To learn more about social networking, see the handout titled Know Social Networking.

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1 Know facebook Objectives Identify different social networks Identify common features of a social network Understand social networking etiquette Sign up for a Facebook account Create a profile in Facebook Set Facebook security and privacy settings What is facebook? Facebook is one of the most popular social networking sites on the Internet, and is quickly becoming the most popular websites on the Internet. You can use it to catch up with old friends, keep in contact with friends and family, share pictures and video, and find new friends with common interests. To learn more about social networking, see the handout titled Know Social Networking. ACTIVITY 1: Setting up a facebook Account To sign up for a facebook account you do need an address. If you need to get one, refer to our Gmail for Beginners class. If you have one, go to To set up a new account, fill out the form on the right-hand side of the page. 1. Fill out your first and last name. 2. Enter and re-enter your address to ensure its correct.

2 3. You need a password to use facebook, although the site allows you to pick your own. Set strong passwords for your social networking sites. A strong password will have a mix of letters and numbers; the longer the password the better. Many people take a word they ll remember and replace letters with similar looking numbers. To make it even stronger, think of a phrase you ll remember and use the first letter of each word and turn some of those letters into similar looking numbers. Example: I m the king of the world becomes 1TK0TW with the number 1 replacing the letter I and the number 0 replacing the letter o. Although tedious, it s best practice to make a different password for each of your sites and s. 4. Enter your gender and birth date. 5. You will be asked to complete a security check by copying some numbers and letters written in a strange font. This tests that you are a real human being, not a computer program that has been set up to create fake accounts from which to send spam. If you have trouble reading the text, your instructor can help you. 6. Facebook will prompt you to find friends by allowing it access to your account. If you don t feel comfortable with this, click on "Skip this step" at the bottom of the page. 2

3 7. You will then be prompted to fill out some profile information that can help you access more people you might know on facebook (from school and work). If you re not going to add information, simply click Skip at the bottom of the page. If you do add information, click Save & Continue. 8. Next, you will be asked to upload a photo. You can bring a photo into the library on a flash drive to upload, or you can upload one later from your computer at home. 9. Lastly, facebook will prompt you to go to your to finalize your account. It s basically checking that you are the owner of that account and that your information is true. Click on Go to your Sign into your account and you will see a message from facebook with the subject heading Just one more step to set up your facebook account. Open this and click on the"complete Sign-up" link. 3

4 Building Your Profile When you log into your account, you will see the main page of the site. It will be fairly sparse since you don't have any contacts yet, but you can still see all the main features. Updates Tracker Search bar Personal Page Link Logout and settings Tools Links News Feed Status bar Updates tracker These will show when you have new friend requests; new messages; or when people have commented on your posts. The outline of two people shows new friend requests; the speak bubbles show new messages; and the globe represents new comments on your posts. A little red box with the number of new updates will show beside each of the icons with new updates. Clicking on the picture will show you the update. Search bar Use this to search for friends, businesses or groups. Personal profile link Click on this to get to your personal page. Your personal page is very similar to the main page except the News Feed is called your Wall and will only show items posted to your own page. You can post messages on your friends walls, but they are public. You can access your Friends list and privacy settings from your page. Logout link Click on the dropdown arrow to find the Logout button. Be sure to always log out of our account, especially if you re working on public computers so no one else can access your account. Tools Links Links to quickly access your photos, notes, events, friends, messages, etc. News Feed Main window of the page where you will see your friends posts and updates. Status bar The right-hand column will show frequently contacted friends and the internal instant messenger. 4

5 ACTIVITY 2: Editing Your Profile 1. Click on the link to your profile page, then Edit Profile in the upper right-hand side of the screen. 2. You will be taken to the Basic Information form. Fill out the information you d like. 3. Click on the globe to the right of each field to change your privacy settings and choose who will be able to see what information. 4. Click on the other profile information links in the left-hand column to flesh out your profile. Put in as much or as little information as you want, but remember to use common sense and to set your privacy. Security and Privacy Social networking is entertaining and useful, but it can also have a downside. You want to keep your private information private and out of the hands of potential cyber-bullies, stalkers, identity thieves and scammers. Note: The following instructions are guidelines ONLY! Facebook is continuously changing its security and privacy settings without warning, so be sure to check your settings frequently. Security Most social networking sites allow you to customize your security settings. Some common options you should consider are: Logging on using a secure Internet browsing session. Creating a security question you ll have to answer if you forget your password. Receiving notifications when your account is logged onto using a different computer or mobile device than usual. Declining the use of geotagging which shows other users where you are. 5

