Can someone give me the basics of Facebook? The page you can pull up on anyone by searching on their name; is that just a cover page without too much personal stuff on it? If you are "friended", does that let you into more personal stuff? Is there some way to chat, or communicate once you get inside someone's facebook?We have avoided Facebook for years, but it appears we must learn to use it if we want to keep up with and communicate with our grandkids. We have put it off for so long that we do not know the basics everyone seems to take for granted. Our grandkids seem to regard Emails like people used to look at snail mail.

Yes. You will initially get the cover page and whatever is "public-share" after you have been "friended" you will get further access. You can then send private messages via the middle icon at the top of the page. We use it to stay in contact with family and friends when we travel.

Google "facebook for dummies". Trying to get a few tips and pointers via this forum could just get you into deeper trouble. Get the book and you'll see the big picture and best practices.

One thing I'd suggest is to set every possible privacy or security setting to "Friends Only." You control who sees what, by deciding who you "friend."Limit what shows up when someone searches your name to only the basics, name and photo, for example. It's wise to a bit of google research about "maximum privacy on FB" and it's not hard to set up. Revisit the topic periodically so you contine to limit what FB can do with your info or photos. Close friends and family already know your info and IMHO, you want to avoid a lot of details of your life being readily available for identity thieves. I'd also suggest not allowing your date and year of birth to appear at all. You may want to list your high school, college, home town etc but may not want to add the year.If you do those things you can enjoy using FB to see family photos and keep up with people. You can post photos yourself which they will enjoy. You can reply or "like" things they post, and yes, send private messages.Just ignore all the adds. FB is very stealthy about putting in "suggested posts" they want you to click on, and there's a lot of commercialization in even your friends' posts. People get discounts for "Liking" things. Don't click on anything that doesn't come from people you know.

Grandkids have moved on from face book to other media as I was told by them.lol. Facebook is for old people.FB is so full of data miners and scam shoppers that it is a hazard to use anymore.IMHO

Idiot's Guide to Facebook | Good Sam Community

14 Replies

5thwheeleroldma
Explorer
Dec 05, 2013
Yes, when I was a kid, I knew my cousins, visited my Grandparents at least weekly, etc. I wrote my parents long letters weekly as long as they lived.

Now with the grandkids over a thousand miles away, we struggle to "know" them, but really never will. I fear this disintegration of the family (living together, not marrying; gay marriage; far flung relationships, etc) will eventually have to be paid for somehow. I fear the price will be beyond what we can imagine. Hopefully, I'll have gone on before that.
mockturtle
Explorer II
Dec 05, 2013
When I was a kid, I had to write LETTERS to my grandparents. Regularly!
Bill_Satellite
Explorer II
Dec 05, 2013
Here's the thing about Facebook......It's completely unnecessary and even if you post something it's likely to get lost in the shuffle.
If you send your siblings, kids, grandkids, great grandkids an e-mail, they absolutely will get it, read it and then either respond or not.
Facebook is actually quite Faceless and does not require the owner of the page to do anything. They can do nothing or they can respond or they can just post new info without any direct response. It's a great "new society" and it allows everyone to ignore everyone (if they like) and simply post "stuff" to their hearts desire. They don't have to care what others think or feel, they just continue to post and post and post. You are just along for the ride.
5thwheeleroldma
Explorer
Dec 05, 2013
Thanks for the help; think I now know how to get facebook to work for me. Only one problem, my daughter tells me the kids are now into something called instagram. They have left facebook behind. I feel like the indian who finally learned to use a muzzle loader and found the palefaces are into ray guns and space ships. Ha! I'm part Indian, so don't give me any politically correct BS about that!

My daughter says don't worry about it, they check their Emails once a week(she probably makes them), so I guess we will just keep on with that. I probably could learn to "instagram", but then they would be into something else. Anyhow, they probably are looking for messages from young friends, not an old man.
Davydd
Explorer
Dec 04, 2013
mlts22 wrote:
First rule about Facebook: Do not post anything there that you don't want your worst enemy or law enforcement to see.

A few years back, I was browsing a humidor while killing time waiting for others who were shopping. A friend snapped a pic of me there and tossed it onto Facebook. A week later, my health insurance company called and demanded I either take a physical or have status changed to a smoker.

You can also add co-workers, boss, employer and possible future employers to that see list.
mlts22
Explorer II
Dec 04, 2013
First rule about Facebook: Do not post anything there that you don't want your worst enemy or law enforcement to see.

A few years back, I was browsing a humidor while killing time waiting for others who were shopping. A friend snapped a pic of me there and tossed it onto Facebook. A week later, my health insurance company called and demanded I either take a physical or have status changed to a smoker.
amandasgramma
Explorer
Dec 04, 2013
It's harder to find people on FB than some think. :) My brother has a very common name (like John Smith).......there are 100000000s of them. And if the person you're searching for doesn't have any info (like where they live), you don't know if it's the person you want. I have connected with friends by a third person being a mutual friend. IE...I'm A and I'm friends with C.....and C is friends with B......I want to "friend" B, but can't find her. I go to C's friends list and find her and "friend" her. Is that as clear as mud????????? :)
2oldman
Explorer II
Dec 04, 2013
5thwheeleroldman wrote:
Our grandkids seem to regard Emails like people used to look at snail mail.
If they still like texting, do that too. I use it all the time.. much faster and easier than phone calls. If you can handle this forum you can handle FB. I like it, and it's not the unsafe Mexican-cartel wasteland some may tell you.
mockturtle
Explorer II
Dec 04, 2013
mayo30 wrote:
Grandkids have moved on from face book to other media as I was told by them.lol. Facebook is for old people.FB is so full of data miners and scam shoppers that it is a hazard to use anymore.IMHO
Yep. My grandkids have moved on, as well. I've never had FB nor any similar 'social media' thing and think I can get on pretty well without it. Grandkids send photos and texts. Phone calls are passe, I guess.
mayo30
Explorer
Dec 04, 2013
Grandkids have moved on from face book to other media as I was told by them.lol. Facebook is for old people.FB is so full of data miners and scam shoppers that it is a hazard to use anymore.IMHO