Facebook is a great way to stay connected with your friends and family when you aren’t able to see them in person. Not only are you able to send messages and share photos and videos with your loved ones at the click of a button, it’s even possible to video chat using Facebook Messenger.
What to read next:
[The best home smart hubs with cameras](http://The best home smart hubs with cameras)
It’s free to join Facebook and it couldn’t be simpler to set up your account. So if you’re not one of the 2 billion people currently using the social media site, here’s everything you need to know about signing up.
How to use Facebook
In this guide, we will be discussing:
-
Signing up
-
Updating your profile
-
Adding friends
-
Privacy settings
-
Sharing content
-
Sending messages
Signing up to FB
To sign up for a Facebook account, you’ll need to visit the official Facebook website if you’re using a laptop or the Facebook app for Apple or Android if you’re using a mobile phone or tablet. You’ll be asked to enter a few details; including your first and last name, mobile number or email address, birthday and gender.
You’ll also need to create a password to protect your account. Make sure to create one that is easy to remember but strong enough that it can’t be guessed by others.
Updating your Facebook profile
Once you’ve created your account, the next step is to personalise your profile with information and photos. This will help your friends and family find your profile and allows others find out more about you.
-
Profile picture - This is usually the first thing that people will see on your profile and is always displayed regardless of your privacy settings. You can either upload a photo already saved to your device or take a new one with the camera on your laptop, phone or tablet. Don’t worry too much about the size as Facebook with automatically crop it for you.
-
Cover photo - This a banner photo that is displayed at the top of your profile. Again, you can upload a photo from your device or take a new one.
-
Personal information - If you want to tell others a bit more about yourself, you can fill in the About section of your profile to include information about your work and education history, where you live and your favourite quotes, as well as age, gender, religion and relationship status. Not all of these are mandatory so you can provide as much or as little information as you're comfortable with. There is also now the option to provide a brief introduction to yourself in the Intro section.
Make sure to save any changes before you exit the page so that the changes are applied to your profile.
Adding friends
If you want to receive updates and be able to message your nearest and dearest, you will need to add them as a friend. There are two main ways to find friends on Facebook:
-
Search - The search bar at the top of your Facebook page is the quickest way to find friends. Just type in the name of the person you’re looking for and it will show everyone on Facebook who has that name. You should be able to narrow it down to the person you’re looking for by looking at their profile picture and personal information. When you click on their page, you will see a button to add them as a friend.
-
Importing contacts - Facebook also gives you the option to import contacts from other platforms, such as Gmail and Outlook. You can do this by visiting the Find Friends page.
Privacy settings
You can control who has access to your profile, information and the content you post by changing your privacy settings. You can find these by clicking on Settings in the Facebook menu and then selecting Privacy or Privacy Shortcuts, depending on which device you’re using.
There three main privacy settings:
-
Public - This means that everyone can see your profile and what you post, even if you’re not friends.
-
Friends - Only Facebook users that are your friends will be able to see your profile and posts.
-
Only Me - This means content will be hidden and only you will be able to see it.
There are also custom options which give you even more control over who can see your profile, information and posts. You’re also able to control how people can find you on Facebook, who can send you friend requests and tag you in posts or share content on your profile.
It isn’t recommended that you leave your profile and information open for everyone to see as you never know who could be looking at your profile.
Sharing content
Any posts that you share will be visible to your friends so you could take the opportunity to let them know how you’re feeling or what you’re up to, as well as share life updates and photos.
Here are some of the posts you can share on Facebook:
-
Status updates - Let your friends know what’s on your mind. These posts appear on your profile and in your News Feed, so others can comment on them. You can easily share text, photos, videos and links. Perhaps you’d like to share an old family photo you’ve found or an interesting news article you read online?
-
Check-ins - If you’re about and out or at a big event and want to let your friends know what you’re up to, you can use check-ins to share your location.
-
Life events - Facebook also allows you to share life events with your friends if you want to let them know about a big occasion, for example a wedding in your family or the birth of a grandchild.
Sending messages
If you want to send a message to a friend but don’t want it to appear publicly on their profile, Facebook allows you to privately message them using Messenger. If you’re on laptop, just click on the Messenger tab on the left side of your screen. If you’re using a mobile phone or tablet then you will have to download the separate Facebook Messenger app.
You can also video chat with a person or group in Facebook Messenger. Simply start a chat with them and then click on the video icon to start a video call.