Saturday, September 17, 2011

List of Other Blogs


http://divineprovidenceproverbs.blogspot.com/

This is my simpler modern English re-write of half of the Christian mystic Emmanuel Swedenborg's book Divine Providence. His complicated older English style paragraphs are condensed into a moreso proverbs-like expression.



http://many-social-networking-tips.blogspot.com/

These are some tips on how to use several social networking websites.



http://socialmediaaction.blogspot.com/

This is an action plan for promoting business websites to make sales in three social networking community websites: Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.




This is a larger blog teaching quite a few detailed Google skills:  Little-known details skills, Google Chrome web browser, Google Maps, Google Earth Free, Google News, Picasa photos utility, Gmail, Google Notebook, Blogger.com, Google Documents, etc.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

10 Flashy Flickr Tips

10 Flashy Flickr Tips: Detailed
Tagging, Privacy Settings, More









February 8th, 2011 by Meghan J. McDonough





If you’re an avid photographer or a rabid photo organizer, or if you just
love looking through photo albums, Flickr is the social network for you. It’s
the most widely used free online photo sharing service, thanks to its
user-friendly organization tools and straightforward tagging system. The site
uses an algorithm to rank the “interestingness” of photos, which helps photos
explorers find stunning images and lets users search by tags, so you can find
plenty of kitties to turn into Internet memes. Flickr recently updated its
photo pages to put more emphasis on the individual photos while still keeping
the tools for tagging, geotagging, adding people, and blogging close at hand.


1. Tag your photos


Tagging your photos properly is essential for helping your friends and
others find your pictures. Use tags to describe where a photo was taken, what’s
in it, the image size, and what camera you used. For tags with two or more
words, use quotation marks. For example, an image on Flickr of a man on a park
bench included tags such as “urban,” “sun flare,” “nyc,” “iPhone,” and “black
and white.”


2. Use a Flickr slideshow in your blog


Linking to a set of Flickr images from your blog is one thing, but if you’ve
created a blog to show off the newest member of your family, a slideshow of
baby’s first Christmas is the way to go. The site flickrslideshow.com creates a
customizable slideshow of your images based on tags and text in them and
generates the HTML code to put in your blog.


3. Geotag your vacation photos


Your friends will never have to ask where you took that picture again. After
uploading your images to Flickr, click on Actions and select Add your map. Drag
and drop your picture on the map or enter a town or address to pinpoint your
photo’s location. You can even geotag entire photo sets from the Maps tab under
Organize & Create.


4. Join a Flickr group to share your photos and get inspiration


Part of the fun of Flickr is sharing your photos and seeing others’ visual
interpretations of a place. Join a group by clicking on Groups at the top of a
page. Search for what you’re interested in or what you have photos of, such as
cats, sunsets, or the Queen Mary 2.


5. Post Flickr images and videos to Twitter
and/or to your own blog



Go to Your Account, click on Sharing & Extending, scroll down to Your
Blogs and click Configure your Flickr-to-blog settings. Then choose Set up your
blog and enter the necessary info. Flickr supports Blogger, LiveJournal,
TypePad, WordPress, and Twitter. Once your blog’s account has been linked with
Flickr, simply click Blog It from the Share This bar above photos to tweet them
or add them to your blog.


6. Keep your photos private


One of the best things about Flickr is its front-and-center privacy
controls, which you can easily modify when you upload images. You can set
photos to be viewed by only you, your friends, family, or all Flickr users.
Likewise, you choose who can comment and who can add notes, tags, and people.
Specify your settings under the Privacy & Permissions tab under Your
Account.


7. Easy e-mail uploading


Don’t have time to log in to Flickr or want to quickly send a photo from
your phone? On the Emails & Notifications tab under Your Account, Flickr
can generate an e-mail address to which you can directly send photos. Flickr
can also generate specific e-mails for sending photos to Twitter and your
Flickr blog.


8. Upload photos from your smart phone


Both FlickrFree for Android and Flickr for iPhone allow you to directly
upload and download photos and browse through all your photos and sets. Flickr
for iPhone also supports geotagging and instant uploads to Twitter.


9. Bring certain contacts closer


Click on a contact’s name or go to their photostream, and Flickr will state
your relationship with another user as contact, friend, or family. Click on
edit to change your relationship. Promoting a contact to friend or family will
give him or her access to any photos, comments, or tags that you’ve assigned as
friends or family only.


