Best Practices for joining/managing Facebook?

[Platinum Pete]

I've successfully resisted Facebook up until now. However, now that I'm moving to a new city and want to connect with friends of friends, make myself easy to keep up with for the folks in my old town, and make myself open to more connections in general I feel like joining Facebook is a good tool for all that. Almost every single person I've ever heard talk about Facebook has many stories of misery or problems created by using this service - that is not the kind of trouble I want to invite into my life. I don't want to share nor hear about what my high school classmates are up to, I don't want to play games, I don't want to join any movements or causes. I do want to be introduced to friends of real life friends, I do want to share things about my life that real friends can and want to access, I do want to let friends of friends with similar interests find me .

What are some guidelines to keeping the clear of the Facebook hassles while staying open to the Facebook benefits? Do's/Don'ts?
Some that I already thought of:
- don't friend your family
- don't friend your boss
- don't post any evidence of crimes or other rule breaking (fake out sick from work)
- do connect with real friends
- do not accept all friend requests

Please advise. Thanks.

[DasBlunt]

what?

Facebook is easy, don't sweat it too much.

it kinda sucks, but who the fuck cares, meet some new people, connect to old friends.

unless you have shit to hide from mom and dad or bosses, just don't friend them.

[powski3]

Kinda hard to reject friend requests from co-workers.

I wish there was a way (??) to control who among your friends sees the things you post. I don't necessarily want to delete certain people, but don't really want everyone I'm connected to seeing every single one of my pictures, statuses, etc. This keeps me from really updating it very much.

Really though, it's not that big of a deal. Just don't be an idiot about what you share. I also disabled the wall, because I don't like the possibility of someone else saying something stupid that everyone else can see.

[Viva]

1) Friend me.

2) If someone posts too much shit, put them on ignore. They'll still be friends, but you won't have to see their shit 10X/day.

3) Leave your birthday blank. Those with a need to know, know.

4) Anytime you send a friend request, accompany it with a short message. If you receive a friend request from someone you've never met (you may know of them) and there's no message, write back asking "WTF?".

5) I have a 10:00 meeting, you're on your own.

[Edgnar]

Familiarize yourself with the privacy settings. You can set them really high or really low. You can also block who sees what by clicking on the little lock symbol. Don't post stupid shit. You can create a list like 'co-workers' and limit what they see. You can always untag pictures or delete comments on your wall. Unfortunately, if you don't check it often, the damage might be done by the time you do that. Ignore farmville. you do this by moving your mouse over the right hand side of the update, a 'block' or 'ignore' button will appear. Click it. Avoid oversharing.

[St. Jerry]

be careful of accepting friend requests of people who you don't think you know. some of them are hackers who will steal your passwords (not an urban legend, happened to me).

[gatorboy]

Dude....don't sweat it....Have 2 FB pages if you want. One for work and one for friends and family. For me, FB is a great way to share photos of kids and vacations with friends and fam who live both near and far. You will get A LOT of requests from old HS buddies, either accept of decline. As previously posted..it's very easy to accept and then put them on ignore people (especially the stay-at-home moms) that want to share every thought and event that they are doing. Be sure to √ your privacy status every once in a while. Friends Only is the best and safest.

[Beaver]

If you have one, use you nick name in place of your given name.

[Tye 1on]

Thanks for that ignore, couple of friends post several times a day, and 90% of it is crap.

I just got on a few months back. Pretty interesting in a lot of ways. I just accept most all requests, but keep what i post pretty superficial and non-political.

[Buzzworthy]

Kinda hard to reject friend requests from co-workers.

No, it is not. Just click ignore and when they ask you why simply state you prefer to keep work and FB completely separate. Sack up.

No past or present workers for me.

[crstlextrm]

My best advice would be to familiarize yourself with the privacy settings and don't post shit you might regret.

The other day I posted something up about how I want to get back up to AK and a friend posted up how its not too late for me to do that kinda shit as long as I "use protection." Anyway, I think his wife saw that comment and got super pissed because the next day he deleted his entire account.

[JaytaeMoney]

I wish there was a way (??) to control who among your friends sees the things you post. I don't necessarily want to delete certain people, but don't really want everyone I'm connected to seeing every single one of my pictures, statuses, etc. This keeps me from really updating it very much.

You can do this.

I have a limited profile that I add certain coworkers, elementary school age cousins, etc to so they can't see my wall, status updates, pictures, and anything else I don't want them to see.

Just go in and play around with the privacy settings - they're a bit cumbersome at first but if you're not an idiot you'll figure it out.

[Trainwreck]

If you must have coworkers on FB make a second account using your work email and keep them separate from your friends.

[Steven S. Dallas]

DO immediately search for girls you've hooked up with or wanted to plow back in high school, just to see how they're looking these days. DON'T then take a picture of your junk and email it to them.

Unless you think that'll get you somewhere, in which case absolutely DO that.

[QuikR12]

congrats on the move, guess you took the transfer?

