Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Facebook

Face it, Oma.
You're Facebook-challenged.

When I get an email announcing a scrawl on my wall, I feel all friended and friendly. I click over and sign in, enter my password (nobody over there ever remembers me) bring up my list and set off on a visit. But my friends are elusive---they all ditch me if I click on somebody else first, and I have to go back to my profile page and search for them all over. It's like lunchtime at Olympus Junior High. Where are my friends? They said they'd be here!

I feel like a slacker friend, the one that never calls, never writes. But I just don't have your number. If you have advice, please comment!

These are my issues:
  1. Some people's posts (where can I learn the terminology?) are always on my front page, and others never are. Can I prioritize my list somehow?
  2. When I click on a name to visit someone, I can't click back to where I was in my list. I have to start all over again each time. Am I doing it wrong?
  3. Can I kick someone off my friends list? (Not any of you guys.)
  4. I get emails that someone wants to follow me on Twitter, but I don't tweet. Can they still read my blog on Twitter?
  5. Do you read my blog on Facebook?
Goal for my new year:
I will go into that everyone's land and meet my friends.
I will face up to Facebook.








10 comments:

Heather Scott Partington said...

Hey Marty :)

My comment was too long, so I'm splitting it...

I think I can help.

1. Some people's posts (where can I learn the terminology?) are always on my front page, and others never are. Can I prioritize my list somehow?

When you open Facebook you will always see what they call "Top News" which is only a selection. On your "Home" page, click "Most Recent" in the top right corner to see a chronological list of everything.

2. When I click on a name to visit someone, I can't click back to where I was in my list. I have to start all over again each time. Am I doing it wrong?

No. I hate this too. Use tabs. When you want to see someone's page but not lose your list, right click on the link and choose "open in new tab". That way you can go back to where you were in the list after your visit.

Heather Scott Partington said...

3. Can I kick someone off my friends list? (Not any of you guys.)

Absolutely, and they won't even know it. They don't get a notice if you "ignore" a friend request or end a friendship. They won't see unless they try to open your page, and then they would need to request you again if they wanted to see it. Another option if you're just sick of seeing their constant posts in your home page is to ignore the, in your feed (or you can ignore applications--I ignore Farmville and all other games--by hovering to the right of their names on the main page, you will see an X. Click the X and it will ask you to ignore the person or the application on your wall. They don't get a notice about this either. OR if you want to maintain the link to them but not allow them to see all your stuff, you can exclude them or set a level of privacy for each person in your "Privacy Settings" page.

4. I get emails that someone wants to follow me on Twitter, but I don't tweet. Can they still read my blog on Twitter?

If you're not on twitter, you shouldn't get these emails. If you are but you don't use it, ignore the emails. Nobody can read your blog on twitter unless you're putting it there. Maybe these are from people who want you to join twitter? Not sure.

Heather Scott Partington said...

5. Do you read my blog on Facebook?

I didn't know you were ON Facebook. :) I noticed you don't have a blog page--if you are interested in letting people "friend" you but don't want to open your personal FB page to the world, an option is creating a "Page" (the terminology is confusing) for your blog. You can update it as you like and keep your personal life personal. To make a blog page, on your home screen go to the pull-down menu for "Account" and choose "manage pages."

One last thing. You (and everyone else) might want to take a good look at your privacy settings. Some people don't care what the world sees, but some people don't know that Facebook makes changes all the time and adds new things, such as the new "Places" feature--people can "tag" you at a physical place in the world if you leave the "Places" thing at its default setting. Mine's turned off. I also have my posts and personal page set so that people can't see my Wall, etc unless I've approved them as a friend. And as I said, I control the Privacy settings for individual people when I feel like I need to.

I hope this helps! Happy posting! I'm happy to help if you have any more questions. I love FB, but there's a bit of a learning curve and you have to make it work for you.

Have a great day.

Diane said...

Wow. Heather knows it all, and said it better than I ever could. For number one, there is a place in your settings where you can set the number of friends you always want to see updates of. Otherwise the most common "talkers" are all you see. I forgot how to do it,but I did find it accidentally one time.

I didn't know you were on Facebook. I would not read your blog through there - I check Google reader for your updates. I only look at Facebook occasionally, and feel like a "voyeur". I almost never comment, only watch what others are up to. Mostly I keep up with friends who no longer live near me.

I often debate whether I should even keep doing Facebook or not. Not so with blogs.

Grandma Shelley said...

I am pretty active on Facebook but I certainly don't know all of the ins and outs of it enough to help you.

I have found many of my childhood friends and have rekindled our friendships all because of Facebook.

Heffalump said...

I always keep my facebook homepage open and instead of clicking on a friend whose page I want to go to, I right click and open it in a new tab. That way I don't have to lose my spot.

kenju said...

I'm on FB many times per day (when I'm not working) but you haven't "friended" me yet....:-/

But I don't know the answers for you, except I do know you can 'un-friend' someone.

Grandma Kc said...

Marty,

Those were wonderful questions and to Heather -- those were wonderful answers! Thank you both! Kc

Martha said...

I, too, have found many old childhood friends on facebook. Some of my children, nieces, nephews, and cousins are on facebook and I feel so much closer to all of them being able to see what they are doing on a daily basis. Facebook has even helped me with my family history. I found cousins that I have never met. It was wonderful!

Sheri said...

Marty, Happy Birthday (late)! I'm glad you've got a September birthday, too, so I can remember it. As for FaceBook---I read it and write on it less than my blogs--which is almost NEVER. Friends? What are they?