10. Tag your Flickr friends in your photos


Much like Facebook, Flickr lets you tag your Flickr contacts in your photos
along with friends who are not on Flickr. Just click Add a Person under the
Actions menu. Flickr notifies both members and non-members via e-mail that they
have been added to a picture. Want to remain anonymous? Click the X next to
your screen name under the People in this Photo section and no one (except for
you) will be able to re-add your name.


15 LinkedIn Tips

15 LinkedIn Tips to Help You Find a
Job, Work Smarter, Boost Your Career









February 4th, 2011 by Avram Piltch





LinkedIn is the leading business-oriented social networking site. If you’re
interested in making professional connections with other people in your
industry that could lead to future work or partnerships, LinkedIn is the place
to be. Aside from traditional connection and contact sharing, highlights
include LinkedIn Answers for asking questions, LinkedIn Groups for people in
similar industries, and a host of LinkedIn apps that live on your profile page.


1. Get introduced to people by using connection requests


If there’s someone you’d like to contact, but you don’t know them, you can
request an introduction if they are connected to anyone in your network or even
if they are two connections removed from you. To add this person as a
connection, simply visit his or her profile and click “Get introduced through a
connection,” then fill in a note asking one of your connections to make the
introduction and another note to the person to which you want to be connected.


2. Show your connections where you’re going


If your
business
partners can see when you’ll be traveling to their
cities, they can request meetings with you and all kind of opportunities can
arise. To share your travel itinerary on your profile, click Add An Application
on the profile edit screen and select the My Travel app. You’ll have to sign up
for a free account with TripIt, but then you’ll be able to show your upcoming
trips and see where your contacts are traveling.


3. Use LinkedIn Answers to ask questions


If you need advice, why ask just a handful of people when you can reach the
entire LinkedIn community along with up to 200 of your contacts? To get
started, just select Answers from the More menu at the top of the screen, then
enter your query in the Ask a Question box. A new screen will appear that lets
you add additional details and categorize your question based on topic. You can
choose to only share the question with a select group or make it public so
anyone on LinkedIn can see.=


4.
Join groups to talk with others



In addition to asking questions and answering others’ queries, you can join
discussion groups to network and discuss particular topics with others. To find
new groups or manage your memberships, click the Groups button at the top bar.
You can then see suggestions by clicking Groups You May Like. You can also
search for stuff that interests you by visiting Groups Directory, or you can
even create your own group.


5. Request recommendations to improve your reputation


When potential business
partners
and employers look at your profile, positive
recommendations really stand out. You can wait and hope that your contacts will
post recommendations without prompting, or you can politely request their help.
To request a recommendation, select Recommendations from the Profile Menu.
There you’ll see a list of all your jobs with the number of current
recommendations under each. Here you can click the Manage link to delete or
hide recommendations you don’t like or, better yet, click the “Ask to be
endorsed” link and send a request for recommendation to coworkers and business
partners.


6. Add your Twitter feed to your profile


By connecting your Twitter account to your LinkedIn profile, you can share
updates with everyone in your network. As long as your tweets are professional
in nature, this can be a good way to keep your contacts up to date on your
activities. To add a Twitter account, select Edit Profile from the Profile
menu, then click “Add a Twitter account” on the profile page that appears.
You’ll be asked to allow LinkedIn access to your Twitter account and to log in
to Twitter.


7. Follow companies that interest you


You’ve always wanted to work for Cogswell Cogs, but every time you check the
“help wanted” section of their corporate site, you never see a job. Wouldn’t it
be great to keep up with company turnover, job openings, and happenings for
companies you want to join or even competitors you want to fail? To follow a
company, simply search for the company name by selecting companies from the
search bar and typing in a query. Then click on the name of the company to see
its homepage. Click the follow button on the home page and select Change
Following Settings. You can then decide when you’ll be notified about job
openings, position changes, or company profile updates.


8. Edit your connections’ contact information to add details


By default, LinkedIn only displays a certain amount of contact information
for each of your connections. If a connection hasn’t chosen to list her mobile
phone number or physical location, only her e-mail address will be visible.
Fortunately, you can store any additional notes and contact information you
have in your contacts’ records. Simply click the View/Edit contact info at the
bottom of the contact Information box. Then you can add notes, phone numbers,
IM names, and more that are only visible to you.


9. Put polls on your profile to see what your connections are
thinking



A great way to keep in touch with your connections is to put a poll on your
profile and see how people vote. On the profile editing screen, click Add An
Application and select Polls. Then create a multiple-choice poll with up to
five possible answers. You can send the poll to all your first-degree
connections or include it in a directory so anyone on Linked-In can vote.


