Facebook “Interest Lists” is the latest feature on Facebook. It is a feature that allows you to personalized News Feed according to your requirements.

Here is a short guide on creating and using it.

You will find “Add Interest” button on your left-hand bookmark, or you can go directly to it by clicking on the link facebook.com/addlist

Searching and Subscribing to Interests List

1. Enter a topic in the search bar. “Cooking” for example will brings out a list of Interests Lists’ titled as “Cooking”. Those are Lists created by other users. The list will have other information such as the creator and the number of subscribers.

2. Click on the “Subscribe” button to subscribe to it, or click on the list name to browse.

Creating Interests List

1. Click on the “Add List” button.

2. A dialog box will appear where you can see all the pages you liked, and your subscriptions and friends.

Select the ones you would like to include in your list. You can also use the search bar to search for topics/public figures/interest. Once you are done, hit the “Next” button located on the bottom left.

3. Enter a name for the List and select the settings for it. The settings – Public, Friends, and Only me – are pretty self-explanatory.

4. Click on the “Done” button to create the list or hit the “Previous” button to edit the list. “Close” button to discard.

You will now see your new List on the left-hand bookmark in your Home page. Just click on it to see the feeds of the list (See image below).

a) You can change the settings by clicking on the settings icon just below the name of the list.

b) You can add more topics to the list either by using the search box or adding them from the automatic suggestion. Both can be found on the right hand side.

c) Click on the “see all” option or also use the “Edit List” option available in the drop down list of “Manage List” button. Use the search bar in the dialog that opens up to search and add new topics to the List or hover over the added items and click on the ‘X’ that appear to delete it from your list.

If you find a Page interesting, you can add it to your List directly without having to go to your Interests Lists. If you want to add without “Liking” the Page, click on the settings icon and select “Add to interest List” option. All your Lists will be displayed. Click on the list you want to add the Page to.

Or else “Like” the Page. After that, hover over the “liked” button. All you Lists will be displayed. Click on a List to add the Page there.

There may be other ways too. Haven’t found them yet. If you know of any, feel free to share with us.

Deleting Interest List

1. Hover over the Lists name on the left-hand bookmark.

2. Click on the “Pencil” icon that comes up.

3. Select “Delete List” option.

Managing Interests List

Since this post is getting long, I will try to write a bit about managing list in a separate post. So, don’t forget to check back later.

Just when you thought you are finally getting the hang of using Facebook, a new update arrives and things are scattered all over again.

With mandatory upgrade of Facebook profiles to Timeline over the next few weeks, you will have to get comfortable, not only with your profile but with Facebook Pages too.

Since the first and last step of interacting with fan/brand page is though “Like” and “Unlike”, let’s have a look at where we can find them now.

Finding the like button is pretty as it sits just below a Facebook Page’s cover photo.

Finding the “Unlike” button can be like a little game of hide and seek at first

It is listed in the drop-down menu of the gear icon, which is located just below the bottom right of the Page’s cover photo.

Feel free to share any tips on using Timeline profiles with us.

In the past year, Facebook has updated and renovated users profile a couple of time, and for many, it’s now hard to find what was something easy to find in older profiles. So, here is a short tutorial on how to deactivate or delete your Facebook account (once again).

To deactivate your Facebook account, follow the steps below:

1. Click on the account menu located at the top right of your profile.
2. Choose Account Settings from the drop-down menu.
3. Choose Security from the left-hand menu.
4. Click on “Deactivate your account” option.

Your profile (now timeline) and all information associated with it will disappear from Facebook immediately, and people will not be able to search for you or view any of your information. You can reactivate your account anytime by logging in with your email and password, and following the steps above.

To permanently delete your Facebook account:

If you wish to delete your Facebook account permanently, you will have to submit a request to delete your account.

Please note that that there is no recovery option like in deactivated accounts when you decide to permanently delete your account. All you can do is download a copy of your Facebook data before you leave behind your Facebook life.

Facebook’s announcement regarding making Timeline mandatory might leave quite a lot of users unhappy.
But, that’s what all major Facebook update has gone through. And like it or not, Timeline is here to stay.

For Facebook, it’s a thing of the past and has gone ahead with launching 60 Timeline apps few days back, with the hope that its users will spend more time on the site through these apps.

