Facebook: tips and tricks

Here are a few things someone should have told me when I signed up:

Spam
If your friends have messages from you that you didn't write, review this page:

https://register.facebook.com/security

Your account may have been compromised by a fake email that appeared to be from Facebook. The email probably looked like an official 'you have a new friend' message but wasn't. Make it a habit to avoid clicking on email links albeit from Facebook or your bank. It is always safer and more secure to go directly to the address you know, logon and read the message there. To stop receiving various emails from Facebook see the 'Email' section below.

On this same topic. If you get a message from a friend that says go to a strange .com, I would avoid it. Their account may have been compromised. Be especially wary if the message isn't a link but the address spelled out phonetically. Facebook scans for harmfull addresses but can't detect them when they are spelled out.

Privacy
The number one reluctance to creating an account and with good reason. No one wants to have a drunken office party photo spread around the Intertubes. Facebook has been pinched on this in the past and have learned some valuable lessons. Every aspect of your profile can be shared or kept private. Get to know these settings:

Logon | Settings | Privacy Settings

Share only what you want to share.

Friends

The two basic sharing options are either share with 'Only Friends' or share with 'Friends of Friends'. Personally, I have set them all to Only Friends. There is probably a good reason someone is only a friend of a friend and not an actual friend.

Once you add a friend there is no turning back. By default settings, they will be able to see every status update as well as every comment you write. IMO, Facebook is a cool tool to share your life with friends online. Friending every person you have ever met defeats the purpose. Think long and hard before you friend someone from the office.

Logon | Settings | Privacy Settings | Basic

Email
By default Facebook will send emails about everything. I recommend you turn most of them off:

Logon | Settings | Account Settings | Notification.

Here you'll see a long list. I turn off all but "Has a birthday coming up" which is very useful and all the Events section. Make special note to turn off "Adds me as a friend", see the 'Spam' section above for more information.

Phonebook
One of the more handy features, the phonebook lists all of your friend's phone numbers (unless that have chosen to keep them private). When you or your friend updates a number it will be updated for everyone else too.

Friends | Phonebook

Please write me a comment with your facebook tips and tricks.