10. Collaborate on projects using LinkedIn


On your profile page, click Add An Application, then select Projects and Teamspaces
by Manymoon. Then you can create a project, track enhancements and bugs, and
even manage customers and post jobs related to the project. Information will
appear on your profile.


11. Showcase creative work directly on your profile


If you have art or other media you’ve created and want to demonstrate to
potential employers, just click Add an application from the Edit Profile
screen, then add Portfolio Display. You will then have to sign up for an
account at Behance.net. Then just upload and describe your work.


12. Connect your WordPress blog to your profile


If you run a blog on WordPress and want your contacts to keep up with your
postings, select Edit Profile from the Profile menu then click Add An
Application and select WordPress. Then enter the URL of your blog. You can also
choose to show all recent posts or only those which have been tagged
“linkedin.” The most recent four or five posts will appear on your profile
page.


13. Post files directly to your profile


Don’t just list your resume or link to samples of your work from your
profile. Make them downloadable so people can save your work to their hard
drives.


  • To attach files to your
         profile, click on the Add Sections or Add An Application links on the
         Profile page.
  • Select Box.net files as the
         application to use.
  • Click the Add An Application
         button and make sure the “Display on my profile” box remains checked.
  • Create a box.net account on
         the following screen, and then you’ll be able to start uploading files.
         The files you store will appear as icons directly on your profile page,
         which other users can then download.


14. Add connections using contacts from your e-mail account


If you’re just using LinkedIn’s search box, it’s difficult to find everyone
you’ve ever e-mailed to see if they have a LinkedIn account. However, you can
have LinkedIn search your e-mail account’s inbox to find contacts who have a
LinkedIn account.


  • Select Add Connections from
         the Contacts menu.
  • For a web-based e-mail
         account, enter your e-mail address and password into the “See Who You
         Already Know on LinkedIn” box.
  • To import contacts from
         Outlook, click “Import Your Desktop Email Contacts” instead. LinkedIn will
         then comb through your mail and present you with a list of people you know
         who have LinkedIn accounts
  • Select who you want to
         invite, including people who are not yet on LinkedIn.


12. Connect your WordPress blog to your profile


If you run a blog on WordPress and want your contacts to keep up with your
postings, select Edit Profile from the Profile menu then click Add An Application
and select WordPress. Then enter the URL of your blog. You can also choose to
show all recent posts or only those which have been tagged “linkedin.” The most
recent four or five posts will appear on your profile page.


13. Post files directly to your profile


Don’t just list your resume or link to samples of your work from your
profile. Make them downloadable so people can save your work to their hard
drives.


  • To attach files to your
         profile, click on the Add Sections or Add An Application links on the
         Profile page.
  • Select Box.net files as the
         application to use.
  • Click the Add An Application
         button and make sure the “Display on my profile” box remains checked.
  • Create a box.net account on
         the following screen, and then you’ll be able to start uploading files.
         The files you store will appear as icons directly on your profile page,
         which other users can then download.


14. Add connections using contacts from your e-mail account


If you’re just using LinkedIn’s search box, it’s difficult to find everyone
you’ve ever e-mailed to see if they have a LinkedIn account. However, you can
have LinkedIn search your e-mail account’s inbox to find contacts who have a
LinkedIn account.


  • Select Add Connections from
         the Contacts menu.
  • For a web-based e-mail
         account, enter your e-mail address and password into the “See Who You
         Already Know on LinkedIn” box.
  • To import contacts from
         Outlook, click “Import Your Desktop Email Contacts” instead. LinkedIn will
         then comb through your mail and present you with a list of people you know
         who have LinkedIn accounts
  • Select who you want to
         invite, including people who are not yet on LinkedIn.


20 Terrific Twitter Tips

20 Terrific Twitter Tips









January 28th, 2011 by Anna Attkisson





With 175 Million registered users and 95 million tweets
written per day, Twitter has fast become the go to source for sharing news and
information.


For those of you who are not up to speed,
a tweet is 140-character burst where Twitter users share their thoughts, as
well as links and photos. On Twitter you can follow others and they can follow
you, allowing you to engage in both direct messaging
and messaging to the world. Businesses use Twitter to help build their customer
loyalty, and consumers use it to pontificate on everything from what’s for
lunch to charity
projects.


Twitter is more than just 140 character blurbs however, and our list of 20
terrific Twitter tips will show you just what we mean.


