How to Use Facebook

Does it feel like everyone you know is on Facebook? Do you want to join but aren't sure how to start? Take our "Facebook for beginners" course, and you will be posting on your friends' walls in no time.

Facebook is the largest online social networking site and currently has more than 1 billion users.1 Facebook allows people to interact, share photos and find people. In addition to using Facebook for social purposes, many people use it professionally for business networking.2

More and more businesses with an online presence will link users to a Facebook page. They will also frequently use Twitter and RSS feeds.3 However, a surprising number of emerging businesses have no idea how to use Facebook for marketing. Knowing how to use Facebook for business has become a crucial skill to have in the job hunt and an integral part of online marketing strategies.4 Facebook has found a way to make itself the link between the brand and the consumer.

There are also Fan Pages on Facebook.5 Fan Pages are targeted more toward a specific entity rather than an individual social networking with friends and family. Just because they are labeled Fan Pages does not necessarily mean that the entity is a celebrity, a band, etc. Fan sites can be created for anything, especially online stores.6 More and more businesses are making use of Fan Pages to target their users to a Facebook entity that represents their enterprise.7

We'll be covering all this and more in this Facebook guide to beginners. So, are you ready to learn how to use Facebook

Step 1: Profile Information

1. Register on Facebook

Go to the Facebook Homepage. Then, enter your full name, your email address and password.

Your password must include both letters and numbers. Select your gender—Male or Female. Select your birthday.

After you have entered this data, click on the Signup button. Go to your email that you used to join Facebook. Open the Registration Confirmation email from Facebook. Click on the verification link to verify that a computer is not making the account. Now you can access Facebook and find your friends online.

2. Enter Profile Information

If you have just joined Facebook, the Info tab is displayed after you added friends. If you logged out of Facebook before setting up a profile, then click on View and Edit Profile the next time you log on to Facebook.

1. Enter your basic information.

2. If you only want to show the month and day of your birthday and not the year, select Show only month and year in my profile from the box underneath the birthday field.

3. To enter Personal, Contact and Education information, click on the appropriate section and enter the information.

4. If you do not want specific information displayed on your profile, leave the field blank.
5. When you have completed a section, click on the Save Changes button before moving to another section.

6. To upload a profile picture, click Upload Profile Picture and browse to the picture you would like to display.

7. To write a brief bio that will be shown on your profile page, click Write something about yourself and type in your information.

8. When you have completed your profile, click on the Done Editing button and the information is saved.

Step 2: Exploring the Facebook Toolbar and Tabs

The Toolbar at the top of your screen lets you navigate through Facebook.

Facebook Button

Use the Facebook button to return to your Facebook homepage.8 You can also use the Home button to return to your home page. Your Facebook page displays information about your Facebook friends. A series of tabs are displayed at the top of the screen that allow you to easily navigate through your Facebook page. There are five default tabs for your Facebook homepage:

1. News Feed: ”This tab displays stories about your friends, such as when they add friends, post updates or write on a friend's wall. The amount of information displayed about a friend depends on their privacy settings. You can customize the amount of news that you receive about a particular friend in your News Feed.
2. Status Updates: ”This tab displays status updates posted by your friends. It does not include other stories about your friends, such as when they join a group or add a new friend.
3. Photos: ”This tab displays your friend's photo albums. The photo albums displayed in this tab depends on the privacy setting selected for the photo album.
4. Posted Items: ”This tab displays all posted by friends.
5. Live Feed: ”This tab displays all news stories about your friends, such as status updates, friends they have added and groups they have joined.

To add application tabs to your Facebook page:

1. Select the arrow at the far right of the tabs.

2. From the drop down list, select the application feeds you want displayed on your tabs. The tabs are added to your Facebook homepage.

Profile Button

Use the Profilebutton view and edit your profile. Your profile is the place where you share information with your friends, such as photos, information and messages. You can use this to determine who sees your profile. You can set your profile to Public so that everyone on Facebook can see your profile.You can also restrict your profile to only friends that you have approved. There are also restrictions you can set that only affect specific information in your profile.

There are four default tabs for your Profile page:

1. Wall: ”This tab displays messages that your friends leave for you. You can use Wall to Wall to write a message back to your friend.
2. Info: ”This tab displays your profile information. To edit information, click Edit Information.
3. Photos: ”This tab displays pictures that you posted.
4. Videos: ”This tab displays videos that you posted.

You can add additional tabs to your profile page:

1. Select the plus sign button at the far right of the tabs.

2. From the drop down list, select the applications you want displayed on your tabs. The tabs are added to your Profile page.

Friends Button

Use the Friends button to view your friends, find friends, add new friends and invite people you know to join Facebook. Friends are people who can see your status updates, access your profile and receive news feed updates about you.

Many people approve friend requests for people they know in real life. If someone wants to add you to their friends list, you must approve them before they can access your profile. If you add someone as a friend, they must also approve you before you can see their profile information.

Another great way to stay in touch with your Facebook friends is the Facebook chat function. If you learn how to use Facebook chat, you'll be able to enjoy the same instant messaging functions used by platforms like Gmail (Gchat). 

Inbox Button

Use this button to read messages from your friends and send messages to your friends. Messages are a way to communicate with friends individually without posting a public message on their wall.

1. From the Inbox menu, select Compose New Message.

2. Enter the name of the person you want to send a message to, the subject and the message. Click the Send button.

3. To read messages sent to you, select View Message Inbox from the Inbox menu.

Step 3: Find and Add Friends

After you join Facebook, this screen is displayed. You can add friends now or you can access this screen later by clicking Find Friends in the right side of the screen.

To Find Friends Using Your Email Address Book
To use your address book to find friends:

1. Enter your email and password. Click on the Find Friends button.

*Note: For web-based email applications, you are directed to your email provider to enter your password directly on their site. Many email providers require that you sign an agreement allowing Facebook to access your email account.

2. Click the checkbox next to each friend you want to add or click Select All Friends. If you do not want to add any of the friends displayed, click the Skip button.

3. To add the friends you have selected, click on the Add as Friends button. An email is sent to the friend for them to approve your request to be added as a friend.

Find Friends You Instant Message
To Find Friends who you instant message, click on the Find Friends You Instant Message link:

1. Select the button for AIM or Windows Live Messenger. Enter your screen name and AIM password, then click on the Find Friends button.

*Note: Depending on your instant messaging provider, you may be directed to your IM provider's website to enter your password directly on their site. Many email providers require that you sign an agreement allowing Facebook to access your IM account.

2. A list of people who you instant message with and are registered on Facebook is displayed. Click the checkbox next to each friend that you want to add.

3. To add all people that are displayed, click on the Select All Friends checkbox. If you do not want to add any of the friends displayed, click on the Skip button.

4. To add the friends you have selected, click on the Add as Friends button. An email is sent to the friend for them to approve your request to be added as a friend.

Find Friends Using the People You May Know Tool

Facebook displays people who you may know based on mutual friends, high school, college, networks and employment similarities.

Facebook lists potential friends on your Facebook page and on the Find People You Know on Facebook screen. If you do not want the person displayed in the People You May Know section, click on the X to the right of their name.

1. To add the person displayed as a friend, click Add as Friend. If you want to add a personal message with your friend request, click Add a Personal Message.

2. To add as a friend, click on the Add Friend button. An email is sent to the friend for them to approve your request to be added as a friend.