Can we have an official Facebook for Dummies thread?

[Fairy]

I don't want to make the BBB the unofficial Facebook helpdesk, but I have another question and thought maybe I should resurrect this thread for it. Got a question? Ask it and I'll try to update this like I did before. Common FAQs here in the OP.

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HELPFUL TIPS & TRICKS

"Avoiding Facebook Disasters" article from PC World magazine
http://www.pcworld.com/article/16706...disasters.html

Fine-tuning your privacy settings:
http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/02/facebook-privacy/
http://www.sophos.com/security/best-.../facebook.html


QUESTIONS NEEDING ANSWERS


I never click on those "Facebook Ads" on the right side. However, one popped out at me. The "Search Yourself" ad at the very top sometimes has photos, and I just don't pay attn, but this one had a photo that looks *exactly* like my ex-boyfriend whom I've been worried might try to find me and was one of the reasons I chose not to join FB at first. My questions are these:

* Does this application target my user ID with the searches it knows about and give me the photo of the person who is searching me?

* Does this mean that if I've searched for him, which I have so I can block him if I find him, that he can see me just the same?

* When I click on the link to find out who's searching for me, it tells me 2 females, 3 males, and makes me register at www.mylife.com. I researched them, and they're seedy/scamy, here's the review link (http://techpaul.wordpress.com/2009/0...-to-mylifecom/). I can give them a dummy email address, but the question is do I want to? I think I don't. I'm deeply distrusting of these sites. Anyone do this already or know anything about them. The only reason I care is cuz I want to block this guy.

I know that the official FB line is that they do not have a way to show you howse visited your profile or searched for you. Doesn't mean other apps don't. Thoughts?



ANSWERED QUESTIONS

Q. Can I unfriend someone without them actively knowing I unfriended them?
A. Yes. You will no longer show up in their feed or friend list, but they won't be sent a notification specifically telling them they've been unfriended. That doesn't mean they won't notice, though.

Q. Can I post something but arrange it so that one of my FB friends can NOT see the posting?
A. Yes. You can go into your privacy settings and allow certain friends access to only your limited profile. When you post photos it gives you the option of customizing it every time. I don't know if notes/statuses/links work the same way...I think those have to be done through the privacy settings. Be advised that the default setting for photos is to allow ANYONE access to them if the user is in your network or on your friends' friends lists. You have to manually change that option to "friends only" or "certain friends" each time.

Q. What does it mean when these applications (like the birthday card one) says it needs access to your info and that of your friends, etc.? Help me understand that.
A. It needs to be able to have access to your account in order to save your information in the app, publish in your news feed and friends' feeds, send scores to friends, etc. I generally only use apps with reputable authors, so I feel more secure.

Q. When creating a photo album/adding photos, do you need to "publish" them and then tag/edit/add captions? Or can I do all the tagging/editing, and then hit publish?
You can tag/edit/caption before publishing.

Q: If I untag myself in someone else's photo, will they get a notification in their feed that I untagged it?
No. I had a friend do that because she hated the picture, but I noticed she did it when going through pics.

Q: If you have deleted a friend can you get them back as a friend? How?
I think one of you has to request the other back and accept.

Q. If someone friend's you, and you decline, will they get a notification that they were denied? What happens?
You will just disappear from their pending request list-- no notification will be sent. Another option is to block someone that sends you a friend request. This will mean they won't be able to search for you and send another friend request.

Q. Can you revoke a friend request?
Yes, you can revoke friend request. Go to your Friends list. On the right side is an X. It will delete your request.

Q. What does it mean when a name shows up black (not clickable) vs. blue? Is it their privacy settings or does it mean I've been blocked?
That's due to their privacy settings. Some people choose the option of not letting people send them messages, friend requests, or seeing any of their info (networks) except their name and picture (in a search). If you had been blocked you would not be able to see them at all.