1. Download a desktop and mobile app


The Twitter website has tons to offer, but you’re not always on the website,
nor are you chained to your desk. Third-party apps such as TweetDeck,
HootSuite, and others offer added functionality such as the ability to schedule
your tweets and manage multiple accounts.


2. Retweet others


One way to spread goodwill among your followers is to retweet other users’
posts. To do this, click on the tweet in question. Doing this will pop up a
window on the right showing that feed. Then click Retweet below the update.


3. Leave 20 characters at the end of your posts


You’ll have a better chance of being retweeted by others if you make it easy
for them to do so. While you have 140 characters to play with in Twitter, try
to restrict yourself to 120.


4. Follow people who follow you


Twitter is a great way to build relationships with your followers. The best
way to do that is to follow them back and engage them in direct messaging
conversations.


5. Share pictures and video with your followers


Because Twitter is a text-based network, you’ll want to use services such as
TwitPic, TwitVid, Plixi, and yFrog to share photos and movies with others.


6 Use hashtags (pic)


When you post a comment that relates to an ongoing event or a popular topic,
add a # in front of that topic. That will help your status update appear in
searches. You can search for the popularity of a particular hashtag by going to
hashtags.org.


7. Delete unwanted tweets


Whoops. You posted something you shouldn’t have. Not to worry. You can
remove it fast. Simply hover over your update on your homepage. You’ll see a
star and a trash can image. The star makes it one of your favorites. The trash
can deletes it.


8. Use Twitter to get better customer service


One way to get the attention of a big-name store, wireless carrier, or
notebook brand is by complaining or posing a question on Twitter. Nearly all
big companies monitor mentions of their products through Twitter and may help
you get your problem resolved faster than going through traditional channels.


9. Shorten URLs


Because every character counts, you’ll want to truncate the links you share
with the world. Third-party services such as Bit.ly and Ow.ly will do this for
you, and they also offer analytics for tracking who retweets your link and how
many people click on it. Popular desktop apps such as TweetDeck automatically
shorten links for you.


10. Don’t always broadcast your location


When you’re someplace particularly interesting, it can be fun to share your
location, but doing it all the time can be a bit much. To tweet your location
selectively, click on Settings from the drop-down menu beneath your profile
photo in the top right. Check Tweet Location > Save. Now, when you open a
new status update window, you can click the crosshairs icon to add your
location.


11. Pick the right people to follow


You can invite your friends to join Twitter by going to your profile
drop-down menu and selecting Who To Follow, then selecting the Find friends tab
and connecting with your e-mail account address book. Or, from the Browse
Interests tab, you can check out the top draws in various categories, such as
Charity, News, and Technology. Also, Twitter has improved its recommendations,
and can offer you suggestions based on who you already follow. These appear on
your home profile page on the right. The third-party service Listorious can
also help you find followers. This site offers a keyword-searchable database of
more than 2 million top Twitter users. Check out the Top 140 Lists or the 140
Most Followed People. You can also try registering on Listorious to encourage
more people to follow you.


12. Make your account private


If you tweet things of a personal nature, you can lock down your tweets so
only people you approve can read them. To do so, click on your account icon on
the top right. Select Settings from the drop-down menu. Check off Protect My
Tweets > Save. Note: Previously tweeted items may still be publicly visible.


13. Make Twitter lists


A great way to organize your followers and help other users find content you
like is to make Lists. Within Twitter, click on the Lists tab, and select
Create A List. Here you can also see lists you’ve been included in or lists
you’ve already created.


14. Create a book of your favorite Twitter updates


By signing in to your Twitter account from tweetbook.in, you can generate a
PDF eBook of your latest tweets and your favorites. You can then share that
book with friends.


15. Recognize your followers


Every Friday, an international event storms Twitter; Follow Friday. It
started as a way to help your followers find new people to follow and it has
become a way to recognize your followers. The etiquette is to look at who has
followed you during the previous week or two, and then, on Friday, to add those
people’s handles to a tweet and to say something like “thanks for following
me.” Then add #FF at the beginning or end of the tweet.


16. Check your connections


Go to your account drop-down menu and select Settings. Click the Connections
tab. Here you’ll see the services and third-party applications that you’ve
given permission to access your account. You can then revoke access for any
account you’re no longer using. Check this area regularly to be sure no one has
authorized your account to a service you don’t want to use.


