Basic privacy settings in Facebook

Many folks who are nervous about entering the world of social media have been spooked by tales of everything from identity theft to game addiction. Being a little proactive can provide you with more social security.

Facebook is continually evolving to improve user experience, including making it easier access settings and adjustments that can make your experience more secure.

You have the power

I encourage you to explore Facebook settings. You have power to control who sees your profile and to control what others see.

Access Facebook settings by clicking the down arrow on the right side of the blue bar that spans the top of your Facebook window.

Choose Settings from the drop-down list, and the General Settings page appears:

You can ignore the General Settings for now. You can always return to adjust these at your leisure.

Do notice the list on the left. Facebook divides its settings into smaller groups to make them more manageable. These choices allow you to control access to your profile and your information.

Note that Security and Privacy are separate sections. Security Settings manage controls to keep others from accessing, logging in, and making changes to your account. Privacy settings control who can see your account and which information they can see.

Secure your profile

From the list on the left, choose Security. The Security Settings page appears:

Take your time and read through the descriptions for each of these settings. It is wise to consider setting Trusted Contacts and Legacy Content. Also note that if you ever decide to "leave Facebook," Security Settings is where you can "Deactivate your account."

Get a little privacy
Choose Privacy, and the Privacy Settings page appears:

Take time to read through and consider each of these. Only you can determine what you are comfortable with. A fairly conservative setting for each option is Friends. You can experiment with the various settings, and you can always return to these settings later to make small (or large) adjustments.

Security and Privacy are important concerns. Taking the time to educate yourself on these settings and to consider what works best for you is the best way to have an enjoyable experience on Facebook.

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Coming up: EVISM 

finding friends, ediquette, and more

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Your first steps in Facebook

Now that you have signed up for Facebook, it’s time to get started. To make your social media entry as smooth as possible and to look like you’re an old pro, take a few moments to setup your account/profile.

Skip before you step

Upon account creation, Facebook prompts you to search for and add friends, but you do not have to do that immediately. You may, as I recommend, prefer to set your account up before jumping in and adding friends. To do so, click Skip this step (located near the bottom right corner of the gray box):

Facebook offers you ample opportunities to add your friends. In fact, your first opportunity is immediate as Facebook prompts you again, just to make sure:

NOTE: If you want to go ahead and use Facebook’s friend-finding capabilities, you may do so. Waiting, however, will make you look more like a seasoned user than a Newbie, someone who is new to Facebook or the Internet in general.

Post a profile picture

Upon account creation, Facebook prompts you to search for and add friends, but you do not have to do that immediately.

After confirming you want to look for friends later, Facebook reminds you that you may not be the only person with the same name and prompts you to select a profile picture. Your profile picture is one that identifies you. Most people choose a photograph of themselves, and that makes it easier for friends and family to find them. Others choose pictures that represent themselves, maybe a picture of an animal or flower they identify with.

A Facebook profile with no picture screams, “I’m new to this,” and you don’t want that.

You can use your webcam to take a picture, but your profile will look much better with a good headshot. If you don’t have a good picture, get a friend to take, or use a professional portrait if you have one. Many people choose to post a Selfie, a picture one takes of one’s self. You can certainly do that; but remember, your profile picture is a public photo. Choose wisely.

If you absolutely detest the idea of having a shot of yourself as your profile picture, consider choosing a picture that represents you well. You might even decide to create an Avatar, a graphical representation of yourself. Whatever you choose, DO choose a profile picture.

Click the Add Picture button, and follow the prompts to locate and add the image you would like to use:

Confirm your account

During these first few Facebook steps, a small, easily missed, confirmation notice appears:

This notice, contained in a beige bar across the top of the browser window, is even smaller than the blue Login bar you may remember from the previous EVISM entry.

Confirming your account is easy. Check the email account you used to sign up for Facebook and click Confirm Your Account in the confirmation email:

Facebook alerts you that your account has been confirmed:

Your account is ready for you to use. 

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Coming up: EVISM 

addresses adjusting security settings and more

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Signing Up for Facebook

Take that step...

No matter what social media platform you choose, the first step is signing up. Because Facebook is probably the best known and easiest to learn, let's use it as our first.

1. Go to www.facebook.com, and the following screen appears:

Notice the blue bar across the top of the screen. Use that section to sign in when you visit Facebook in the future.
It is a common mistake to attempt to log in by entering information in the most obvious text boxes on the page. Instead, look up; log in at the top.

2. For now, focus on the Sign Up section: 

3. Provide the requested information, and click Sign Up.

NOTE: Consider signing up with your email address instead of your mobile phone number. A stray email solicitation is less of an intrusion than an unwanted phone call or text message.

Congratulations!
You’ve just joined Facebook. That wasn’t that scary, now was it?

Why would I ever want to join Facebook?

