A Beginner's Guide to Facebook

What is Facebook? If you already use Facebook it is easy to forget what it was like before joining and how long it took to become familiar with the service. We can be harshly reminded of this when Facebook updates it's features and we are left wondering how to find things again. According to Wikipedia, Facebook is an online social networking service. Its name stems from the colloquial name for the book given to students at the start of the academic year by some American university administrations to help students get to know each other. So then, let's begin.

Anyone over the age of 13 with a valid email address can join Facebook and over a billion users worldwide already have. Creating an account only takes a few minutes of your time. Using your browser navigate to Facebook.com. Under the words Sign Up enter your personal information and desired password. You can always edit this in settings later if you want to remove your birthday from what other people can view. After you have entered your information click Sign Up and you have a Facebook account.

You can choose to find friends who you are already connected to via email or who share your previous education or workplaces or simply skip this step. The next step is to upload a photo to use as your profile picture and confirm your email address. Then you are ready to search for and add your friends, find groups to join or pages to like that you are interested in. You can private message people or post directly on a friend's Timeline/Wall. You will receive notifications if anyone contacts you or requests you as a friend. It's best to only accept friend requests from people you know or trust.
If you require further help their is an excellent free tutorial with videos by GCFLearnFree.org. that I highly recommend. The most important things to remember are:

Choose a strong and preferably random password.

Avoid using the word "password" or obvious number combinations such as 12345. Passwords provide the first line of defense against unauthorized access to your computer. The stronger your password, the more protected your computer will be from hackers and malicious software. You should make sure you have strong passwords for all accounts on your computer as well as Facebook.

Edit your privacy settings. 

You'll need to decide how much you want to share on Facebook. If you just keep up with family and friends, you might prefer to share updates only with that close circle of people. This free video gives you all the additional help you will need to make sure your privacy settings are set to your personal requirements rather than Facebook's public default setting. For your own safety and protection it is important to consider who can see your posts and photos.

 

Understanding the Timeline.

The Timeline is your Facebook profile. It’s called a timeline because you can include information, important milestones and memories spanning your entire life. It's up to you, how much you want to reveal to your friends and followers. For more information you can click on the Facebook Help center or go to the Glossary of Terms.

News Feed.

Once you’ve logged into Facebook, the first thing you'll see is the News Feed. There you’ll view friend's status updates, new photos, links to articles and so on. Think of it like the front page of a newspaper where you can choose to view stories that are most recent or in order of importance determined by an algorithm. Simply click the "Sort" option at the top of your feed to determine the order of posts. To return to the News Feed after looking at other features simply click Home.

Status Update.

A status update is anything important to you at a particular moment in time that you deem shareable with Facebook friends. It's the equivalent of composing a new tweet on Twitter but without a limit to the number of characters you are allowed to use.

The Like and Share Buttons.

The “Like” button communicates your support of activities, brands, articles and products to fellow users.  When you click the Like button, the content also appears in the News Feed of your friends. It's a way to give positive feedback and connect. You can also "Like" Facebook pages which will enable their posts to show up in your Newsfeed. When you share a post it is added to your timeline and shows up in your friends Newsfeed for them to read.

So there you go, that's a basic lesson on using Facebook. There are more features to discover as you get to know the service such as Apps, Games, Tagging and Chat, even Poking! or you can just keep it simple. If you feel the need for more reassurance their is a great article specifically for the older generation joining Facebook by Julie Masis of The Boston Globe here and don't forget when you are busy catching up with your News Feed or playing Facebook games to search for the Social Media Against Crime page and your local group!

Adopt a Granny! Adopt a Grandad! Adopt any Technophobe!

Never mind the penguins, there are people near you with no knowledge of the internet who inevitably are on a route to extinction. They equally deserve your concern. You can look after the penguins as well of course.

People left behind, whatever their age are more at risk, their isolation can render them vulnerable. The horror stories we hear are not acceptable. Certain individuals are already befriending elderly residents for sinister purposes. When they have wormed their way into a trusted position they recommend people to carry out repairs at extortionate prices. Tens of thousands of pounds can be taken from a single victim. Whether young or old, nobody should have to go through the experience of an intruder entering their home and taking what they want. Being aware and instantly able to communicate suspicious activity is our main line of defense. If a burglar really wants to break in to your property, no amount of security will stop them. Think Meerkat. Think Granny, and Think Penguin!

Safety in numbers: Meerkats work as a team with some keeping lookout, thereby allowing others to forage and dig.