17. Use advanced search


Just like in a browser, you can narrow your search in Twitter by using what
are known as operators. For instance, to search a specific geographic area of
tweets add Near: and Within: to your search string. So to search for all tweets
within 30 miles
of Portland, you’d enter “near:Portland
within:30mi”.


To search for tweets that were posted since a specific date, add a Since: to
your search. So to find all tweets about the iPad
2 that were posted since Jan. 1, 2011,
you’d enter “iPad 2 since:2011-1-1”.


You can even search by the tone of a tweet by using emoticons. Adding :(to your search
string with bring up related tweets that were sent with a negative attitude.


18. Report spam


Malicious links to malware sites, mass following or unfollowing to get
attention, posting unwanted messages to users, exclusively sending messages on
trending topics to grab eyeballs, repeatedly posting duplicate updates; all of
these offenses constitute Twitter spam. To report a spammer, go to that
account’s profile and click the drop-down menu. Then click Report @username For
Spam. Twitter will then block the offending user from following you or replying
to you, and that account will get reviewed by the Twitter Trust and Safety
Team.


19. Scan for junk accounts


The third-party app TwitBlock will scan your followers for signs of spam and
accounts that could be junk. Simply go to Twitblock.org and link your Twitter
account. The service will automatically scan your followers and offer up a
percentage of certainty indicating whether or not a user has spam-like
behavior.


20. Keyboard shortcuts on Twitter.com


f – Favorite


r – reply


t – retweet


m – direct message


n – new status update


j - next tweet


k – previous tweet


spacebar – page down


/ - search


. refresh tweets and back to the top


http://blog.laptopmag.com/101-social-networking-tips/

40 Essential Facebook Tips

40 Essential Facebook Tips



January 26th, 2011 by Anna Attkisson

FRIENDING

1. Find friends

There are several ways to add friends, the most simple of which is Facebook
Search. Your friend list, on the top right of the screen, lets you find friends
based on friends that your friends know. Or you can have Facebook search your
contacts through AIM, AOL, Comcast, MSN, Skype, Verizon.net, Windows Live
Hotmail, Yahoo, and other e-mail services.

The most specific way to find people you may know is to click Friends on the
top left of your profile. Then click Other Tools (under the list of e-mail
services) and specify whether you’re searching for classmates or co-workers.

2. Tag friends in status updates

Wanna give a special shout-out to someone and link back to their profile?
Write your status and include the @ symbol before their name. Your status won’t
show the @, but it will link to your friend. That friend will receive a notification
linking back to your post.

3. Change how certain people see your profile


To let your mom friend you without letting her view all your party pics, add
her to a specific friend list, and then limit that list’s access. Start by
going to your Friends page. Then click the Account drop-down menu, and select
Edit Friends > Create A List. After you’ve selected the friends to be
included in that list, give it a name.


To limit who sees what, go to Account > Privacy Settings > Customize
Settings. For each of the items listed—including Birthday, Contact Information,
and Photos and Videos I’m Tagged In—you can limit the information shared by
clicking the drop-down menu on the right and selecting Customize. In the pop-up
window, write the name of the previously created friend list in the Hide This
From box. Then click Save Setting.


4. Find out who has unfriended you


There’s no formal Facebook notification to alert users that they’ve been
dropped from someone’s friend list, but this handy app can help. Simply download
it from userscripts.org/scripts/show/58852. Then install it in your web browser
(Chrome, Firefox, Opera, or Safari), log into Facebook, and Unfriend Finder
will do its work. It will not work retroactively.


5. Use power search secrets


There are a million and one John Smiths in the world, but you’re looking for
someone specific who you know to be in his 20s. It is possible to narrow your
search results by age. Enter the name and the age range separated by y1 and y2.
For example, “name: John Smith y1: 20 y2: 30”
will produce search results for John Smiths age 20 to 30.


Or, you can search for two terms at once using the pipe character (a.k.a.:
“|”). This will combine the search for the two items into one.


6. Join a network


Networks can help you find people who work or study with you. To join a high
school or college network, you must be a current student. Some companies also
have a network, but you must have a valid work e-mail address to affiliate
yourself with that business. To get started go to Account > Account Settings
and click the Networks tab. From there you can search for a network to join.


7. Create a group


This feature is a great way to broadcast information to a small set of
people instead of your entire friend list. Go to www.facebook.com/groups and
click Create Group. Then add the names of select friends and click Create. The
group window works the same way as a Wall, and while what you write will appear
in your Newsfeed, only members of your group will be able to see.


