal friends, colleagues, businesses, and even celebrities. It’s a way to research your interests and learn new things. Facebook offers you a way to broaden your social circle with people you’ve never even met (indeed, they could be a world away), though many people start by finding and reconnecting with old friends (say, friends from high school, college, or even old workplaces).

A benefit of being on Facebook is that you have the opportunity to be heard. Until social media truly became mainstream, we were broadcast to as a whole. News outlets, businesses, and celebrities all shouted their information to you to further their interests. The crux of social media is that broadcasting is frowned upon and conversations are encouraged. You have a chair at the table and an opportunity to have your say. We don’t mean to imply that all voices are equal. Obstacles still exist, but social media has opened new avenues that make it more likely for your voice to have an effect if you use it wisely.

When you join Facebook, you have the opportunity to customize how you interact, who you interact with, and how often you interact overall. Your Facebook timeline is a record of your voice. As you interact with other users and businesses, you build your online persona. Others begin to create a perception of you, based on what you share on Facebook. Throughout Books I and II, we emphasize how you can bring your personality into your online persona by choosing your friends, sharing photos and videos, controlling your privacy settings, and creating a stellar cover photo for your timeline. (Your timeline allows you to share all the milestones of your life in one place.)

Embracing Facebook as an extension of your world

You may have seen the commercials or comics poking fun at Facebook. The message is similar to this: “All my friends live in my computer.” The message is funny because it contains a grain of truth, but it's also an exaggeration.

If you’re using Facebook as a tool, it’s unlikely to take the place of your “real” life, where you’re out and about doing things. Rather than thinking of Facebook as a zero-sum game (that is, you’re either in or out), we think of Facebook as a way to extend relationships. So much of “real” life is mimicked on Facebook. When you connect with people at a conference, you can continue networking on Facebook. If you meet someone at a party, you can keep the social relationship going on Facebook. If you go to a family reunion and catch up with everyone but that one weird uncle (we all have one), you can still catch up with the family you love and filter out the crazy uncle.

When you meet someone new and then connect with them on Facebook, you can see what else you have in common. You may find that you’re even more simpatico than you originally thought! Think of Facebook as a way to keep the conversation going.

Facebook can be an extension of your daily life also because it’s always available. Apps on your smartphone or tablet device (such as an iPad) allow you to quickly check for breaking news, updates from friends, and so on. You can use your mobile device to check in with friends to let them know where you are or what you’re doing. You can even check in to a specific venue. (See Book II, Chapter 5 for information on check-ins.)

Flipboard is one of our favorite apps because we get a nice overview (with lots of pictures) of what’s going on without spending a lot of time sifting through content.

Finding your community on Facebook

When most people start their Facebook accounts, they’re doing it to keep tabs on what everyone else is doing. You start by connecting with people you know (this is called friending in the world of Facebook). Then you start connecting with people you meet around town, at work, or at conferences. Your circle of friends starts to grow. And as it does, you start to find your groove. You may notice that friends of friends share your interests, so you either friend or follow them. Or you may find a group that shares your passion for whatever it is you’re passionate about. Your news feed becomes fine-tuned to your interests and interactions.

Each community you join produces a ripple effect. Those communities build other communities (and when those communities grow too large, they splinter into more specialized groups, and you’re once again interacting with people who share your philosophies). Suddenly, Facebook isn’t an anonymous place with too much information; it’s your customized news feed that gives you the scoop on the things that matter to you most.

Using Facebook for news and marketing

When news breaks, people don’t flock to their TVs to see what’s happening anymore; they turn to Twitter, Google+, and Facebook for real-time information from the people who are already there. You don’t have to wait for the news crew to get there; someone on the ground is already reporting what’s happening. When the Boston Marathon bombings happened, you could find information about it on Facebook immediately, and follow the tragedy and subsequent manhunt.

Because the news stories on Facebook aren’t filtered through a news agency, the information you gather may or may not be accurate. At the very least, you can see varying points of view and piece together a more complete picture of what’s happening.

If you’re a small business owner, Facebook can provide a new marketing option for you. We’re sure you’re aware of the importance of tapping into targeted communities — and Facebook is where you’ll find those communities. If you’re considering using Facebook as part of your marketing strategy, be sure you read Book IV to get the scoop on building your business page. In that minibook, we explain the importance of understanding social media before jumping in and broadcasting your message, and we give you pointers on how to build your community from the ground up. Then flip over to Book V to discover how Facebook ads and Insights (Facebook analytics software) can help you further target your audience and position you or your company as an authority in your niche.

An interesting benefit of using Facebook is its capability to reach a wide audience for little or no money. You can spread the word about a cause, a movement, or a memoriam and reach hundreds or thousands of people. Looking for an answer about something? Ask the crowd on Facebook (this is called crowdsourcing). If you want to know what your audience wants from you, just ask them.

Avoiding the Timesuck

What we often hear as a reason to avoid Facebook is that it's a timesuck. We get that. You could log on to Facebook during your morning coffee and turn around and realize it’s noon.

When you use Facebook efficiently, however, it becomes less of a detriment and more of a tool. But using Facebook as a tool doesn’t come naturally to everyone. We too have spent hours following a rabbit trail. And we've killed time doing the Trifecta of Timesuck: switching from e-mail to Twitter to Facebook to see what’s new in the five minutes since we last checked. It’s true that part of using Facebook as a tool requires self-control (we’re not judging — we’ve been there).

