Dos and donts of facebook...

[recycled sixtie]

I am wondering what your experiences are of facebook in terms of do 's and dont's. I have not enrolled yet but am wondering what are definite nono's and what should I be concerned about?

[widebody911]

It's really simple. Don't facebook.

[stomachmonkey]

Get a facebook tracking blocker for your browser, Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Opera, ditch IE if you are using that.

Employ firewall protocol. Go into your account prefs and turn everything off, to private. Then selectively open it back up.

Make custom friends lists and use them.

Certain things that are external links will want access to your data when you chose to enroll. Pay attention to what access it is requesting and use good judgement. For instance some services will ask for access to post as you, I reject 100% of those.

[sc_rufctr]

1. Be cautious with your security settings. Check and read all of the information.

2. Facebook is not a dating site so don't treat it that way. (just a suggestion)

3. Your friends should be real friends. Not a collection of strangers and some family.

4. It's OK not to accept a friends request from someone you don't know or don't want on your friends list.
Sounds obvious but you'd be surprised how dumb people can be. For instance.. Would you have an ex wife on your friends list? I know someone that did.

5. Take your time getting to know how it works... Pokes, Emails and apps etc.

6. Have fun.

I wouldn't bother with the on-line chat function.

[trekkor]

I enjoy it.

Don't post pictures of yourself doing things that you wouldn't want just anyone seeing.
Because likely, everyone will.

But, this is not exclusive to FB. Same goes here.


KT

[slakjaw]

I put nothing personal on faceplant. I use it for my photography and to get in touch with models. Since I don't put anything personal on there I have people on my friends list that I don't know

[asphaltgambler]

Originally Posted by widebody911

It's really simple. Don't facebook.

+1 - unless you are 25 or under and single...........

[widgeon13]

or 65 or older.

[dennis in se pa]

+1 don't do it. Facebook is where the morons hang out.

[kaisen]

Be sure to wear your tinfoil hat

Seriously, FB isn't a big deal. Learn to use your FB security settings, don't accept the weak default. How do you expect to be social or network on a social networking site if you don't share anything? Relax a little. Life's too short.

[mossguy]

Originally Posted by widgeon13

or 65 or older.

Why do you feel this is OK? Are you serious or just kidding?. I'm curious.

[wdfifteen]

I have business Facebook profiles that are OK tools for keeping the attention of customers. I check it every day. You have to have a personal profile to have a business one. I've put next to nothing on mine and check it once a month or so. I get crap from people I've never heard of. The tendrils of data miners are relentless. It's kind of scary.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

1. Be cautious with your security settings. Check and read all of the information.

2. Facebook is not a dating site so don't treat it that way. (just a suggestion)

3. Your friends should be real friends. Not a collection of strangers and some family.

4. It's OK not to accept a friends request from someone you don't know or don't want on your friends list.
Sounds obvious but you'd be surprised how dumb people can be. For instance.. Would you have an ex wife on your friends list? I know someone that did.

5. Take your time getting to know how it works... Pokes, Emails and apps etc.

6. Have fun.

I wouldn't bother with the on-line chat function.

RE: 4. Don't friend your boss

FB is not bad... not great... sometimes silly... sometimes entertaining

[widgeon13]

Originally Posted by mossguy

Why do you feel this is OK? Are you serious or just kidding?. I'm curious.

Because I'm 65 and communicate with a lot of retired friends on FB, just need to use the security settings and some common sense.

1) Don't post that you are going on vacation.

2) Don't post on "check in" when 1000 miles from home.

3) Don't post pics of the "P" car.

etc.

Have you ever "Googled" you name? There's a lot of **** on folks when you are on the internet and it ain't hard to find. The objective is to not make yourself too attractive.

[Jrboulder]

Don't use it like twitter

I.e.
"Yo I'm at the grocery store xD"
"Yo I'm talking to this really hot girl/guy xD"
"Yo it's so cold outside" (and post accompanying iPhone weather screen shot)

Do:
Post interesting (and logical) pictures of you and cool things.

Check your pictures routinely to make sure others have not posted pictures of you you don't want up. You can either untag yourself or ask them to remove the picture.

Try to keep your friends to people you know. Pelicans may or may not be considered friends.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by widebody911

It's really simple. Don't facebook.

Bingo!

[ronster]

If you do Facebook don't share your every breath and bowel movement with everyone on your list it is tremendously boring and a sign you are terribly lonely.

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by widgeon13

or 65 or older.

Or own a small business and want free and effective advertising and a way to communicate in a highly efficient manner with your customers...

[matthew-s]

Like all things, make it work for you, rather than the other way around.

There are lots of great things about FB. There are few downsides so long as you study the various privacy settings, adjust them to suit your needs, and then treat everything you post as if the entire world can see it (even if they can't).

As someone else noted - even if you have strict privacy controls, that does not mean a "friend" can't grab a photo, or cut and paste a comment, and spread it around however this wish.

[Rick Lee]

Please explain this to me. Minutes ago I got off the phone with my 82 yr. old uncle who just started browsing FB. He's not in my friends list and I have my profile set such that only friends can view it. He said he saw a photo I posted of the high-speed train I was on in China. How did he do that?