8. Share a document with a group


All the members of a group can collaborate on a single document. To create
such a document, click on your group, and then select Doc from the top bar.
Here you can give the file a name and start writing. When you press Save, that
doc is available to the group to edit.


SHARING



9. Schedule your status updates


Have news to share, but don’t want it to get lost in the overnight shuffle?
Or want to send an update when you know ahead of time that something special is
about to happen? You can have a third-party app such as TweetDeck, HootSuite,
or CoTweet do it for you. Simply download one of these free apps to the desktop
or your mobile device, write your update, and schedule it for future posting.


SHARING



9. Schedule your status updates


Have news to share, but don’t want it to get lost in the overnight shuffle?
Or want to send an update when you know ahead of time that something special is
about to happen? You can have a third-party app such as TweetDeck, HootSuite,
or CoTweet do it for you. Simply download one of these free apps to the desktop
or your mobile device, write your update, and schedule it for future posting.


10. Share meaningful links with personalized descriptions


To share a must-read link with your friends, copy and paste the URL into the
status window. This automatically populates a thumbnail image (which can be
deleted), headline, and description of the site you’re sharing. By clicking on
that descriptive text, you can customize what it says or delete it altogether.
Then you can delete the link (without losing the referral) and add your two
cents as a status update.


11. Control which alerts you receive


Facebook can alert you via text message or e-mail if, among other actions,
someone has poked you, commented on a post you were tagged in, or tagged you at
a place. To specify which of these occurrences warrant a notification message,
go to Account Settings and click on the Notifications tab. Then check off which
items are important and uncheck those that are not.


12. Change your news feed preferences


Your news feed is separated into Top News, which ranks the posts that are
currently most popular, and Most Recent. The latter is also known as the live
feed, and it is curated by Facebook based on who they think you want to hear
from the most. You can control who appears in your feed and who doesn’t. In the
Most Recent view, click Edit Options on the bottom right of your feed; here you
have the option to show more or less friends. You can hide a specific annoying
friend’s updates, or request to see some friends more often.


13. Like or unlike a page


When you’re surfing the web, it’s more and more common that you’ll come
across a little blue Like button. There are 10,000 new websites integrating
this Facebook social plug-in every day. By clicking the Like button on a given
site, you’re announcing to your friends that you enjoy the content found there.
This can give you access to a business that might offer you unique content,
deals, or news. Or it can just be a way of sharing your likes with the world.


Just because you liked something yesterday doesn’t mean you can’t change
your mind. To unlike a page, find the post in your profile that states you like
that page. Or find a post from that page in your News Feed. Click the “x” on
the top right portion of the page. Then, click “Unlike Page” from the drop-down
menu.


14. Download your data


Not convinced that the cloud is a safe place to store your Facebook
memories? Now you can keep a copy on your hard drive by going to Account >
Account Settings > Download Your Information. When you click the Download
button, you are warned that it may take a bit to gather all your data, and
you’re presented with another Download button. Clicking that option notifies
you that an e-mail will be sent to you when your information is ready. Clicking
the link in the e-mail will send you to a page to download and save your data.


15. Download a friend’s photo album


Want to treasure those Facebook memories without going online?
Get the FacePAD Facebook Photo Album Downloader. This free Firefox add-on
allows you to download a friend’s entire album. Start by getting the app from
addons.mozilla.org. Then go to one of the photos
in the album you want to download. Put your cursor over the top of the name of
the album on the bottom right, then right-click and select Download Album
With FacePAD.


16. Create an event


Evites are so 2009. Now that all your real friends are Facebook friends,
it’s easy to set up a birthday party or a night out by clicking on the Events
tab below your profile picture. From there, click Create an Event. This will
take you to a page where you can add the details such as date, time, and place
and select guests from your friends list. You can also send an invitation to
non-Facebook users via their e-mail address. You’re offered the option to make
the event public, meaning it will show up in your news feed, or you can keep
the news to just the people you invited.


17. Turn your profile photo into an avatar


Tired of that humdrum photo of yourself? You can become a 1960s ad exec by
going to www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/madmenyourself. Become a fourth grader
in South Park, Colorado
at www.southpark studios.com/avatar. Or pretend you live in Springfield
with The Simpons by going to www.simpsonsmovie.com. When you’re done, save your
avatar to your computer and upload it to Facebook by clicking on your profile
picture and selecting Change Picture > Upload a Picture.


