Teach me about Facebook

[redshoes]

I admit, I'm terribly behind the times. I don't have a Myspace account, I don't Twitter, my life is not perfect enough to link to my friends' blogs, and I'm not on Facebook. I have always thought that these things were more for the younger crowd (I'm 31) and for people that lead more exciting lives than mine.

I went to a bridal shower last week for one of my oldest friends and I reconnected with friends from high school and college there. One of the first things several them asked me was, "are you on Facebook". For fear of sounding like my 60 year old father, I didn't ask any questions but I will admit here- I know very little about the site.

So I'm asking here. Tell me the ins and outs of Facebook. What is the purpose of having an account. Is it to reconnect with old friends? Do you use if your family is spread out all over the world? Do you use it for business? If I decide to open an account, what do I need to know?

Thanks.

 

["Got Disney"]

facebook is easy. All you do is sign up and add friends e-mails and they are added to your friends list. You can add pictures, post comments and such and also find friends. I was invited by a friend and that is how I got started. If you PM me your e-mail address I will invite you as a friend and you can look around.

than once you are started you can send e-mails through Facebook to your friends and ask them to join, if they are not already all they do is sign up. Its easy.

By the way I'm 51 and have not got a MySpace....just Facebook and I also dont Twitter.

 

[JESW]

It is actually quite easy and you can be as involved as you want to be. I only have 12 "friends" right now and that is fine with me. I have my sister and three of my nieces and one nephew and even my Dad (he's 88) and other friends. I like it as I can keep up with my family members as we don't see each other that often.

It can also be a real time user if you get involved in the other games. Right now my family has their own mafia in Mafia Wars, and I attend to my garden in Farm Town. You don't HAVE to do those things.

Go on, check it out and see if it is anything you might like. I resisted it for a long time but kept getting invitations to join so I did.

Jill

 

[TimothyQMouse]

I'm not a pro, but here is what I've learned about Facebook. First, you set up an account and give it information about stuff like where you went to school. Then, people that you have only the slightest connection with (people you barely remember from high school, people that once worked with you and are now out of work, ex-spouses of old friends) will start sending you requests to be their "friend."

When you "friend" someone you start seeing posts when they do the most mundane things imaginable. Now, you'll know when they are sitting down for dinner, what they are watching on TV, how angry they are about the latest celebrity doing something stupid, and other fascinating stuff.

Beyond that, I haven't really figured out a use for it yet. In communication theory parlance, it has a neglible signal to noise ratio.

 

[Kycha]

My 16 year old niece got my 65 year old mother involved in Facebook. Then it was downhill from there.lol. Now the entire family is on FB. I think it is a great way to keep in contact with family and friends. My family is all over the country...Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan. So, it is a great way to keep in touch. It was invaluable when my uncle died 2 weeks ago. His son posted details about the memorial service and the obit and other stuff. It was also a way for all of us to share our grief with other loved ones even though we were all so far away from each other.

I have also hooked up with former classmates. They have even started a page for our upcoming 25th reunion. It's nice to be able to have everyone give their input on the party planning rather than just the 4 or 5 people that would normally be on the reunion committee.

 

[Kathi OD]

My 16 year old niece got my 65 year old mother involved in Facebook. Then it was downhill from there.lol. Now the entire family is on FB. I think it is a great way to keep in contact with family and friends. My family is all over the country...Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan. So, it is a great way to keep in touch. It was invaluable when my uncle died 2 weeks ago. His son posted details about the memorial service and the obit and other stuff. It was also a way for all of us to share our grief with other loved ones even though we were all so far away from each other.

I have also hooked up with former classmates. They have even started a page for our upcoming 25th reunion. It's nice to be able to have everyone give their input on the party planning rather than just the 4 or 5 people that would normally be on the reunion committee.

My DIL's 70-something grandmother asked me to join facebook...mostly I think so she had someone to talk to the kids about (DIL's mother is not in the picture and neither is anyone from that side of the family). I joined reluctantly last week.

