I’ve been using Facebook since 2005. I was out of college by then so I heard about it from a lot of friends still in college. As soon as it opened to the public, I left Myspace behind and jumped in full speed.
It’s been really interesting to see it progress from college students to young adults to pretty much everyone. Even more interesting is the move from it being an American thing to truly being global.
Still, there are many people who are new to Facebook or may have been using it for a while but still aren’t getting the full experience. Here are a few tips to help you get the most out it.
- Make a lot of friends. Every social media platform is boring if you’re not connected to others (that’s the whole point, right?). Facebook is unique in the fact that it is designed to “friend” people you actually know rather than just following anybody. FB makes it easy to search your existing contacts and add friends. Realize that whoever you request as a friend has to approve the request – so don’t be surprised if it takes a long time to hear back from some people. Start off by adding your closest friends and family. It’s usually helpful to look at their lists of friends and find mutual friends to add. After a while, FB suggests people for you so be sure and check those out. They are based on mutual friends. You can also search by specific categories – hometown, high school/college, graduation year, etc. It’s very interesting who you discover this way and can lead to some fun re-connections. As you make more friends, your news feed will have a greater variety of content.
- Comment on what others have posted. As your news feed starts to fill up with new info, take a moment to “like” others’ updates or write a brief comment about it. Some great conversations can get started this way!
- Post often. You don’t have to go overboard but don’t be afraid to share what’s going on. Obviously you have to choose what level of online sharing you are comfortable with but if something significant is happening, let people know. It’s also great to use “share” or “like” buttons on websites you visit. I frequently share blog posts, news articles, youtube videos and other fun things I find on the web.
- When people write on your wall or comment on something you’ve shared, be sure to write back. This encourages more conversation and interaction. It doesn’t have to be lengthy but at least acknowledge that you got the message.
- I’ve found that Facebook is great for sharing things that are visual (as opposed to Twitter, which only directly shares text). This is one of the main reasons I’ve been using Twitter less. Take advantage of this feature by uploading photos to albums, attaching links to great webpages and uploading videos when something good happens.
- Go mobile – if you have an iPhone or Android phone, download the FB app. It’s a lot more fun when you can update status and check comments on-the-go!
There are many other great things about Facebook but I hope this list will get you started (or push you along). What are the items that you would add to this list?
Jake