18. Buy Facebook credits


There is a truly addictive quality to such Facebook applications as
Farmville and Mafia Wars. And there comes a point where, to make the experience
even better, you have to double down by buying credits. Facebook is making it
easier and easier to get those credits by letting you exchange dollars for
credits. You can even redeem American Express Rewards points for credits.
Feeling generous? Give Facebook credits in the form of a gift card available
from participating retailers (Best Buy, Game Stop, and Walmart).


19. Cancel an event


Something came up at the last minute, as it always does, and you’re no
longer going to be hosting the party as planned. As the administrator of an
event, you can change your personal RSVP status to cancel. You can also cancel
the event: On the Event page, click Edit Event > Cancel This Event. When you
cancel, a note will be sent to all of your friends who were invited. You are
offered the option to send a personal note as well.


20. Memorialize a friend’s account


When a Facebook friend passes away, you can help Facebook memorialize his or
her account by going to www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=deceased
and filling out the form. It will ask for the person’s name, birthday, e-mail
account, your relationship to that person and a link to an obituary or news
article about the friend’s death. You can then request that Facebook remove the
friend’s account completely, or memorialize it, meaning Facebook removes their
status updates and contact information and adjusts the privacy settings so that
only confirmed friends can see the profile or locate it in a search. You’ll
also still be able to leave Wall posts in remembrance.


MESSAGING



21. Upgrade to use the new Facebook messages feature



The latest feature to come to Facebook is a new platform for communicating
with friends. Facebook Messages combines e-mail, chat, and text messaging,
allowing you to view one unified inbox. This upgrade is slowly rolling out to
all 500 million Facebook users but if you want to get on the list sooner rather
than later, go to www.facebook.com/about/messages and click Request An
Invitation. Once you receive your invitation, you can invite a number of your
friends and family members.


22. Claim your @facebook.com e-mail address


After you’ve received your Facebook messages invite, you can request an
e-mail address with your Facebook username. In the Messages view, click the
Claim Your Facebook Email link. Then others will be able to e-mail you via
Gmail, Yahoo, or other e-mail services, and the e-mails will be delivered to
your Facebook messages inbox. When you send messages to external addresses,
your e-mails will be formatted as Facebook messages and will include your
profile picture.


23.  Send Facebook messages
from your phone



To send a message to a friend when you’re away from the computer, text your
message to 32665. For instance, sending “msg Lisa Butler Happy Birthday” to
that number will send “Happy Birthday” to your friend Lisa Butler.


24. Send a video message


Use your webcam and mic to leave a personalized message for someone by
selecting New Message in the Messages Inbox. Click the video icon at the bottom
left of the new message window start recording, then click Send.


25. Archive or delete a conversation


Hide a conversation in Messages by archiving it, or permanently remove a
conversation and its history by deleting it. To archive, click the X next to
the conversation. You can find it later by scrolling to the bottom of your
Messages queue, and clicking Archived on the bottom left corner. If you receive
a new message, the conversation will reappear and continue. To eliminate a
thread, open the conversation, click the Actions drop-down menu and select
Delete. That will clear the conversation from your history.


26. Put Facebook Chat in a Firefox sidebar


The IM version of Facebook messaging can be added to your Firefox browser
window as a sidebar in a few easy steps. In Firefox, click Bookmarks, then
right-click and select New Bookmark. Name the bookmark something obvious such
as Facebook Chat. The location should be
http://www.facebook.com/presence/popout.php. Then check “Load this bookmark in
the sidebar.” Go to View in your Firefox toolbar and select Sidebar >
Bookmarks. Now you can chat away.


PRIVACY & SECURITY



27. Limit who can see your friend list



Under Account > Privacy Settings, look for the View Settings link beneath
Connecting on Facebook. Here you’ll see a list of personal profile items, such
as who can see your current city and hometown or who can send you friend
requests. You can limit who can see your friend list to Friends Only, Friends
of Friends, or even by a specific friend list that you designate under
Customize.


28. Block someone


If you no longer wish to be friends with someone, or if you simply don’t
want to receive event invites from a specific friend, you can block them in
your privacy settings under Account. Simply click on Edit Your Lists under
Block Lists. Here you can remove someone from your friend list or block invites
from specific people or applications.


29. Limit how much info apps can access


Just because you want to use a Facebook Application doesn’t mean you want it
to have more access to your account information than necessary. For instance,
the application for the new social network Jumo requires access to personal
profile information such as your birthday, gender, and list of friends. But did
you know that by accepting those terms of service you’re also giving Jumo
access to your data any time, even when you’re not using the application?
That’s an optional feature you can turn off.