You can do several things to help you get the most out of Facebook without wasting time:

· Use lists. Facebook allows you to group your connections based on criteria that you determine. (For example, Scott has created lists of Facebook experts, social media resources, friends, family, and more.) With lists, you can easily check out what everyone’s doing without missing updates that may have slid by in your news feed. See Chapter 3 of this minibook to find out how to set up lists.

· Use your navigation wisely. Your main Facebook page shows your navigation options in the left sidebar. You can move lists and groups you visit most frequently to your favorites at the top of the sidebar so you can easily access them. See Chapter 4 of this minibook to find out how to organize your navigation sidebar.

· Follow businesses you like. Just about every website out there has a link to its business page. The next time you visit your favorite website, check for a Facebook link. Clicking it takes you to the business page for that site, and from there, you can click the Like button to follow the page. Many people use Facebook as a feed reader (a way to know when a website publishes new content). When you Like a business page, any time it updates, you can see it in your news feed (though you need to interact regularly with those posts to continue seeing them; see Book V, Chapter 3 for details).

· Follow public figures. Public figures can be athletes, celebrities, or even social causes. When we say “public figure,” we’re talking about not just Lady Gaga but also people like Chris Brogan, an American author, a journalist, a marketing consultant, and a social media leader (www.facebook.com/broganchris), and George Takei, the actor who played Sulu in the original Star Trek series (www.facebook.com/georgehtakei) — both of whom update their Facebook statuses regularly in interesting ways. You can also find just about any bigwig from any industry on Facebook. See Book II, Chapter 2 to find out how to use the Follow feature.

· Create a group and invite people with whom you like to interact. We’re in a few or more groups on Facebook (Scott is in hundreds of groups!), and we’ve made some wonderful personal and professional connections with people because of them. Groups start out with a common thread. That thread may be that you know all these people or that you’re all passionate about a particular subject. You invite people, and those people suggest adding people they know. In no time, you’re meeting new people who share your interests. See Book II, Chapter 5 for instruction on how to start or find a group.

Agreeing to the Terms of Service

So you decided to try out Facebook (yay!). Before you begin, you must agree to or meet the following requirements:

· You’re 13 years old or older.

· You use your real information (name, e-mail, birthday, and so on).

· You maintain a single account.

Facebook’s goal is to “make the world more open and transparent, which we believe will create greater understanding and connection.” To do that, Facebook relies on each user to create an account based on real information. Besides, how can people find you if you make a fake account? Two important parts of social media are authenticity and trust. You can set the foundation for them with your Facebook account.

Facebook is an interesting beast. On the one hand, it’s a place where you can send out messages and updates to others when and how you choose. On the other hand, other users can choose how they receive your updates. Facebook allows everyone to control their own privacy and customize their interactions — as long as you adhere to the Statements of Rights and Responsibilities (the terms of service).

Facebook has developed a set of principles it uses as a basis for all other Facebook rules, terms, and guidelines. You can find those principles spelled out at www.facebook.com/principles.php. In general, Facebook strives to provide a free platform where people can connect and share information and experiences while owning their personal space and content. You can share what you want, with whomever you want, as long as both parties consent — which means don’t bother, bully, or harass someone. The principles also support the following:

· You own your content, and you control your privacy settings. You can remove your content from Facebook any time you like, and you can set your privacy settings to reflect how you want to share your content and protect it from others.

Although you own your content on Facebook, if you lose access to your account (for a violation of terms, for instance), you no longer have access to that content. Although it’s unlikely that you’ll run into that issue, we highly recommend backing up your content (especially photos and video) weekly or even monthly so you have a separate copy. See Chapter 2 of this minibook for instructions on downloading your Facebook data.

· Everyone’s equal on Facebook. We all follow the same rules, whether we’re using Facebook for fun or business. Facebook users can build their own reputation on Facebook and won’t be excluded unless they violate the terms of service. In other words, Facebook has to have a good reason to lock you out.

The Facebook Statements of Rights and Responsibilities (https://www.facebook.com/legal/terms) are based on the Facebook principles. When you create your Facebook account, you agree to those terms. The following list highlights a few of those agreements (again, we encourage you to read the terms yourself for a full understanding of what Facebook expects):

· You’re in charge of your privacy on Facebook.

· You own your original content on Facebook.

· You won’t spam other users or collect their information without their consent.

· You won’t promote pyramid schemes, upload malicious code or viruses, or post hateful content.

When you agree to the Facebook terms of use, you agree that you will not

· Engage in bullying, harassment, or hate speech

· Sell your status updates

· Post pornographic content

The preceding list is just an overview and is not exact nor inclusive.

Facebook has guidelines and terms of service for every aspect of the platform. We encourage you to read each set for yourself so you know exactly what the expectations are. Here’s a list for your reference:

· Facebook principles: www.facebook.com/principles.php

· Statement of Rights and Responsibilities: www.facebook.com/legal/terms

· Family Safety Center: www.facebook.com/help/safety

· Terms of service for pages: www.facebook.com/terms_pages.php

· Data use policy: www.facebook.com/about/privacy

· Community standards: www.facebook.com/communitystandards

· Promotions guidelines: www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php

· Facebook brand permissions: www.facebook.com/brandpermissions

· Facebook ad guidelines: www.facebook.com/ad_guidelines.php

· Nonprofits on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nonprofits