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Facebook Companion
Chapter One
Why Choose
FaCebook and
hoW do I Get
started?
In this chapter:
Why is Facebook the Best Social
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Network for Me?
Does It Cost Money to Join Facebook?
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The Sign-Up Form
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How Do I Associate a Mobile Phone with
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My Account?
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COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
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Facebook Companion
Y
ou may remember the days when you would call up a friend or family
member, plan a visit, and then swing by to enjoy a meal and time on the
couch checking out a photo album from the latest vacation. Or you may recall
the days of trying to get your friends to all use the same instant messaging
client so that you could chat about the latest gossip or movie you saw that
week. These social interactions and many more have all changed with the
introduction and adoption of Facebook. When Facebook launched in early
2004, you needed a Harvard-specific email account to join the network. It
then expanded to other exclusive networks and finally opened up to full public
access in September 2006 and currently has more than 500 million users. It
is highly likely that at least one other person you know is a Facebook user. If
you haven’t signed up yet, it is time. If you have but you need direction, follow
along to get started making the most of your account with this popular social
networking service.
Why Is Facebook the Best Social
Network for Me?
You may wonder what other competing social networks exist, and why you
should choose Facebook. Several popular social networking sites are online
other than Facebook, but each has a different main purpose and appeals to a
different audience. The two biggest, aside from Facebook, are MySpace and
LinkedIn.
MySpace:
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Launched in 2003, which, as of this writing hosts an esti-
mated 100 million subscribers, pales in comparison to Facebook’s 500
million plus.
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MySpace was one of the first large social networks, but is
much more customizable than Facebook and therefore appeals more to
the creative mind, housing a large number of musicians, comedians, and
fashion designers, whereas Facebook has a fairly standard look and feel.
LinkedIn
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: Launched in May 2003, this site has a reported user base of
more than 90 million. It is targeted at business professionals and is com-
monly used to make connections through employment history and to
help people find jobs and employers find people to hire. It is much more
about building up a network of associates, rather than Facebook’s main
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Chapter One:
Why Choose Facebook and How Do I Get Started?
purpose of sharing status updates and photos with friends. However,
LinkedIn is adding more casual social networking features as well.
While MySpace houses the creative souls and LinkedIn fosters professional
relationships, Facebook appeals to everyone across the board. Facebook not
only has the capability to do all the things that these other aforementioned
sites enable, but it is also socially accepted to do so on this social network.
On Facebook you can post your artsy pictures, connect with your boss and
colleagues, and game with friends on Farmville all in one. Facebook is for your
daughter and your father; your business and your best friend. Facebook is for
everyone.
Does It Cost Money to Join Facebook?
The short answer to this question is “No.” It is free to sign up for an account
and actively participate in Facebook for social networking purposes. There
are two ways to spend money on Facebook, however: Facebook Credits and
Facebook Ads. Neither is necessary to maintain an account.
Facebook Credits:
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In Chapter 12 (What Are Facebook Applications
and How Can I Use Them?) you discover there is virtual money, called
Facebook Credits, which are used in many games and apps. This virtual
money does actually cost real money to purchase.
Facebook Ads:
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If you want to use Facebook for business or advertis-
ing purposes, you can purchase Facebook Ads, which are covered
in Chapter 14 (How Can I Use Facebook to Build and Promote My
Business?).
The Sign-Up Form
To set up your Facebook account, you need to simply fill out five fields and
four drop-down boxes. Simply point your favorite web browser to
www
.facebook.com
and the first thing you will see is the account sign-up/login
form, as shown in Figure 1-1.
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Facebook Companion
Figure 1-1 Facebook Sign Up page
Following are the only text fields that Facebook requires you to fill:
First name
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Last name
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Your email address
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Reentry of your email address
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Password for your account
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CAN I CREATE MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS? Per the Facebook Terms
of Use, you are not allowed to create and maintain multiple accounts.
You can create a page if you want to share information outside of your
personal profile. Pages are discussed in detail in Chapter 13 (What Are
Facebook Pages and How Can I Set Them Up?).
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Chapter One:
Why Choose Facebook and How Do I Get Started?
Your password needs to be at least six characters in length; if you enter
something shorter, a pop-up appears to help you resolve the issue.
