What is Facebook?
Facebook is a social networking website that makes it easy for you to connect and share with your family and friends online. Originally designed for college students, Facebook was created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg while he was enrolled at Harvard University. By 2006, anyone over the age of 13 with a valid email address could join Facebook. Today, Facebook is the world's largest social network, with more than 1 billion users worldwide.
Why use Facebook?
Have you ever wondered why people like using Facebook? After all, there are already lots of other ways to communicate online, such as email, instant messaging, and so on. What makes Facebook unique is the ability to connect and share with the people you care about at the same time.
For many, having a Facebook account is now an expected part of being online, much like having your own email address. And since Facebook is so popular, other websites have worked to integrate Facebook. This means you can use a single Facebook account to sign in to different services across the Web.
How does Facebook sharing work?
Facebook allows you to send messages and post status updates to keep in touch with your friends and family. You can also share different types of content such as photos, links, and more. But sharing something on Facebook is a bit different from other types of online communication. Unlike email or instant messaging, which are relatively private, the things you share on Facebook are more public, which means they'll usually be seen by lots of other people.
While Facebook offers privacy tools to help you limit who can see the things you share, it's important to understand that Facebook is designed to be more open and social than traditional communication tools. We'll talk more about sharing and controlling your privacy in our lessons on Understanding Facebook Privacy and Adjusting Your Privacy Settings.
Common Facebook terms
Friends? Likes? Status updates? If you're new to Facebook, there are a lot of terms and phrases that may seem a little confusing at first. Reviewing some of the most commonly used terms will give you a better understanding of how Facebook works and what to expect as you get started.
Creating a Facebook account
Before you can use Facebook, you must create an account. Creating a Facebook account is free. All you need to get started is an email address and a few minutes of your time.
To create a Facebook account:
Navigate to www.facebook.com in your web browser.Under the words Sign Up, enter your personal information and desired password, then click Sign Up.Now, you'll have the chance to find your first Facebook friends. To find friends using your email contacts, enter your email address and click Find Friends. This will give Facebook permission to access your email contacts list, so you may be required to sign in to your email account.
Navigate to www.facebook.com in your web browser.Under the words Sign Up, enter your personal information and desired password, then click Sign Up.Now, you'll have the chance to find your first Facebook friends. To find friends using your email contacts, enter your email address and click Find Friends. This will give Facebook permission to access your email contacts list, so you may be required to sign in to your email account.
You can also click Skip this step to add friends later.If you entered your email address, Facebook will suggest friends for you based on your email contacts. Click Add Friend for anyone you want to add as a friend, then click Save & Continue.If you want, you can now add information about your high school, college, location, and employer. Click Save & Continue when finished. Click Skip if you want to add this information later.If you entered education and employment information, Facebook will suggest more friends.
Click Add Friend for anyone you want to add as a friend, then click Save & Continue.If desired, you can now choose to like some of the most popular Facebook pages. Anything you like will automatically appear in your News Feed and on your Timeline. Click Save & Continue when finished. Click Skip if you prefer not to follow anything at this time.If desired, you can now add a profile picture. Click Upload a Photo to select a file from your computer, or Take a Photo to take a new photo with your webcam. Click Skip if you're not ready to add a profile photo.Once you're satisfied with your profile picture, click Save & Continue.The Welcome to Facebook page will appear.
Exploring Facebook
Once you create your account, you'll want to spend a little time becoming familiar with the different parts of Facebook, including the Home page and the Timeline.
The Home page
The Home page appears whenever you sign in to Facebook. The Home page displays your News Feed, which shows the things your friends have shared on Facebook.
The Home page also allows you to navigate to other parts of Facebook, such as your Timeline.
Click the buttons in the interactive below to become more familiar with the Home page.
The Timeline
- The Timeline (also called your profile page) is where you'll share information about yourself. Whenever you post an update, it appears right on your Timeline.
- Your friends can also share posts on your Timeline.
- Click the buttons in the interactive below to become more familiar with your Timeline.