What's in it for you? The elderly neighbour is probably in whilst you are out. Whole villages are left empty when people leave for work. No matter if they are batty or cantankerous or sweet and wise they could be the only set of eyes that sees a burglar entering or leaving your house and can provide vital evidence. It is irrelevant in a court of law if you know who the perpetrator is, if they don't leave any physical evidence and get away unseen they cannot be convicted. Burglars wear gloves, they rarely leave evidence, if you are lucky they will leave a footprint or accidentally provide DNA.

You never know, what a conversation may lead too. Your neighbour's relative could be visiting and turn out to be the love of your life, they may have an idea for a multi-million pound invention, they may just feed the cat whilst you go on holiday. It is still a small world and with the help of the internet we are close to being artificially telepathic with anyone who has access to the internet. Even if you are apathetic and hardened by life's experience, make sure it isn't your relative being conned. The thieves are stealing your family's inheritance

If you know an endangered species in your family or street, help get them up to speed. Maybe you could even organise an event with hot drinks and biscuits for a group of technophobes in your area. Many libraries already offer free classes for sociable types. If you are unable to adopt, try to keep others updated of crime alerts that may be of concern.

First they need an internet service provider. Many companies provide internet at little extra cost than phone line rental, you may even be able to get someone a cheaper phone deal with internet included. If they are hard of hearing you could ask to speak on their behalf to set up the service. If they cannot afford a landline, you could share an ISP account or Internet connection with a neighbor, friend, or family member, this could lead to benefits in return. You each may have something the other needs. In exchange for the service, they could offer to take out your rubbish if you are away or receive a delivery that is due over a 24 hour period that would ordinarily result in you taking a day off work. Don't forget to check if they are near a free internet WiFi hotspot.

If you are on a contract and regularly receive updated mobile phones why not donate your old phone to someone who hasn't got one. Buy a voucher on their behalf whilst they learn the ropes, or pop in a pay-as-you-go top up card. If your computer is obsolete, could you find someone local to donate it to? Maybe there is a local business or school getting rid of perfectly adequate computers, if all you need to do is go on Facebook or Twitter.

Be aware, hearing loss creeps up on people and they learn to adapt, not realising they are disabled. Set the sound settings on mobiles to maximum and the ringtone to vibrate. If you know someone who is hard of hearing let them know they are eligible for many free adapted products such as alarms that vibrate under your pillow to alert you to an intruder or fire whilst you are asleep.

A mobile phone can be a lifeline if it is carried on your person and you have a fall, and cannot get to the landline to call for help. An increasing number of people are succumbing to dementia and Alzheimers. If they carry a phone they could potentially be tracked by GPS if they leave their homes and get lost. This could have been somebody's million pound invention, inspired by adopting a local person, but it's too late, a GPS bracelet or watch for vulnerable citizens is already available if you want one.

It is hard to expect a senior citizen to be on Facebook if they can’t afford to heat their home. Photograph: MBI /Alamy

So now they have internet access, and a device to receive it. First they need virus protection and next they need an email. There is free virus protection software available for download, such as AVG. Make sure you click the free option and always check or uncheck your options that supply you with hidden extras you may not require.

Once this is sorted you can introduce them to social media. This can be a real gift, it's not just about information and alerts that help protect us from crimes. The brain is often referred to as a muscle and exercising it in new ways keeps it young. The internet can literally give someone a new lease of life by opening up a world of interest and new skills. You can read an excellent article about this by 90 year old, Harry Leslie Smith, here. It can alleviate feelings of isolation and depression, give people a reason to get up on a cold winter's morning if only to check their updates. Reconnect with relatives on the other side of the world, or see a grandchild's prom photos. The possibilities are endless. They will soon be taking photos on their newly acquired mobile phones and learn to upload them onto Flickr and Instagram..

If they don't want to be bothered by updates on their timeline by a friend on Facebook, of potty training and teenage squabbles, or are annoyed by chain-letter like memes professing the love of one Sister to another and such like, you can hover over a friend's name with the mouse and uncheck show in newsfeed, you don't have to unfriend them. People sending game alerts can easily be turned off by hovering over the notification to play on the right hand side. Click the X and turn off notifications. On Twitter it is very easy to just unfollow.

Once they have joined social media, it's important to adjust their privacy settings on Facebook so that only their friends can see their updates and photographs. Now you can add them to their local Social Media Against Crime group or a similar site. In no time you will have helped create another silver surfer and valuable member of an online community. I know from experience, in fact my 82 year old mother is just about to like and share this post, come on Mum, where are you ?