Q. How do I remove "noisy" facebook friends (who post alot of stuff I see as "clutter") from my Wall News Feed without unfriending them?
If you hover over one of their posts on your wall, you'll see "Hide" to the right. Click on it, and you can hide their posts from your feed. They're still your friend, but they're on mute. (Ahh, blessed silence.) You can also Hide particular feeds, like Mafia Wars, which applies to all Friends participating in them. More details here, including how to reverse "hiding" --> http://gadgetwise.blogs.nytimes.com/...oes-unnoticed/

Q. If someone who is not my FB friend sends me a message through facebook and I want to reply (but I'm not going to friend them), what will that person be able to see on my profile, wall, etc.?
I depends on your settings, but 'limited profile' will likely be visible to this non-friend.

Q. How can I ensure that my name does not pop up as one of my friend's FB friends in a Google search on their name?
Go into "Privacy Settings" and click on "Search". Look to see what you have selected as your "search visibility." Who can see you - on FB, or on Google - depends on this. If you've chosen "everyone," then anyone could see your name in the google search (I think they have to have a FB account to see an entire friends list though). If you've chosen something more restrictive like "my networks and friends," then if the person doing the googling is in your network, they can see you. If they aren't, they shouldn't be able to. And so on and so forth for all the settings.

How do you know which FB applications have "reputable" authors?
It is probably difficult to measure the reputation of application authors, but this might be helpful. It will at least show you which apps/developers are the most popular --> http://statistics.allfacebook.com/applications

[marie]

may I add a question?

Q. When creating a photo album/adding photos, do you need to "publish" them and then tag/edit/add captions? Or can I do all the tagging/editing, and then hit publish?
(This AM I edited/tagged/captioned, hit publish and then none of the stuff I added was there, just the pics - FB fluke or just how it works?)

marie
mama to
DD1 9/03
DD2 12/07

[megs4413]

Q. Can I unfriend someone without them actively knowing I unfriended them?

A. Yes. You will no longer show up in their feed or friend list, but they won't be sent a notification specifically telling them they've been unfriended. That doesn't mean they won't notice, though.

Q. Can I post something but arrange it so that one of my FB friends can NOT see the posting?

A. Yes. You can go into your privacy settings and allow certain friends access to only your limited profile. When you post photos it gives you the option of customizing it every time. I don't know if notes/statuses/links work the same way...I think those have to be done through the privacy settings. Be advised that the default setting for photos is to allow ANYONE access to them if the user is in your network or on your friends' friends lists. You have to manually change that option to "friends only" or "certain friends" each time.

Q. What does it mean when these applications (like the birthday card one) says it needs access to your info and that of your friends, etc.? Help me understand that.

A. It needs to be able to have access to your account in order to save your information in the app, publish in your news feed and friends' feeds, send scores to friends, etc. I generally only use apps with reputable authors, so I feel more secure.

HTH!

[megs4413]

Q. When creating a photo album/adding photos, do you need to "publish" them and then tag/edit/add captions? Or can I do all the tagging/editing, and then hit publish?
(This AM I edited/tagged/captioned, hit publish and then none of the stuff I added was there, just the pics - FB fluke or just how it works?)

you can tag/edit/caption before publishing. I'm not sure what went wrong for you this morning, maybe you didn't save before you hit publish?

[lovebeingamom]

Q: If you have deleted a friend can you get them back as a friend? How?

[Fairy]

I will give this attention and update the first post every time I see it's been updated! But check back in the interim to see if the answer is in the subsequent responses in between!

Thank you to all the folks helping here!

[catsnkid]

QUESTIONS NEEDING ANSWERS

[COLOR="Red"]
Q: If I untag myself in someone else's photo, will they get a notification in their feed that I untagged it?

No. I had a friend do that because she hated the picture, but I noticed she did it when going through pics.

Q: If you have deleted a friend can you get them back as a friend? How?

I think one of you has to request the other back and accept.

[Fairy]

New question.

Q. If someone friend's you, and you say no or "do not accept" or whatever the official not accepting it is, will they get a notification that they were denied, or will they just always have "friend request pending" under their friends list?

[boolady]

Wow. This thread is really timely. Thanks, Fairy.

If you get an email saying someone "added you as a friend," and to follow the link below to confirm, but then when you follow the link and sign in and there is no new friend request there, what happened? Did they seek to friend me, then change her mind, or did I screw something up?

[missym]

Here are a couple of links with helpful info about fine-tuning your privacy settings:

http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/02/facebook-privacy/

http://www.sophos.com/security/best-.../facebook.html