6 Use common sense when posting to your social network. Don t announce when you ll be out of town or other personal information that could be used against you. Be wary of those Apps you can download. These programs are created by outside companies and will often require that you grant them access to your private settings and contact lists before you can use them. Be sure an app is credible before you allow it access. And don t accept friend requests from people you don t know or don t know why they re trying to friend you. ACTIVITY 3: Setting Your Security 1. Click once on the dropdown menu button in the upper right-hand corner of the page to access your privacy and security settings. Click on Account Settings. 2. Click on Security on the left-hand side of the screen to access your security settings. 3. Click on the edit link to the right of each option to set your security question, establish secure browsing and enable Login notification. If you re going to use Apps, you might also want to set an App password. 6

7 Privacy Most sites require certain information to set up a page such as your name and contact information but you can opt to show or hide much of that information. Keep your birth year, home address and phone number under wraps. You can also usually set how your information will be shared. You can often choose to show your posts, photos and information to just people you ve added to your contacts list, to your contacts and their contacts, or to everyone. Be aware, that if you chose the everyone option, your information will likely show up in regular Internet searches. And remember that certain things are private for a reason. Don t post compromising photos, information or comments. There have been many stories of people being fired from their jobs, or not hired for jobs, because of information posted to social networks. And remember, your family members are likely able to see what you re posting, so keep it clean. ACTIVITY 4: Setting Your Privacy 1. Click once on the dropdown menu button in the upper right-hand corner of the page to access your privacy and security settings. Click on Privacy Settings to change how your information is shared. 2. Change your default privacy to Friends so only your approved contacts can access your information or customize your privacy settings using Custom. Go through the other categories and set your privacy to the level you d like it. 3. Click the Edit Settings link next to the other categories to set your privacy to the level you d like it for tagging, Apps, etc. 7

8 4. You can test how other people see your information (and what information they can see) by clicking View As in the upper right-hand side of your profile page. You will be asked to enter a friend s name to see how they see your page. Finding and Connecting with Contacts Once you have your security and privacy settings established it's time to start finding contacts and having fun. In facebook, all your contacts are referred to as friends. ACTIVITY 5: Searching for Friends, Businesses and Groups 1. Type the name of the person, business or group you d like to find in the search bar at the top of the page. 2. A list of possible results will be displayed. Click once on the one you were looking for. 3. To add new friends you will have to send a request to that person. Click on the link beside a person's name to send them a Friend Request. They will have to approve you as a friend before you can see their personal page and updates. 4. Once you ve gotten some friends, you can search for more by looking through their friends lists to find common contacts. You'll find a person's Friend list on the left-hand side of their profile page. 5. Some groups require approval, while others will add you automatically. Businesses are set up a little differently than groups and friends. To add a business, simply go to their page and click the Like button at the top of their Wall. 8

9 Once you have some contacts, you will begin to see their status updates in your News Feed. You can like, comment on, or share these by using the links below the update. This person shared an article from The Providence Journal newspaper These people liked this status update. This person commented on this status update If you like a comment or post, facebook will give you the option to take it back this is the Unlike button. ACTIVITY 6: Update Your Status Click on the Update Status link at the top of either your News feed or your Profile pages to share your thoughts. Help and tutorials For more information on using facebook and help with your account, click on the Help link in the lower righthand corner of the screen. 9

10 Logging In and Out To access your facebook account, you will always need to first go to the facebook website at Once you have an account established, you will login by entering your address and password in the two fields provided at the top of the page in the dark blue banner. When you are finished with facebook, always be sure to log out of your account, especially if you're working on a public computer. Click once on the dropdown menu arrow in the upper right-hand side of the screen, and then click on Log out. Shutting Down Your Account If you decide you don't want your facebook account anymore, you have two options: Deactivate Your Account Facebook removes your account from public view, but does not delete your account. If you decide you want to rejoin the social network, you can do so by signing in again with your and password. 1. Click on the dropdown menu arrow in the upper right-hand corner of the screen and click on Account Settings. 2. Click on Security in the left-hand menu. 3. Click on Deactivate account at the bottom of the list. Delete Your Account You can delete your account which removes it completely from the site. You will not be able to re-access your account. You need to send a message to facebook telling them you'd like to delete your account. 1. Click on Help in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen 2. Click on Trouble using facebook 3. Click on Deactivating or deleting your account 4. Click on Submit your request here. Additional Resources Facebook tutorial: