Facebook has made communicating much easier. Instead of phoning one person to tell them your news, you can communicate with them and others by sharing it on Facebook. Some people find it easier to communicate online rather than face-to-face.
Signing up for Facebook
Go to https://www.facebook.com/ [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] to sign up for Facebook. You will need to give them the following information:
First and last name.
Email address or mobile number.
Password (this should be different from your email password).
Date of birth.
Gender.
Click on the green ‘Sign Up’ button and you can start using your account straight away.
The sign-up page may look different depending on the device you are using.
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
Most popular social network Easily connect with friends and family around the world Join private or public Facebook groups with people who share your interests People can only ‘friend’ you if you approve their request Share information, images, videos and updates with all your Facebook friends at once Most businesses and organisations have Facebook pages you can like and follow Facebook Messenger enables private messaging, group chats and video calls |
The personal information you share may not be as private as you think Misinformation and illegal images can spread quickly through Facebook groups Some profiles on Facebook are fake and can be used to scam people If you have a lot of Facebook friends you may end up spending a lot more time online than you plan to |
Guide: Intro to Facebook
DigitalLearn.org has a series of visual guides to setting up and understanding Facebook:
You can turn on captions by clicking on the icon in the bottom left corner. A transcript is also available.
1.4 Social networking