Go to Account > Privacy Settings. Under Applications and Websites click
Edit Your Settings. On the next page click Edit Settings next to Applications
You Use. Next to Jumo, click Edit Settings. From here you can remove the
application, or just remove the optional settings, such as allowing Jumo to
post to your wall with status messages. You can follow the same process to find
the optional settings on each of your active Facebook Applications.


30. Customize privacy settings on each video you upload


There are four global privacy settings available under Accounts > Privacy
Settings > Posts by Me: Everyone, Friends of Friends, Friends Only, or a
customized list of people. You can also set a stricter level on a
video-by-video basis as well. Start by selecting the video, then click Edit
This Video. Next to Privacy, select your desired setting and click Save.


31. Personalize your web surfing experience


Facebook has partnered with Pandora, Rotten Tomatoes, Yelp, and several
other sites to create a web surfing experience unique to you and your friends.
By going to Yelp, you can see reviews of locations written by your friends
along the top bar. To opt in to this service, go to Account > Privacy
Settings > Applications and Websites. Next to Instant Personalization, click
Edit Settings and check the box to “enable instant personalization on partner
websites.”


32. Add a security question to your account


Add another level of security to your password. Go to Account > Account
Settings and click Change in the Security Question section. You can then select
a question from the drop-down menu, and enter your answer. Then click Change
Security Question and enter your password. Note: Once entered, you cannot
change this question.


33. Check recent account activity and log out remotely


Under Account > Account Settings, in the Settings tab is a link for
Account Security. Clicking it drops down a variety of info, where you can be
notified via text and/or e-mail
if a new computer or mobile device logs into your account. You can see a list
of your five most recent logins with detailed information such as date, time,
location, browser, and operating
system
used. You can also select End Activity on any active
sessions you may have forgotten to sign out of, like at a friends house or at a
public computer.


34. Report an impersonator


Identity theft or fake profiles can be a real threat to your virtual
persona. If you’ve found a person imitating you on Facebook, go to their
profile page and click Report/Block This Person at the bottom-left side of the
page. Select Fake Profile as the reason and add “Impersonating me or someone
else” as the report type. Also include a URL to the real person’s account so
Facebook can see the difference. This is also where you can flag someone’s photo
or profile as inappropriate.


35. Report an underage child


According to Facebook’s terms and conditions, anyone under the age of 13
should not be allowed on the social network. If you see someone you know to be
underage, you can report them by going to
www.facebook.com/help/?safety=parents#!/help/contact.php?show_form=underage and
filling out this form. It will ask you for the child’s name, e-mail address,
actual age, and your relationship to the child.


36. Remove a photo tag


When your friends are snapping away, you just know that they are taking
shots you’d rather not have shared on Facebook. But that isn’t going to stop
them from uploading and tagging you. To remove an unwanted tag, view the offending
photo, then choose Remove Tag at the bottom next to your name. Only the owner
of a photo or the person tagged can remove a tag.


37. Deactivate your account


Simply clicking the log-off link at the top right is so last year. To truly
protect your account, you can deactivate it, which makes it unsearchable and
secure until you reactivate it. It may be a bit drastic, but it works because
Facebook doesn’t totally delete your deactivated account. To super-logoff, go
to Account > Account Settings and click Deactivate Account. Then check “This
is temporary. I’ll be back.” and click Confirm. To reactivate later, just log
in with your e-mail
and password, but note that your admin status on any groups or events will not
be automatically restored.


PLACES



38. Check in to a place on your phone



The Facebook app for Android, BlackBerry, and iPhone now offers a feature
called Facebook Places. This allows you to see where your friends are, share
your location, and add comments about the places you visit. Users whose phones
don’t support the Facebook app can also access Facebook Places through
touch.facebook.com. The Places tab is on the right side of the home page, and
it offers you an option to Share Location.


39. Create a new place


If you visit a hot new spot, and want to check in there, go to Places on
your mobile app and click Check In. Then, select the Add button to the left of
the Places Names search box. Type in the location’s name and click Add. You can
also write a description for the place. Don’t forget to check in after you’ve
added the place.



40. Tag friends at a place


Using Facebook Places allows you to check in yourself as well as others at a
specific location. In the Places feature, after you’ve checked in, click Tag
Friends With You and choose friends from your list. You can also add a
description of what you’re doing at this locale.


http://blog.laptopmag.com/101-social-networking-tips/