1. Choose a good picture
While you can upload and tag as many
pictures of yourself as you want, you only have one profile photo, so
make it a good one. While it might entertain some of your closer friends
to post a picture of your cat or an image of Superman, the joke (if
there ever was one) soon wears thin. Put your best face forward and have
people say: “Wow, she looks good!”2. Keep your profile updated
Like your main photo, your profile says a
lot about you. Make it honest but interesting, and keep it updated. One
of the best ways to get in touch with old friends is by posting your
education and work experiences. And although you don’t have to get into
your favorite quotations (never quite understood that one!), people will
pay attention to your activities, your current interests, and even your
favorite music and/or TV shows.3. It’s not a popularity contest!
Facebook is not 9th grade (unless you’re
a 9th grader!). You aren’t competing to prove you are the most popular
kid in school. Don’t friend every random person you can find or everyone
that shows up on the People You May Know feature....or feel inadequate
if you “only” have 40 friends. Facebook truly is about quality over
quantity and unless you can devote every waking hour to the site, having
300+ friends probably says more about your lack of discrimination than
your popularity!4. It’s OK to say no….really!
This is the other side of #3. If you get
a friend request from a random stranger, or from someone you hardly
know, or someone you don’t want to share your online life with, then
it’s OK to say no. Facebook makes it easy for you: if you ignore a
friend request, nothing is reported and no-one is any the wiser.5. Use the privacy settings
Facebook has devoted much time and
effort in developing a comprehensive set of privacy settings that can be
customized to the nth degree. Use them. You may want to control what
people see when they search for you, or you might want to restrict which
friends can see tagged photos of you. The privacy settings can take
care of this. Similarly, if you are tired of being constantly notified
about trivial status updates and wall posts, then you can control that
too.6. Friend your family
One of the most rewarding aspects of
Facebook is its ability to draw families closer together and help them
share news that usually gets relegated to the once-a-year holiday
letter. Friend those fun cousins in Texas that you only get to see at
weddings and funerals, or the aunt that was so good to you when you were
a kid. Hey – you might even be able to friend your kids as they get
older! This time not to keep an eye on them but instead to find out how
life on campus is working out.7. Use wall posts
Don’t just message people, otherwise you
might as well stick to e-mail! Use the wall posts and share it with
everyone! The wall post is the true essence of Facebook. Someone’s
birthday? Post a Happy Birthday on their wall. Your friend just got a
promotion? Use his wall to congratulate him. Having a great vacation in
Hawaii? Post it on your wall and make ‘em all jealous!8. Don’t poke!
Or at least not until you know what it
means! The poke still remains a mystery to most Facebook users. When you
poke someone, you don’t get to say what the poke is about, and the
recipient just gets a message telling them they have been poked. Okay……
Perhaps the poke is a hangover from the days when Facebook was regarded
as a student dating site. That might explain the Facebook group called:
“Enough With The Poking, Let’s Just Have Sex”!9. Tag photos
If the wall post is the heartbeat of
Facebook, then photos are the smile. Photos make Facebook fun and will
bring your page alive. The more photos you post, the more people will
connect with you. Also, learn how to tag photos – that’s adding names to
the faces in the pictures. It’s easy and it's the best way to send the
pics to people in the photos. But be nice. Only post and tag photos that
you think the person would be happy to have circulated to their
Facebook friends!10. Careful with the kids
If you have teenage children and are
lucky enough to friend them on Facebook, tread very carefully. You might
see some things that you are tempted to comment on, either on Facebook
itself or face-to-face offline. But unless it’s a case of cyberbullying,
or someone is putting themselves in danger, or the behavior is totally
inappropriate, be careful not to overreact. To most teenagers, their
Facebook profile and how they are perceived online by their friends is
extremely important to them. It would be very uncool to have a parent
jump in with critical remarks. Feel fortunate that you have a trusting
enough relationship with your child to get friended in the first place
and enjoy it for as long as it lasts! thanks for Monica Vila
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