A web community for midlife women
Because you're older, and you have more insurance.
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A web community for midlife women
Facebook 101: How to get started--and why you may not want to (updated!)Story Type: General Stories
By Daniella Bordonaro Everyone, it seems, is on Facebook now.... The social networking site currently has more than 120 million members, about a third of whom are in the United States. The fastest growing segment of Facebook newbies is college educated, and in the 35-54 year old age group. (In fact, this age group has accelerated in Facebook use in the second half of 2008 by nearly 300 percent.) And they're mostly women. But we're hearing from lots of you that Facebook can be an intimidating site with the wall writing, poking, picture updates, and messages. I want to change that. I want to make it less intense and more user-friendly. The first step into entering the Facebook world is your profile and learning how to friend someone. Your profile is, in a way, your virtual self. It contains a picture of you, basic information such as name, hometown, sex, and birthday. You can include more information too. For example, your interests, favorite movies, favorite books, quotations, contact information, employment, and high school and college you attended. Remember, it is NOT OBLIGATORY to provide information in all these fields. However, by really “beefing up” your profile, you become a more unique contact. Most important though, is that through your profile, members are able to “friend” you. How do you friend? All you need is the first and last name of a person. If say your friend's name is "John Smith," you may need some more information like town or school. The less information you have, the harder it is to actually find the person. Once you have your desired friend’s information, insert it into the search bar. Results will come up. By scrolling up and down, pictures and basic information are presented so you find the correct individual. Once you’ve found him or her, you click Add as Friend. The lucky person will receive an e-mail from Facebook saying “so and so wants to be your friend." The next time he/she signs into Facebook they have the choice of Confirming or Ignoring your “friend request." If you accept, your friend receives an e-mail saying you have accepted. If you ignore, nothing happens, but their face and the request leaves your request inbox. So don't worry about offending someone. Once a friendship has been established, many actions happen. For example, sometimes the new friendship will be presented on the mini-feed, you will find out similar friends between you and the new friend, and be able to chat, send messages and write on this person’s wall. All in all, profile-making and friending are your first key steps into Facebook madness. Part two: Daniella explains how to keep face on Facebook. Facebook Fallout Washington Post story on viruses transmitted through Facebook and MySpace At Huffingtonpost, Kimberly Brooks blogs on Facebook and the Death of Mystery In the New York Times, Randall Stross asks: When Everyone's a Friend, Is Anything Private? Weight: 1235407909 Newest: Check this box to give the story the highest weight 
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It's Fun
Putting your information and uploading pictures and finding friends on the computer can be fun. It can be as enjoyable as reading and sending fun emails, doing crossword puzzles, or anything else that involves transferring data in a fun way. Once you start, you'll be checking & updating it at least several times a week. I guarantee it. :) -------- OliviaB.
facebook 101
Helene Powers
Hi Daniella,
Thank you for these very readable articles about Facebook. A 40-something friend gave me a tutorial last week about Facebook and now I've even posted a few messages. Your information is helping me understand more specifics. It is fun to be friended by cousins from another country, high school friends, church friends, etc. But it's also helpful to be mindful of what I write and who could possibly see it.
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