Debra Mann Reference Librarian Innisfil Public Library Everything You’ve Always Wanted to Know About Facebook (but were afraid to ask) Debra Mann Reference Librarian Innisfil Public Library

What is Facebook? Facebook is tool designed to help you connect online with people, organizations, businesses and groups, and share information. Facebook is an example of a web-based service - you can access Facebook from any computer or mobile device with an internet connection. All you need to do is sign up to get started.

How do I get started? To begin, you create a Facebook account by filling in an online profile with information about yourself, and then send invitations to people who are also using Facebook in order to connect with them.

What do I do then? Once you have created a connection, by either making a Facebook ‘Friend’ or ‘liking’ a business or organization, you will be able to see information about your connections and they will be able to see information about you. You can add new content whenever you wish – post photos, share web site links, update your status and send messages.

Pros versatile and fast – it lets you convey information to all of your friends instantly! a great way to re-establish contact with long lost friends and relatives lets you keep up to date on people’s lives and significant events even lets you receive real-time updates from your favourite brands, organizations and products! connections are made quickly and easily with the click of a button.

Cons Facebook is a very public forum for personal information, and even though you can customize your account with privacy settings, it is easy for personal information to become public. Facebook users need to exercise caution and good sense when posting the details of their lives.

How It Works Create an account – enter your email address, set a password, and provide some basic information about yourself.

Account is ready – now what? Now, you need to take care of your privacy settings! Facebook will try to make things as public as possible, but you can choose who will see your information. You can’t control who shares your info (as with email) Make sure you have up to date antivirus software!

Right – privacy’s taken care of. Now what? If you wish, you can add information to your profile to assist Facebook in finding potential Friends for you. They will make suggestions in the column called “People You May Know”. You can also use the Search box to look for your real-life connections to see if they are also on Facebook.

Can I Friend a business or organization? With businesses, celebrities, or organizations, you don’t “Friend” them, you “Like” them.

Now that I have Friends and Likes, what do I do with them? Now you add content! Status Pictures Videos You can also interact with the information your connections post Like comment

Remember: If you wouldn’t shout it in the middle of a crowded mall, DON’T PUT IT ON FACEBOOK!

When you’re done for the day ...log out!

What if I decide that Facebook isn’t for me? You can deactivate your account, which keeps all of your information You can delete your account, which will remove all of your information Go through the Facebook Help Centre