Facebook
Ah, Facebook—father of social media. Myspace may have appeared a year earlier, but Facebook just did it all so much better. That’s why it’s first on this list.
This is the go-to social media platform, used by grandparents and teenagers alike. Facebook is robust, and your posts can contain not only words, but also pictures, videos and links. If you want, you can share your entire life on Facebook.
To sign up, you’ll have to go to the official Facebook website. You’ll be asked for your name and email address or phone number, as well as your birthday and gender. Choose a nice, strong password, and you’re in. Easy!
Next, you’ll want to set up your privacy settings—this is where Facebook can be a little dangerous. Because you can enter everything from your religious preferences to your current employer, people can use the information you supply to discriminate against you, or even find you.
To keep your private items private, take a look at the tiny down arrow—it’s next to the question mark—in the upper right corner of your Facebook page. Click it, and you’ll find an array of options on the left side of the page. Third from the top is “Privacy”.
Here, you can control who sees what—go through each option and choose what best suits you.
Other than that, just keep in mind what the three main icons at the top right of the screen represent. The first one, which looks like two human silhouettes, will show you who has requested to be your friend. The second, which looks like a tiny lightning bolt in a chat bubble, will show your private messages—no one can see these but you. And the third icon, which looks like a globe, will show you any activity on your page, such as someone liking your posts.
It’s simple! So get on there and start posting.