I'll be moving into the city shortly when our office opens, but I'm out closer to Tahoe untill then. You will love these mountains and terrain, but they're just a bit farther from the 'poop shoot' in SF.

[Mustonen]

I ignore Farmville by unfriending those douchebags. Didn't know you could just ignore Farmville, etc. directly. I still think my way's better, though.

You shouldn't feel an obligation to add anybody as a friend you don't want to, or to justify why or why not. Lately, one of my mom's friends has been trying to add me as a friend. I've ignored her - I don't have any real desire to connect with her. Bad move, apparently, as my mom's all up in my grille about why didn't I friend her friend. Total lame sauce, but I'll be damned if I have a discussion with my mom about friending her friend on fucking facebook.

95% of my facebooking is w/ the iphone app, which means most of the social connections/reconnections I make on Facebook are done while I'm on the pooper. I get a kick out of this. If it wasn't for the iphone app, I'd sign on (and did sign on) once every 6 months or so.

Groups are cool, and can kind of unlock the potential of the whole facebook social networking deal. Most clubs/organizations that I'm a part of - both formal and informal - have a facebook page that facilitates keeping up with what's going on. Groups are not very well supported by the iphone app, btw.

[QuikR12]

I ignore Farmville by unfriending those douchebags. Didn't know you could just ignore Farmville, etc. directly. I still think my way's better, though.

You shouldn't feel an obligation to add anybody as a friend you don't want to, or to justify why or why not. Lately, one of my mom's friends has been trying to add me as a friend. I've ignored her - I don't have any real desire to connect with her. Bad move, apparently, as my mom's all up in my grille about why didn't I friend her friend. Total lame sauce, but I'll be damned if I have a discussion with my mom about friending her friend on fucking facebook.

Sweet blog and,

Sweet sig

most of the social connections/reconnections I make on Facebook are done while I'm on the pooper.

[Meadow Skipper]

...2) If someone posts too much shit, put them on ignore. They'll still be friends, but you won't have to see their shit 10X/day.

Thanks for that ignore, couple of friends post several times a day, and 90% of it is crap.

Wait, how do you do that without unfriending them? Sorry, but I'm a FB idiot.

[Viva]

Wait, how do you do that without unfriending them? Sorry, but I'm a FB idiot.

Place cursor to the top right of one of their inane posts. An "X" magically appears. Click the X and you'll be presented with a few options. Amongst the options is "Hide the assbag". Click this option and that person's posts shall not be directed to your news feed anymore. Now, if you go to their page, you can still see all that shit, but it will no longer go to you unregulated.

[Tye 1on]

Place cursor to the top right of one of their inane posts. An "X" magically appears. Click the X and you'll be presented with a few options. Amongst the options is "Hide the assbag". Click this option and that person's posts shall not be directed to your news feed anymore. Now, if you go to their page, you can still see all that shit, but it will no longer go to you unregulated.

yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
muchos gracias.

[lobstahmeatwad]

Place cursor to the top right of one of their inane posts. An "X" magically appears. Click the X and you'll be presented with a few options. Amongst the options is "Hide the assbag". Click this option and that person's posts shall not be directed to your news feed anymore. Now, if you go to their page, you can still see all that shit, but it will no longer go to you unregulated.

whoa secret facebook shit. Facebook is fucking super lame. I guess it serves a purpose for some but not really me, although I did just order ski shit on their kinda.

Don't freind your boss.

I feel the interface is really boring and uninteresting.

[Meadow Skipper]

Place cursor to the top right of one of their inane posts. An "X" magically appears. Click the X and you'll be presented with a few options. Amongst the options is "Hide the assbag". Click this option and that person's posts shall not be directed to your news feed anymore. Now, if you go to their page, you can still see all that shit, but it will no longer go to you unregulated.

Thanks man. My fucking 13 yo niece=diarrhea fingers.

[WrongWay]

You can do this.

I have a limited profile that I add certain coworkers, elementary school age cousins, etc to so they can't see my wall, status updates, pictures, and anything else I don't want them to see.

Just go in and play around with the privacy settings - they're a bit cumbersome at first but if you're not an idiot you'll figure it out.

The truth is strong in this one. All that shit is under your control, and it ain't that hard to figure it out.

And facebook is pretty cool. Through it, I've got back in touch with people I thought I'd lost for good.

[nickwm21]

don't forward your FB stuff to your phone.
don't sign up for any of the apps or games.

use it for its main purposes only... to stay in contact with old friends, to set up events and parties, to share pictures with friends.

[hitek79]

I have yet to find a real purpose for Facebook as a social medium with my friends, but I "like" about 150 people/businesses, and it's an amazing way to keep up with new products and shit. I got a free drink and chips today because I was friends with a local deli. Last week we got a free appetizer at a different local restaurant. 15% off my full order from a bike website last month. I could really care less what some fat cheerleader from high school is doing with her 4th kid though.