WHAT CAN I DO IF I FORGET MY PASSWORD? Don’t worry if you for-
get your password, you can click on the Forgot Your Password? hyperlink
just under the Password Text field. You then need to identify your account
with your email, phone number, Facebook username, or your name and
a friend’s name. Facebook then emails you directions to reset your
password.
In addition to the five text fields you need to fill out, you need to use four
drop-down boxes to provide the following demographic information:
Sex: male or female
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Birthday month
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Birthday day
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Birthday year
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As you can see in Figure 1-1, there is a hyperlink you can click to find
out why you need to provide this information. The following explains why
Facebook requires this information:
Gender helps Facebook describe you on the network. For example, it
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might state, “Add him as a friend” and want to know whether to say her
or him.
A birthday is required because Facebook wants to encourage authen-
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ticity and provide only age-appropriate access to content. Per the
Facebook privacy policy, you must be at least 13 years old to register for
a Facebook account, and if it discovers that it has personal information
for a child under 13, it deletes it immediately.
CAN I DELETE MY BIRTHDAY AND GENDER LATER? Facebook does
not enable you to delete your date of birth or gender. You can, however,
hide these fields in your profile so that only Facebook knows the informa-
tion and it is not shared with your friends or the public.
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Facebook Companion
By following these instructions, you are creating a personal Facebook
account; if you want to create a Facebook profile for a celebrity, band, or busi-
ness, you need to create a page first. Some people consider themselves celeb-
rities, so if you are one of them, you may want to consider creating a Facebook
page where all your fans can follow and interact with you. You can learn more
about creating Facebook Pages in Chapter 13 (What Are Facebook Pages and
How Can I Set Them Up?).
Aer filling out the five text fields and choosing values from the drop-down
boxes discussed in detail earlier, click Sign Up and you are in.
Your account will then be created and the system will log you in. There are
then three steps in the account setup wizard for you to follow. These steps are
as follows:
. Find friends using an email service (see Figure 1-2).
. Provide basic profile information; high school, college, and employer
(see Figure 1-3).
. Upload or capture a profile picture (see Figure 1-4).
Figure 1-2 Find friends via email services.
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Chapter One:
Why Choose Facebook and How Do I Get Started?
Figure 1-3 Provide some Profile information.
Figure 1-4 Upload your Profile picture.
CAN I SKIP THESE STEPS? Yes, you have the options to skip each
of these steps if you want to set up your new Facebook account at a
later time.
Because Facebook is commonly used to connect with old high school and
college classmates, many women prefer to have their maiden name appear
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Facebook Companion
somewhere in their profile so that friends can find them more easily. Your
account seings have an Alternate Name field; you can choose to add an
alternate name right when you set up your account or add it months or years
later, if say, you get married. Follow these steps to have your alternative name
display:
. From the Account drop-down menu at the top right of your Facebook
page, select Account Seings.
. On the line across from your name, click the word Change.
. In the Alternate Name field, enter the name you want to add. (You can
also change your name at this point if you recently married and are tak-
ing your spouse’s surname.)
. Under this field, check the box to have your alternate name also display
with your account name. This lets people find it in your profile, friend
requests, and search listings. If you enter a name and do not check the
box, your name will still appear in search.
. Click the Change Alternate Name buon and your alternate name will
be saved in your seings.
How Do I Associate a Mobile Phone
with My Account?
As you can see on the le side of the Sign Up page or on the boom le of
the display, you can use Facebook on the go with your mobile phone. Click the
Mobile link to see the four available options for connecting to Facebook on
the go as shown in Figure 1-5. Chapter 9 (How Can I Use Facebook Effectively
on My Mobile Phone?) covers a variety of ways you can connect to Facebook
from your mobile phone.
Follow the specific steps in Chapter 9 to associate your mobile phone with
your Facebook account; keep in mind that the Facebook Terms of Service
states that you agree to update your mobile phone number in Facebook if
you deactivate or change your mobile phone number so that a person who
receives that number is not sent all your messages. This is also a safety pre-
caution you want to take for yourself.
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Chapter One:
Why Choose Facebook and How Do I Get Started?
Figure 1-5 Mobile options
References
. Harris, Andrew. “The Facebook bubble.” Business Spectator. (www
.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Facebook-Myspace-
Zuckerberg-Murdoch-pd20110304-EM86R?opendocument&src=rss)
Related Questions
How do I create a Page?
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What are the different ways to get around Facebook now that I have an
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account?
How do I find new friends on Facebook?
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