What's the big deal?

Social media has become the way people stay in touch with each other. Nearly 75% of people with Internet access have Facebook accounts. I know what you’re thinking. Doing it because everyone else is doing it isn’t a very good reason for much of anything. However, the sheer number of folks who have Facebook accounts means you probably know a good number of people you can connect with. And while the younger crowds are leveling off on their use, use among the 50+ crowd continues to grow.

Keeping in touch with family
Facebook is a simple way for families in various parts of the world to feel more connected. Grandparents can more easily watch their grandkids grow, and they can share their lives, even from afar, and unlike videoconferencing, participants need not be online at the same time.

If for no other reason than to see pictures of the kids and grandkids, Facebook is a great tool for mature adults. While most of society isn’t ready to give up the tangible, hold-it-in-the-lap, family album, Facebook has become a quick and easy place to share photographs with family and friends; and with powerful cameras in nearly every phone along with no need to have film developed, more pictures are taken now than ever before. 

Keeping in touch with friends, old and new

Just as you can easily keep up with your family on Facebook, you can keep up with friends, share pictures, and carry on conversations. Facebook allows you to efficiently keep up with a larger number of friends than you could through traditional methods – and at your own pace.

With more and more middle-aged and senior folks joining Facebook daily, it’s likely many of your friends have already joined and are just waiting for you to join them. This influx also increases the chance that someone you haven’t heard from in years is on Facebook and looking for you. The rekindling of old friendships and sharing memories of earlier times can be truly rewarding and sometimes life changing.

Doing business

Facebook has become a major way businesses stay in contact with their customers. If you have a small business, it’s practically crucial to be on social media. Your customers expect your presence.

But even if you don’t own a business, you DO engage in business. If you’re a fan of a business, they want to know. If something has gone awry, businesses are anxious to help right the wrong, and Facebook is often one of the tools they use to work toward a resolution. They want to keep you happy as a customer.

Why not just pick up the telephone?
Well, you certainly can do that. You can also write a paper letter or even an email message.
Time, though, can be an issue. If you’re seven time zones removed from your loved ones or from a company you do business with, finding a time everyone is available can be a challenge.

Facebook allows each party to respond immediately or at his or her convenience. It may not be as immediate as talking on the telephone, but it’s timely; and it may be more efficient if one party needs to investigate or research before responding. With the telephone, this would require long periods of being on hold or multiple phone calls.

And don’t discount the social aspect of Facebook. Most telephone conversations are just between two people. A Facebook conversation, on the other hand, has the potential to be between you and one friend, you and a group of your friends, or you and all of your Facebook friends. The ability for more people to be involved makes the edventure more fun.

Just wait until your birthday and you see your in-box full of greetings from people wishing you the very best.

What if I don’t want everyone to see everything I do?
Some folks believe that anything you post on Facebook is there for the whole world to see. By default, that is true, but Facebook provides numerous settings to narrow your audience down to exactly who you want it to be, whether that IS the whole world or just your niece and nephew.

Why not?
In the end, Facebook, like so many things in life, is what you make it. With a little thought, it can be a great way to stay in touch with family and friends and to do business. Edventures in Social Media aims to be your source to make your experience a wise and enjoyable one.

What is social media?

Defining the term
Numerous Web sites and dictionaries offer their own definitions for the term social media. If you find yourself with a few spare moments, you may want to use Google to search for definitions.

For Edventures in Social Media, the term refers to various sites and services where the users create the content. The service is the social media platform; the content is made up of entries from everyday users… folks like you and me.

It is important to remember that even though you and I create the content on social media sites, we are not really the customers for those sites; we use their sites, and in doing so, we provide the content that makes people want to visit those sites. The real customers for social media sites are the advertisers who want to grab our attention and sell us something.

Major social media platforms
The major examples are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Blogs, and so many others. Even services like TripAdvisor and Yelp are becoming quasi-social media platforms.

What is the difference?
Let’s start with just two of the majors. The differences can be quite involved.

Facebook
Facebook began on college campuses and quickly became a platform for college students to connect with one another and make friends. Through the early years, Facebook opened itself up to larger groups of people, and now anyone is welcome to set up a profile, and many younger uses deem it uncool and have moved on to other platforms.

Facebook is the long-time biggest player. Today it is often the social media platform where people first dip their toes to test the waters, largely because it is one of the easiest to use. Its massive popularity makes it the platform Edventures in Social Media uses for examples.

Twitter
Twitter is referred to as a microblogging site. It allows uses to craft messages of up to 140 characters. As Shakespeare said in Hamlet, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” Brevity is also the soul of Twitter. Enforcing the character limit in Twitter can be challenging, but generally results in better-crafted messages. Similar to the restrictions of a Haiku poem, Twitter messages can become brilliant because of, not despite, the limitations.