A Women's RV Forum run by Women RVer's!

lol....on facebook, Soos, where the Friend Requests are, you will have a line under Confirm that states something like "mutual Friends".....that's how I figure out where I know this person from before I click yes or no....hope this helps....

that doesn't alwaysI have sent messages to people asking where I know them from and I don't - they knew someone I knew and just wanted to add more friends. One was mad that I wouldn't add her. But it does help jar my memory if there's a picture I recognize and they are friends of other friends.

I seldom check my Facebook page - actually not a big fan of Facebook. Only reason I'm on there is because of my Granddaughter. And so far, I've never been on Twitter. Not a big fan of one liners. At my age I would prefer a nice newsy email. And as for the games, I don't have the time or the inclination.

I enjoy Facebook, but I am very careful who i choose to be my "friend." I limit it to family and some personal friends, some of which are from high school. I have only about 45 "friends"--can't imagine why someone would want hundreds and hundreds!!!

I also set my security quite high, not letting anyone but friends (not friends of friends) see my postings. I also don't give any more personal information than absolutely required. Any of those friends who really know me already know my hometown and workplace and where I graduated from high school and college. The rest don't need to know. I also turn off all those obnoxious farmville things.

I do have a couple of workplace "friends", so I am very careful what I say about myself, family, and friends.

ON a positive note, I went to a very small high school and it has been great to reconnect with so many classmates that I knew way back. It also helps me keep up with my niece and nephews and their families, and a couple of cousins. (Long story, but i do not have contact with my brother, nor do my niece and nephews have contact with their father, and they all live a long ways away.) I did NOT friend my brother, for example, because I did not want him to know about what was happening with the family.

Also, one thing I have done for security is set up an email account that I use for things like facebook. It is not my usual personal email, so I can regulate the junk mail I get that way. So you might want to set up a secondary email just for facebook and ordering stuff online.

I too enjoy FB but I am very aware that it is a public forum even is I am careful regarding okaying friends, etc. My daughter is an educator and doesn't even have a "wall" for people to post on that way she doesn't have to worry about inappropriate comments but she enjoys reading about others.....she very seldom posts anything herself.

I'm also cautious about facebook. I really only use it to see pix of the grandkids or updates on family members in peril: my nephew and his new bride live in an apartment on Mud Island in Memphis. Plus, as a teacher in the public ed sector, you have to be extremely careful about what you post and who you friend. Plus, I'm so busy most days I little time to be on it. I never play the games because I'm just not interested. I'd rather be reading a good book or hiking a trail.

But I know exactly what you mean about not knowing people. I recently had a request from a name I didn't recognize. I also didn't recognize the face. But, I did look at friends in common and realized it was my oldest brother's wife's little sister. Nope, not interested. I've only met her 3 times in my life. Some people have a lot more time to chat than me. But that's just how I use it.

If you click on a person's name, their "wall" will open. It is sort of like a bulletin board. You can post a comment in the box that says "Write something." However, know that all of that person's friends can read what you write, as can all of your friends, so you need to be very careful about what you write!

One thing you should NEVER NEVER do is let the facebook system "friendfinder" help you "Find More Friends" using the function on the right column. WHat it does is ask you to enter your email and password. Then if you click the Find Friends button it searches your email database and records the email of everyone you have ever sent an email to or from whom you have received one!!! If you have Outlook, it goes through your address book---bad, bad idea.

Other more obvious warnings: don't advertise that you are going on vacation for two weeks leaving your home empty for burglars, don't give out year of birth or any other personal information. Also better to refer to children or grandchildren as my 4-year-old grandson, than by his name.

My niece just posted photos of her son's latest field trip to a farm! Fun! That's one of the reasons I like facebook.

If you want to send a private message that only you and that person can read, click on the middle icon of the three next to the facebook logo below:

Yes, you can definitely "unfriend" someone! Go to your Profile and list of friends. There will be a box that says Edit Friends. You can delete a friend.

You can also hide posts by someone by clicking on that x to the right of their posting. If you get tired of things like Farmville, you can hide all posts by that also.

I have unfriended a couple of high school people who got too religious or political.

Well, Soos ... you've managed to comment on my posts, so I'm glad you're my FB friend.

I know what you mean about getting FB friend requests from people here. When I click on the "friend request" icon, a page comes up with the "approved" and "Ignore" buttons. Just below that is a link to friends you have in common with the requester. That is where I see the names of our forum buddies.

I have 200+ friends, but most of those are people I knew professionally and it keeps me acquainted with all of them as they kibbutz on line. I've made new FB friends with friends of friends who I can see from their posts are kindred spirits.

Also, one last tip or two: Don't put down any more information than you have to for your profile. Don't list employers, colleges, levels and types of education, name of your kids, address, parents, etc. All of that could be used to steal your identity. And use a good password that you don't use anywhere else so it can't be easily guessed. I do list my high school but after our next reunion, I'll probably delete it. I also changed my year of birth on my birthdate. My relatives and friends know when I was born, so no one else needs to know the year.

Thanks for your comment on my Twain quote, Soos. I am a strong believer in being a citizen of the world, so when I can scrape together the money, i head for somewhere outside the U.S., mostly the UK. I also travel alone and stay in B&Bs so as not to be an Ugly American. I also go to out of the way places where few American's go.

After I spend a couple of years seeing the U.S. in a motorhome, my plan is to go to Scotland for at least 2-3 weeks, and England for maybe a couple of weeks. Airfare is what kills you, so might as well spend some time when there. Plan is to rent a cottage here and there, which is much less expensive than hotels. And it is the way the Brits spend their vacations. I have a friend who keeps threatening to rent a country house in France some day and invite friends. I said I would do the same in Scotland and the two places I want to spend some time in ENgland: the Lake District and the Cotswolds and maybe Yorkshire. I am used to driving on the wrong side so I'll get a car, which at least right now is cheaper than in the US.