Facebook For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))

Who would have imagined that a social platform so easy to use would justify the writing of a For Dummies title... but Facebook for Dummies succeeds at shedding light and making it even easier to make the most of the world's fastest growing social network.

With the balance between humor and information that has made the series legendary, two Product Managers that work in Facebook walk you through everything you need to take full advantage of the site's benefits.

Though Facebook's controversial new look didn't make it to the book, the content is well grounded on fundamentals, which still make it a relevant and useful guide.

No matter if you are getting your feet wet with FB or you are a "veteran" from the times when it would only serve college students, I am sure you will find something useful to take back with you after you are done reading this book.

One of my on-line acquaintances invited me to join Facebook late last year. Initially I hesitated, but then I figured it was worth checking out. I'm so pleased I did: a number of my friends from other online communities have a presence on Facebook and for a few of us it is the easiest way to communicate, share updates and photographs.

But wait, folks, that's not all! By now, I can navigate my way around Facebook , have tried many of the applications and possibly tested the tolerance of some of my friends as a consequence. One of my other (Amazon and Facebook) friends reviewed this book, and I just had to read it as a consequence. I'm delighted that I did: not only are the authors clearly women of taste and discernment as is evidenced by them also being part of the (fluff) Friends community, they have provided a book with heaps of information for those of us who are still print oriented enough to feel comforted by guides. Many users of Facebook will get by just fine without referring to this book. Others may want even more. For myself, I now know more about some of the functionality and applications and feel more in control of my Facebook experience as a consequence.

The virtual world is no substitute for the actual world, but it has an appeal of its own. So excuse me while I duck off to feed and race my (fluff) Friend.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I have a Facebook account but use it very little. I post the occasional picture, communicate with a friend or two, and seldom do much more. There's a Boggle-like application called Pathwords that I was enjoying a lot, challenging and being challenged; I had a happy day when I beat my Australian son's high score, but then someone beat mine and ... well, you know. I've spent lots of time in the past on other websites: Yahoo 360, Multiply and Shelfari; I like to figure out how to navigate them on my own and have never had a problem making a nice profile page and interacting with friends. These days I spend more time on Amazon than on any other website.

When I saw Facebook For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)) at the library, I thought maybe this book would inspire me to become more interested in Facebook, so I brought it home. As you would expect of a "for Dummies" product, it's very helpfully arranged and contains a wealth of information, tips and good ideas. Tonight I was reading about networking with old high school classmates and thinking, why? when, ironically, I had a phone call from an old high school classmate -- only the third time in around four decades that I've spoken with him, and it was a great pleasure. Hmmm ... so I went back to the book with a new desire to, well, network.

The book is arranged in five sections; the first chapter of each section is an overview. It must be accurate and thorough: the authors, Carolyn Abram and Leah Pearlman are Facebook Product Managers.

PART 1 is GETTING FAMILIAR WITH FACEBOOK, setting out the ground rules of the place. Facebook was first developed for college students but has much wider application now. Security and privacy concerns are to the forefront. You must be at least 13 years old to create a profile.
PART 2 is ADDING YOUR OWN FACE TO FACEBOOK; this section covers the joining process, posting photos, finding friends, and a general overview of applications.
PART 3, KEEPING CONNECTED AND STAYING IN TOUCH, describes networks, groups, events, and the mobile Facebook application. Make it essential to your life, then take it with you!
PART 4, IT'S NOT PERSONAL: IT'S BUSINESS describes applications and platforms for getting your business or your message out there. Businesses can create pages and demographically targeted "social ads" to further their goals.
PART 5 is called THE PART OF TENS and consists of ten examples of third-party applications, "case studies" on Facebook networking, and interesting groups.

Oh my! there's a lot here. It's too much information for my do-it-yourself taste, really, but then you don't have to use everything in the book if it doesn't suit your needs. Now that I've read the book I could certainly dive into Facebook with confidence and vigor, if I only had the time. Maybe when I retire ....