Since then I've "found" quite a few friends from high school I had lost touch with and most of my cousins on my dad's side of the family. One of my cousins started a group page for us to keep track of each other and the important things going on with our families. Since we all have kids (and some of us have grandbabies) and have spread literally coast-to-coast, it's been a great way to keep up with what is going on. We have decided to plan a reunion for 2010 or 2011 and this is a great way for everyone to have some input into the gathering.

 

[MichelleinMaine]

As others have said, I've found it a great way to keep in touch with classmates. (I graduated overseas, so we'd never have found each other!)

We also use it to keep tabs on family around the country. Everyone knows right away when something happens (except my mom, who is on FB, but doesn't want to friend any of us, not sure what is up with that, lol)

One thing not mentioned, that is good to know- you do have the option to limit what you post (news, pics, whatever) to just your friends (eg people you have approved). I resisted for a long time because I thought posting there meant the world could see. Not so!

 

[Diane]

I have a question. I've recently joined Facebook and really don't understand what I'm supposed to do, either. Just today, I got an email from FB saying that someone wanted to be my friend (or something like that), but I've never heard of this person. Do I just ignore the email? (I don't have any other "friends.")

 

[disbridemimi]

I have a question. I've recently joined Facebook and really don't understand what I'm supposed to do, either. Just today, I got an email from FB saying that someone wanted to be my friend (or something like that), but I've never heard of this person. Do I just ignore the email? (I don't have any other "friends.")

If someone wants to friend me and I dont know them, I go to see their profile and see if we have any common friends, sometimes it makes mroe sense who they are if I know them through somoene.


I also would suggest not doing any of those applications to pass drinks and send little flowers etc, you can get virusus and get hacked that way

 

[Diane]

Thanks disbridemimi! I have another question, if you don't mind:

Does someone know, somehow, when you look at their profile? (Like, do they get a message or something?)

 

[ozarkmom]

I'm not a pro, but here is what I've learned about Facebook. First, you set up an account and give it information about stuff like where you went to school. Then, people that you have only the slightest connection with (people you barely remember from high school, people that once worked with you and are now out of work, ex-spouses of old friends) will start sending you requests to be their "friend."

When you "friend" someone you start seeing posts when they do the most mundane things imaginable. Now, you'll know when they are sitting down for dinner, what they are watching on TV, how angry they are about the latest celebrity doing something stupid, and other fascinating stuff.

Beyond that, I haven't really figured out a use for it yet. In communication theory parlance, it has a neglible signal to noise ratio.

Hahaha!!!! I really agree with you .

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Hahaha!!!! I really agree with you .

And here I thought I was the only one that thought that. At least I feel better now.

I have this one friend that does something with decorative eggs. Something about looking for them. Heck, I'm looking to find my kitchen table under all the crap that gets put there, when do I have the time to search for decorative eggs on Facebook.

 

[binny]

I love FB. I am a very social person though and I have a lot of friends. Its been really helpful while we've been our HS reunion. We have actually found more than 85% of our classmates, a lot of that is due to FB


I have had a blast reuniting with all of my old friends and have fun with the games. They could really get intensive but I only check in on the a few times a day for about a minute each time (though I usually have one window open to FB all the time while I am working lol)

I actually turn off the notifications for the people I really dont care so much about, you can also turn off the game notifications if they bother you.

 

[Disneynutbsv]

I love facebook! My hs class is having its 20 year reunion this year and it has been great for keeping in touch with classmates!
I got started on it when my kids asked if they could go on and I said yes, but I will have to start an account and they will have to friend me....w/i a few weeks I had friends that I have been out of touch with and its been so nice reconnecting with them.
I do have a myspace, but its kind of boring, I don't like it as much as facebook and I do twitter as well...I was able to update my status to facebook via text messaging to twitter while I was on vacation to Disney (and I have quite a few "Dis" friends on there as well). So my friends were living vicariously through me while on vacation, lol.

 

[disbridemimi]

Thanks disbridemimi! I have another question, if you don't mind:

Does someone know, somehow, when you look at their profile? (Like, do they get a message or something?)

No they dont know! But you can set your profile to private, so just your friends can view it, so you wont be able to look at everyones. I would prob suggest you go to "settings" and put yours so just your friends can see it, that way people have to request you as a friend before they can see your stuff.