Facebook for Dummies (Paperback)

Better than a rolodex
Facebook streamlines finding and contacting people in a reliable place and for just about any purpose. No more writing down someone's new email address, copying over old address books, or worrying what happens when you switch email accounts. No more losing friends just because you’ve changed jobs or cities. Once you're connected to someone on Facebook, you can stay connected. If your friends are active on Facebook, you can reach one another. Keeping all your contacts in one reliable place means you never have to say goodbye again…unless you want to.

Better than a yearly newsletter
Once you're connected to your friends on Facebook, you can keep up with them just by logging in every day. Facebook compiles the things your friends have shared for you to read and look at. You'll see what friends did the night before, what they're up to today, and the photos they are sharing.

Keep your friends updated! No need to exchange long emails or phone calls (those are nice, but not always possible). Upload a photo album to show people what you’ve been up to or write a short status update to let them know what you are doing.

Better than a party planner
Facebook is great for planning parties and reunions. Facebook makes it very easy for you to keep up with friends you can’t always see face-to-face, but it isn’t meant to be a replacement for the real world—it’s meant to facilitate it. You can use the Facebook events tools to plan and invite friends to any sort of get together. See exactly who is attending, update everyone about location and time changes, and after the event you can add photos and share stories through the event.

Better for your peace of mind
Remember…On Facebook, you control all the information you share and who you choose to share it with. You can use privacy settings to make sure things like your phone number or your personal photos get seen by the people you want, and not by the people you don’t.

About the Authors
Leah Pearlman and Carolyn Abram work at Facebook. They've created and launched many of the site's features. They know Facebook inside and out and contribute regularly to the company blog at blog.facebook.com.