Linda Bulger, 2008

I joined Facebook a few months ago, didn't know anything at all about it, just that other people wanted me on there too. If I had picked up this book at that exact stage of my Facebook experience it would have been very, very helpful, especially in knowing just what all the terminology and features were going on about. Having used Facebook for a few months now (and believe me there's lots of elements to Facebook I don't know) being that through trial and error I have become familiar with the basic tools on the site, (write on wall, post an image, start/edit a photo album, send someone a message etc) I found there wasn't really anything this very basic book could teach me. Well except I did find out what poke means, I had always wondered. The book really doesn't go into too much depth at all other than the basics. A lot of those basics if you're familiar with e-mail or basic photo software, wordprocessing you'll have no trouble working out yourself either.

This book would be ideal for the don't use a computer much in your life type people who have heard about Facebook, know their grandkids or whoever are on there and want to become a part of the very easy communication method. Facebook is a great site, by far an easier way of communicating than e-mail, chat rooms or anything else plus it's lots of fun! So if you're a bit daunted by it, then by all means this sort of book will be a great aid. If you're already familiar with the basics of Facebook, then there's really not much this book can offer you.

By the way Facebook has recently changed its layout and member profile appearances (it calls these changes the new Facebook) something which has dated this book still using the old (or classic layout) a fair bit even though it is still 2008 at the time of this review, the same year as publication.

There's actually a better book than this for those not too computer savy called Facebook: The Missing Manual. If they are both around the same price, I'd get that instead.

This dummies book provides a good grounding in the uses of Facebook. As with all technology books, it's *already* a tad dated, even though it's publish-date is this year (2008!). Applications and their popularity ebb and flow - some of the third party applications they've mentioned I have not once encountered (ie - Fluff Friends), and some daily requests I get deluged with are not mentioned at all. I can't turn around, for example, without someone sending me a Lil' Green Patch, guilting me into sending out more green patches. It's like a charity virus. :-)

What the book is really for, though, is a novice through beginner's journey into the social network that is Facebook. The guide begins with how Facebook started, what the term "face book" means (hint - it's a college thing) and things you can and cannot do on this site.

What can't you do? Troll. Lie about who you are. Be under 13. Upload illegal content or porn - sorry!

What you can do - post a profile. Add photos, find friends, join groups, make pages for your business, plan events, mess with all kinds of fun applications, join up to five networks, make a newsfeed, sell things and buy advertising.

It's useful that some mention is made of how many friends to acquire. DO you be-friend everyone who asks? The book suggests quality over quantity - always useful advice in making friends in the meat world as well. :) What exactly Facebooking is, in practice, is laid out: how to find friends, how to "poke" them, and how to manage your ever-growing FB friend lists.

The Adding Photos chapter is pretty comprehensive and moves on into adding videos, writing Wall posts and giving "gifts."

One thing I found interesting and useful was the section on setting up FB with cell phones, something I had not tried prior to the reading. Of course, young people who've grown up with texting won't find anything new here. :)

The book has a great section for business people who have not been weaned on social networking - there is a chart advising when to make profiles, pages or groups, what you can do with events, how to set up ads and find/nurture "fans" of your business. This information should be extremely useful for anyone with a small or home business wanting to explore the amazing potential of free marketing/networking with Facebook, which is, honestly, a pretty intuitive site to dive into.

One thing I would have appreciated would have been some more insights from the authors on how FaceBook has impacted their lives and the lives of people in general. FB is a huge world and I am still learning the etiquette - how long is too long to be polite when answering wall posts and messages - sometimes I don't get to it for weeks/months. Do I always need to return gifts/fairy dust/karma? How do I get people to stop deluging me with said gifts/fairy dust/karma? What about people in the real world who want to know about my life and *aren't"* on Facebook - how do I let them know I don't have time for updating them and that REALLY if they care, they need to follow me there?

These are the kind of things I would really like to know and would improve the book considerably. In a sense, FaceBook for Dummies is mostly a regurgitation of the how-to instructions you can glean yourself from the FB website. A nicely laid-out regurgitation. :)