So you want to get quick-started onto Facebook? Here's the steps to get going, followed by an indication of the key features.
I suggest that you start Facebook in a separate browser window (press ctrl-N now) and arrange this window alongside that one.
1) Get registered
This is standard website-registration stuff, but I'll lay it out all the same:
- Go to www.facebook.com. (If it's a shared computer, click "logout".)
- Give the personal "sign-up" info requested. If you give a [post.]harvard.edu email address, you'll automatically be in the Harvard "network." (Or you can add the Harvard network later, by proving that you've access to a harvard.edu -- or hbs.edu -- address.)
- Next screen: prove you're human, as directed.
- Check your email, and click on the link to authenticate yourself.
2) Find friends
Forming connections, or "friending" people, is the main object of Facebook activity. Facebook tries hard to get you quickly wired in, starting with the initial screens it shows you. You can skip each step, going straight to your home page. In that case you should later click the "friends" tab, where you'll see suggested friends (usually: friends of your initial friends) as well as these features:
- You may allow Facebook to search the address books of your gmail, yahoo, or hotmail accounts for Facebook members whom you can friend. Also your IM (instant messaging) accounts.
- If you give your schools and company, Facebook will respond with "people you may know," starting with classmates, and featuring highly-connected people. Click on them to connect.
- Give your location, to be added to the corresponding geographic network.
Check your profile. If you don't like what you see on your personal feed, aka your "wall" (e.g., "do my friends have to know that I got that low score in that game??") you can delete an item by mousing over it to make the "edit" button appear.
3) Connect to Harvard -- the "network"
a) Join -- or view -- a "network" by clicking the "settings" tab (at page-top), then "networks." (This feature is nearly hidden by the recent Facebook facelift. Go figure.) You can join one regional network, and various school and company networks, so long as you have a valid email address for each.
From that screen, for each of your networks you can see the count of your friends (click to view them), and the total number of members. (Harvard has 65,233 as I type this.) Check that Harvard is your "primary network."
b) Use the network feature when you search for people: When you get many search results, Facebook will offer to "show results from...", filtering by each of your networks.
4) Connect to Harvard -- "groups"
Whereas "networks" are enforced by email addresses, "groups" are much less formal. Most are unrestricted, many are network-specific. For example...
- Browse Harvard Groups: From your home page (click on the Facebook logo to get there), click on "groups" in the right-side navbar. Then "browse groups" (at page-top). Then "filter groups by" the Harvard network (on the right) and by a category (try "organizations"). There are "over 500" Harvard groups in some of these categories, which probably means 1000's in total.
- Check out some groups by clicking on them, particularly the HAA group (which should top your list, if you followed my path above), administered by Anne "Walter's Daughter" Morris.
- Click "join this group" under the group's logo. (For "closed" groups, such as the BSA, you'll instead see "request to join group.")
- Explore a group's page, scrolling down to see events (if any) and "related groups" on the right. Also: discussions, the group's "wall" (random postings of group members), and posted items (videos, links, pictures...)
5) Connect to Harvard -- "events"
Same drill as above: From your home page, click on "events" in the right-side navbar. Then "browse events' from the page-top link. Then "filter events" by "Harvard."
It seems that events are under-used. (I find only 11 for the Harvard network for this month.) It's easy to create them, hosted by yourself or by one of your groups, and open to all or restricted to a network. More important, you can invite people to events.
6) Harvard-related Facebook applications
One important Facebook item remains. Applications can easily be created by third parties, and made available to all Facebook users. Most are utterly-awful games, but we'll do better: Search for "Harvard" using the page-top search bar, then click on "applications." Among others, you'll see:
- two Harvard-library apps and a Crimson news-feed, all by recent grad Kurt Stuchell
- a dining-hall menu app, by a sophomore (it places a "box" on your profile with a menu)
- from the iCommons team who are re-creating post.harvard, "H-link", which lets students link to their courses' websites, and to classmates.
7) Things to do
Facebook has a few actions that you'll see widely available:
- "Share" -- This button let's you (1) "send a message" about a group, event, or application to someone, either by entering a friend's name (if they're on Facebook) or their email. Also (2) you can "post" a message about the item to your profile, for all to see.
- Invite to events or groups -- I'm always interested in what friends find worthwhile
- Invite or challenge to games -- CAUTION! Many Facebook apps (especially games) pressure you to invite your friends to play along. Do this sparingly, as there's widespread irritation with "invite spam." The worst apps are sleazy: they will select ALL your friends by default, inviting them in your name unless you find the nearly-hidden "skip this" button. And nobody is amused by the many games that let you vampire-bite your friends
- Message -- these private messages appear in the recipient's Facebook inbox, with an email alert/link. I also see mine via cellphone text message. (Challenge: find that setting in Facebook.)
- Poke -- The recipient gets a message: "you've been poked by ----. Poke back?" That's it. It's meaning is debated. I think it roughly translates to the greeting, "dude."
