Monday, January 21, 2008

3. Setting up your Facebook profile

What is Facebook? In a nutshell, Facebook is a social networking site that is fun way to keep up with your family and friends, share pictures, videos and more. It allows you to connect to people in fun ways.

It's easier to explain as you're using it, so let's set up your account and profile.
  1. Go to Facebook and click "sign up" enter your information.
  2. Facebook will ask for your email address and password to look for your friends on Facebook. You can skip this step if you like. If you put your information in Facebook will find any of your contacts who are using that address on Facebook and ask you if you want to be friends with them. It will also ask you to send invitations to anyone who is not on Facebook, you can skip this step if you like, but it's a good way to find friends who are already on Facebook.
  3. So that's it your page is set up. You can find friends by searching for email addresses or names. Try searching for Robin or Bobbi's full name to see how it works.
Pages and Fans
Businesses and Nonprofits are allowed to create Pages on Facebook, you can become a "fan" of any of these that you like and want to support. Since you're participating in MRRL's Library Learning 2.1 program we'll assume you're a fan of MRRL. So let's become a fan of MRRL's page
  1. Find MRRL's page either by clicking the link or searching for "missouri river regional library",
  2. click on the link that says "become a fan"
  3. Check back on the page regularly for updates on events and discussions!
Applications
Each Facebook page has some default applications like "The Wall", "Friends", "Photos" and "Videos", it also had optional applications you can add to your profile. You can find these by looking at your friends profiles and clicking on them their or through invitations from your friends on your home page.

MRRL also has an application on Facebook that allows you to search our catalog right from your Facebook Profile page.

Add MRRL's catalog application to your Profile page
  1. Find the application by searching for "mrrl catalog"
  2. Click on "add Missouri River Regional Library Catalog Search to your Facebook profile"

After you set up your account take some time to play with it. Like most social networking sites you get out of it what you put into it. Facebook is fun! With the add-on applications there is so much you can do to customize your Profile. Look at your friends Profiles. Explore! Play! Have fun!

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well this weeks lesson is easy since I already have a Facebook page. I'm not that big of a fan of facebook. It has too much stuff people send you or you can play with or whatever. I like more of the talking to friends and sharing pics rather than me sending a message saying that I slapped you in the face as a joke, although it's funny just too much for me to keep up with.

Tab said...

I feel your pain Nikki! Facebook was very overwhelming (and confusing!) for me at first, but then I was sucked in all of a sudden.

btw, I am playing along with this LL2.1 ...

Tish's blog said...

Like Nikki, I have had a Facebook account for a while and like it much better than I like MySpace (but that may be because I have more friends on Facebook). I enjoy all of the extra things that you can get involved with through Facebook and would love to have more friends as you work with Facebook!

sexybeast said...

Like the losers above me, I already had a Facebook account. So, if you need a roundhouse kick to face, come see me. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=582732990

Eric said...

Ah, thus far I'm about the only one posting here that didn't already have a facebook account. I need to spend more time with it, but already it seems more useful than a languishing MySpace page.

Anonymous said...

Well, I'm new to facebook. It was a kick to see tons of folks from my High School class and not recognize a one! Most of the folks I knew are probably in the Great Beyond by now. Merged with the Infinite.

Anyway, I'm trying.

Robin said...

I too had a facebook account before this lesson was published and I have to say I like it better than MySpace - though I don't really spend that much more time on it... Facebook recently rolled out an "extended profile" section that will take some of the applications off of your main profile page and allow you to streamline your Facebook presence. I've already done that and I think I like it a lot better! The other thing I really liked about Facebook was the ability to create and join a BUNCH of groups. I'm in groups ranging from people who like to cook to librarians who like Web 2.0!

Robin said...

Oh! And as for Tab - anybody is welcome to play along with LL2.1 - staff, patrons, world citizens, former staff members... Welcome!

Anonymous said...

I had only heard about Facebook until this lesson. It seems a lot easier for me to set up than MySpace. A few of the firefighters I know use it.

dukeblue1212 said...

Facebook is interesting. I, too, found it overwhelming at first. I still haven't decided if I prefer it over myspace. Some of the applications are fun, but juvenile at the same time. I need some more time to play to form a real opinion.

Tammy said...

I think the set-up to start a Facebook page was easier than the MySpace page that the lesson included last year. But it's good to know about both.

CROA said...

I never thought I'd have a Facebook account, but now I do. I usually use MySpace, so I am more used to its layouts. But Facebook is okay from what I've seen so far. I've even "poked" a couple people. No vampire bites yet, though. If I continue to use Facebook I may have to look into that.

Anonymous said...

After a little coaxing from Bobbi, I set up a Facebook page before Christmas. I had fun with it at first, but I tired of it rather quickly. Of the two social networks, I prefer Myspace. I really don't enjoy the various applications on Facebook that need to be loaded before you can try them. I'm not much on the poking and gaming stuff, but I do understand why people might enjoy it---it's just not for me. Actually, I will plan to delete my account.

Anonymous said...

After using Facebook for a few days I now understand why people say it can de addictive. I enjoy taking quizzes and this could easily use up a lot of time. I don't like that for most quizzes you have to send the quiz to 5 - 10 of your friends to find out your score, because I don't want to annoy somebody with unwanted messages. However, as a teen, my girlfriends and I would have used this a lot - had it existed.

Crow's nest said...

Setting up an account was very easy. Making MRRL and the catalog a fan was also very easy. I'll check back daily and investigate it further over time.

Anonymous said...

H'mm - I can see where the Facebook applications have their appeal - I guess I'd label it silly fun....kinda like a lot of the internet eyecandy stuff. Its interesting to see the label/term addictive being used as a positive descriptor (not just this instance on Facebook here, but to TV shows, etc). I divested myself of TV for precisely this reason, I'd waste lots of time otherwise (& its a treat at a hotel). I'm also capable of wasting lots of time on the internet (playing Boggle, surfing, etc.), but I cannot just get rid of my computer & internet access the way I can with a TV. But anyways, is addictive a good thing to be? or am I taking this term too literally?
Well, I’ve re-evaluated my opinion of Facebook; a nice acquaintance, from outside MRRL – but an librarian of course, asked to “friend” me; so maybe it is more useful than I thought.

justme said...

This is new to me and I don't know really know alot of people that use it, but might be fun to explore.

betterlate said...

My children are not happy that I did this but I like it! I am still trying to figure out how to get around on the site!

Anonymous said...

My daughter helped set up my page so I could keep in touch with all my former Girl Scouts. We still see each other once a year and Facebook is the place to interact with them.

Anonymous said...

I have a Facebook page also, so this was pretty easy for me too. I'm thinking that the new format of Facebook is doing something weird to my attempts to add the MRRL Catalog to my profile though. It just tells me I'm already using the app. Whatever. I don't like the new format. Grrrr.

Anonymous said...

Admittingly, I was dragged kicking and screaming into the new age and didn't really see the point of Facebook and the like. I bow down to the mistresses of tech, Bobbi and Robin. I found old classmates and friends that I haven't thought of in years. Instead of dehumanizing the face-to-face, Facebook helped me find old friendships. I just might become a believer yet.

Anonymous said...

Set up an account and will maybe use it now and then. Not my idea of "connecting" though, but I'm open to change in this regard.

Anonymous said...

I have been avoiding facebook, but I signed on anyways. It will take me a while to become active on facebook but I will give it a try.