Welcome to the second lesson of the Facebook Academy, where you’ll learn how to use Facebook.
Facebook (go to the site) is the most widely used social network in the world and it’s packed with features, but let me reassure you right away: it’s not hard to use at all.
Knowing how to use Facebook helps you better understand what it lets you do and what opportunities it offers. It will then be up to you to decide how to use Facebook, what you’ll mainly want to use it for, and which features you won’t need.
Basically, to start figuring out how to get the most out of Facebook, you need to have completed your Facebook sign-up, as we saw in the first lesson of the Facebook Academy.
Need a list of Facebook tools?
Looking for a tool to schedule your Facebook posts in advance?
Need a tool to create quizzes and contests?
Want to use an analytics tool and find out which ones are best?
No problem, we’ll give you the complete list. FREE!
Get the free Facebook tools list
Before sharing the tricks to get the most out of Facebook, let’s look at how it’s used in general.
If you’re here, you should already have finished signing up for Facebook, so you should be all set to go.
Facebook is the social network that lets you connect with people far away and find whoever you’re looking for.
So the first thing to do is add friends — meaning what, exactly?
Meaning that in the search bar at the top, all you have to do is type the first and last name of the person you want to add to your Facebook contacts, that is, to your network of Friends.
Free image from Pixabay
Once you’ve typed it in, hit enter and Facebook will show you a list of contacts with that name; go to the person’s profile and click Add Friend.
You’ll then need to wait for the other person to confirm the friend request, so that both of you can see the content each other publishes.
Once you’ve built up a contact list, whenever you search for someone to add as a friend, Facebook will also show you how many of your connections are friends with that person too.
On your profile, Facebook will also show you suggestions for people you may know.
Finding the people you know will be a piece of cake!
You can receive friend requests too, and all you have to do is confirm them by clicking the Confirm button, or turn them down by clicking Delete Request.
Notifications about friend requests will appear at the top when you click this icon:
Once you’ve created your own circle of Friends, you can start publishing content on Facebook!
Let me explain something right away: whatever you publish on your timeline (your personal space for publishing text, photos, videos, feelings, activities, and so on) will end up in the news feed (the space where you receive the stories and updates published by the people in your network of friends).
Every time you hit the Home button, you’ll see the news feed with all the updates from your contacts. Even when you’re on the Home screen, Facebook still lets you publish your own content, which will be visible in the news feed of the contacts who have you among their Friends.
When you go to your profile instead (by clicking your name at the top), you’ll access your timeline, and that’s where you’ll see all the content you’ve published, as well as the posts other people have included you in — but we’ll get to that later.
Free image from Pixabay
So how do you publish content on Facebook?
To publish any kind of content, you’ll write in the area at the top next to the prompt: What’s on your mind? That’s the space where you publish your content.
When you publish content on Facebook, you can also choose who to show it to (whether to make it public to everyone, including people who aren’t your friends, show it only to your friends, or customize which users can and can’t see your post). This is all done in that same box.
At the bottom right, clicking on Friends opens a dropdown where you can pick exactly the option you need:
- you can add Photos and Videos by hitting the dedicated button you’ll always find within this section (you can record a video, take a photo, or upload existing ones);
- you can also add a poll for your contacts: click Poll. Or you can ask for recommendations or add an animated image (GIF).
When you’re done, hit the Post button and your post will be live.
Need a list of Facebook tools?
Looking for a tool to schedule your Facebook posts in advance?
Need a tool to create quizzes and contests?
Want to use an analytics tool and find out which ones are best?
No problem, we’ll give you the complete list. FREE!
Get the free Facebook tools list
A little earlier, I gave you a sneak peek at exactly this topic.
So, tags: what are they?
They’re mentions — virtual labels that identify a specific person. We’re talking about content that features people, or where you want to include people from your friends list.
How do you tag someone?
You enter the person’s first and last name: that’s the tag. The tagged person will then get a notification showing them the post they’ve been tagged in.
Here’s an example:
You’re publishing a photo with a friend of yours. In the area below the photo you’re posting there’s a Tag Friends option — that’s where you can enter your friend’s first and last name and confirm it. This way she’ll get a notification and see the photo on her timeline.
Up to this point in the lesson, we’ve walked you through the basic features of Facebook. Before moving on to security and privacy on Facebook, we want to point out a couple of interesting features that few people know about.
If you’re low on data (you’ve almost run out of mobile data) or your battery drains quickly and you need to keep an eye on Facebook, you can turn on notifications via text message.
How do you turn on Facebook notifications via SMS?
To turn on SMS notifications, go to your Facebook Settings, open the Mobile section, and select the green button that says Activate SMS.
Complete the required settings and send a text to 4850105 with the letter F in the message body. Wait for the confirmation code to arrive and enter it in the dedicated Facebook field.
Now you know how it’s done, should you ever need it!
If you want to get the most out of Facebook, here’s some info to keep birthdays and events always at your fingertips.
How can you have this information available at all times?
You can sync your Facebook events like this: go to the events page and open it.
Once it’s open, remember to go to the bottom of the right-hand column, under Upcoming Events or Birthdays, and sync them with your Google Calendar, the Calendar App or Outlook Calendar.
That way, all you’ll have to do is open your Calendar and you’ll find everything you need.
Free image from Google
This is the key information (+ 2 bonus tips) you need to know about how to use Facebook.
Facebook also lets you chat with friends, make voice and video calls, play games, run ads, create groups, business pages and more — all things we’ll discover in the upcoming lessons of the Facebook Academy.
What do you say? Pretty simple so far, right?
With a little practice, everything will become second nature. Aren’t you glad you can stay in touch with people who live far away, or who you’d lost track of? Then there’s really no reason to wait any longer to get the most out of Facebook!
Conclusion
To wrap up, this lesson gave you some pointers on the very first steps to take when you start using Facebook.
So, do you now know how to use Facebook?
We’ve shown you how to start building your circle of Friends, and given you the information you need to create your posts and share them with whoever you choose!
In the next lessons we’ll also dig into many other topics, like Facebook chat, groups, pages, ads to promote products, pages or services, and much more…
Want a Facebook consultation? Get in touch! We’ll work out the best Facebook strategy to do whatever it takes to reach your goal.
Want to sharpen your Facebook skills? Contact us! We’ll find the right course for you.
Want more info or just want to talk to us? Contact us! That’s what we’re here for.
- Readers Rating
- Rated 5 stars
5 / 5 (3 Reviewers) - Spectacular
- Your Rating