Timeline apps, on one hand, will make it easier for users to keep tab of things they like without leaving the site. Once you install an app, all activities associated with that app will be neatly grouped into a small box on your Timeline. With the old profile, activity feeds of an app use to litter your wall with each individual action you take on a third-party site. But on the other hand, users will experience an influx of over-sharing with feeds from these apps on their Timeline, ticker, and News Feed.

There are about 80 Timeline apps available on Facebook’s Timeline Apps information page, divided into 9 categories that include Entertainment, Fitness, Food, Giving, Music, News, Shopping and Fashion, Travel, and Others. One can expects thousands more in the near future.

You too, will be using quite a few in a short period of time. So, here are few things that you can do to make the best use of Timeline apps and make the experience worthwhile.

1. Before you download the app, choose a setting for the app by going through the option “Who can see activity from this app on Facebook.” Note that your default privacy settings will kick in automatically for all your applications, unless you change it.

2. Be sure to broadcast your activities of an app only with those who have similar interest. Choosing the “Only Me” option will limit your activity feeds on your Timeline only, and it will only be visible to you.

3. You can always go back and review or change your preferences from your Privacy Settings Page.

You will see all the apps you have installed and the permissions associated with them by going through: Privacy Settings -> Edit Settings (next to Apps and Websites) -> Edit Settings (next to Apps you use).

Here, you can remove apps you don’t like/use. Review the permissions granted to them, and remove certain permission. Some permission is mandatory, as they are required for the app to work correctly.

4. Last but not the least, you should remember that your friends and people you share your information with can also share your activity with apps they use.

If you don’t want people sharing your app activity, go through: Privacy Settings -> Settings (next to Apps and Websites) -> Edit settings (next to How People bring your info to apps they use) -> uncheck the box next to “My app activity” on the dialog that pops up.

Remember that Facebook is about connecting, sharing, and discovering. Don’t do it in a way that risks your privacy or your online connection.

Now that Facebook’s Timeline has been rolled out to all users worldwide, here is a post focussing on one of the coolest elements of Timeline: the cover.

Since its launch in September last, we have seen users getting really creative with it. There are a lot of cool sites out where you can find interesting images to use as your Timeline cover, and also ones that let you easily generate cool Facebook covers. Here is a list of few of them, not necessarily the best sites, but to get you started. Hope you find them useful.

Facebook Profile Covers.

Facebook Profile Covers is a repository of images that are ready to use as your Facebook Timeline cover. The site has hundreds of cool images under different categories that include Abstract, Animals, Art, Brands, Celebs, Cartoons, Cars/Bikes, Creative, Cute, and more. Covers feature the website watermark and the process of using images are bit elaborate than it needs to be. The image first is posted to your Timeline, and you can set it as your cover photo.

FB Cover Pix

FB Cover Pix is another great gallery to find images to use as your Timeline cover. You can either log in using your Facebook account and select an image to use as your cover, or download the image to your computer and upload them to Facebook yourself.

MyFBCovers
MyFBCovers is a great site that lets you design your own cover. Apart from getting cool custom covers, you can also share it with the rest of the community, and if your cover is the most downloaded image of the week, you can win $50. After logging in with your Facebook account, you can choose from the available covers, or design a collage made out of 24 of your friend’s profile photos. MyFBCovers also lets you upload images from your PC, scale and position them, and even add a couple of effects.

Site Canvas
If you are into collages, then Site Canvas lets you generate cool collages for your Timeline cover. The site has over 20 templates to choose from. Once you select a template, images are automatically selected. You can hit the Remix Photos button to get new set. Sadly, you can’t reposition images, or select the images. So, you might take a while to get the combination you like. Once you get a desired combination, hit the Make My Cover button to apply it to your profile.

Your TimeLine Covers
Your Timeline Covers is a another great site that lets you easily create Facebook Timeline covers. Click on the “Get Started” button and log in. After giving permission to the cover generator app, you will be taken back to the site where you can upload the picture that you want to use as your cover. After uploading, select a portion for your profile image and crop it. It is worth mentioning that, there is a simple survey that will last a minute or more. Once done, click the submit button. Your pictures will be uploaded to Facebook, and you can set your cover by selecting it from your album.

