FACEBOOK FRIEND REQUESTS

[Nasoosie]

Hey, y'all! If you send me a friend request, I get an email about it, and, if I don't recognize your real name, I just ignore it. Please, as someone else has mentioned, if you send a request for me to add you to my friends' list include your name on this forum so I know who on earth you are! Right now I have one from someone named Laura, and the only Laura I know, I think, is Jed's mom----so is this you? If so, I need to know that, otherwise my list would include friends of friends of friends, none of whom I might know!

Just a suggestion----there is another request from someone I don't recognize either. So please let me know your 'stage name' on this forum!

[rvgrammy1953]

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....

[Bethers]

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.

[retiredhappy]

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.

[JudyJB]

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.

[BirdbyBird]

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.

[Travelinana]

I stayed away from FB for a long time but slowly I was drawn in, now I check it many times a day just like I do WRV. It has almost taken the place of email, in fact many have quit reading email...it's mostly junk anyway but I do check it daily. Now the reason I will probably stay with it is grandchildren. They probably think they are keeping things from their parents even tho we all read what they post. The key is reading between the lines. My son is a single dad and doesn't do FB so I tell him what his DD has posted when I think he should know. These kids have raging hormones and in the case of my GD, terrible mood swings. I reply to her post when she is on a downer and she responds favorably. One of my granddaughters had a horse die while giving birth. She was almost inconsolable but I kept sending her messages letting her know proud of was of her for her love of animals and how I knew she was hurting. Just another way to use it and I think it is worth it. I would like to be 'friends' of any WRVers. Wouldn't sending our names over PMs work. There is still much I don't understand about the forum so let me know if you want to be my friend. This could be embarrasing if no ones replies to the 'friend' thing

[Nasoosie]

What's the WALL? There are a couple of choices at the top, and I still don;t understand WALL, or STATUS, or HOME, or what comes up when I click on my shortcut to my Facebook page. And how, if you so choose, do you get rid of your WALL? And if you do, can you still read what your friends are writing? I need an entire course on how to run Facebook!

[HorizonSeeker]

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.

[JudyJB]

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:

[Nasoosie]

Thanks. all, for the facebook help. I still don't know diddleywatts about it, but I think I am careful what I say and what's on my profile and all that. I THINK! I quit Facebook once before, but then discovered many people I hadn't talked to in years were on there and I could get back in contact with them. I like being able to do that. But I find it extremely confusing with all the LIKES, COMMENTS, WALLS, STATUS, and more. Why would anyone ever like something, rather than commenting? Can you UNLIKE? Can you UNFRIEND if you found you made a mistake in making someone a friend?

Sigh.

All this is very moot compared to what Butte St.Rose Carolyn and her neighbors are going through today. How disheartening and depressing is loosing your entire home and community in one fell swoop. Just like a tsunami, but man-made.

[JudyJB]

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.

[Nasoosie]

Very good info to know! Thanks. I also love your Mark Twain quote, Judy!

[Getupngo]

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.

[JudyJB]

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.