Getting Creative
If you still can’t find any cover that satisfies you, then you can always make one yourself. With a good photo editing software, a little bit of creativity and patience, you can put together a great looking cover. Check out how creative one can get with the example below.

Cover images of 850 x 315 pixels should fit perfectly. You can personalize your cover with different sort of messages and images that describes what you want to share with the world. Research the internet and you will find quite a few extraordinary designs out there that can kick start your creativity.

If you have any comments, tips and tricks, or more sites, do share with us.

ticketmaster_logo

On Tuesday, Ticketmaster has announced the integration of Facebook into its interactive seat map. Now you can share venue seat location with Facebook friends, by buying event tickets next to near your Facebook friends and also tag yourself in seats and vice-versa. Yet users has the choice to control who can see where you are located.

This new feature is now live for over 9,000 events on Ticketmaster and Live sites. Buyers need to connect their Facebook account with Ticketmaster whereby a list of friends who are attending the same event and sharing this information appears. The venue’s seat map displays Facebook flags over seats which friends have purchased.

ticketmaster seat map facebook

David Fisch of Facebook said in a statement, “Ticketmaster’s interactive seat map shows the promise of using social technologies to improve the event experience”. The company launched interactive seat maps last year, but the Facebook integration will allow Ticketmaster to build a mini community around each event.

Ticketmaster users accounts for 75% from Facebook net-workers, seat-tagging has real potential to drive up ticket sales and improve the concert going experience for all. And each time a user share information by purchasing tickets via Facebook, it generates an average of $5 in incremental sales.

Fast company reported that, through this social integration the company hopes to “reduce the estimated 40% of live event tickets that go unsold”. After-all, live events experience will be as social online as it is in real life.

Facebook on Thursday released the official “Guide to Facebook Security”, aiming to educate Facebook users to keep their Facebook accounts safe. The guide comes in a PDF format and can be easily downloaded from Facebook Safety Center here: www.facebook.com/safety

The 20-page guide co-authored by security experts Linda McCarthy and Keith Watson Denise Weldon-Siviy, an editor and teacher. It explains how users can:
• Protect their Facebook account
• Avoid scammers
• Configure advanced security settings
• Recover a hacked Facebook account
• Stop imposters

Facebook which has over 750 million users accross the globe, its privacy and security is of crucial important. There are many personal information that people share in this platform. If users aren’t acquainted with privacy-protection and security practices, then they will be exposing their identity to scammers and fraudulent people.

The guide offers some top tips for staying safe online:
• Only befriend people you know.
• Create good password.
• Change pasword frequently and never share to others.
• Share your personal information only to trusted people and sites.
• Only download apps from sites you trust.
• Keep your anti-virus software update.
• Log into Facebook only once each session.
• Logging out of Facebook when you are not using.
• Beware of enticing links coming from your Friends.

Security on Facebook is both a shared responsibilty between Facebook and the people using this platform. It is worth looking at this ‘Guide to Facebook Security’ and make your world of social networking secure and protected.

Facebook has quietly added a new item in the family relation list allowing soon-to-be parents to announce to their friends that they are expecting complete with due date and chosen name.

The update in a user’s profile will not create a profile page of the unborn child, but the status will appear on the expectant parent’s profile page under Family.

Expecting parents can now share the news on Facebook by editing their profile settings.

Here are the steps for those who need help:

1. In your profile page, click on “Edit Settings”

2. On the page that loads, select “Friends and Family” from the list of options available on the left side of the page.

3. Go down to the ‘Family’ section and click on ‘Add another family member’. You will find the “Expected: child” option listed in the drop down menu. Select it and add the necessary information and save the changes, and you are done.

An update will be published in your newsfeed informing your friends about the bundle of joy you are expecting.

A British security firm is offering a “virtual status updates” service for the users of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It has been observed in the recent past that a number of users in the social networking sites bragged about the details of their holiday plans and then their properties broken into.

Director Gary Jackson said: “Putting up a Facebook posting of photographs on a beach to 300-400 friends’ is like leaving an advert on your door to a burglar telling him when you will be out. We are now going to run clients’ social media while they are away to give an appearance that there is still a presence at their homes and business premises”

The new service will aimed at keeping burglars away from spying on Facebook or Twitter accounts for potential break-in targets. When the users are on holiday, the firm will be implementing a series of pre-post and tweets to create the illusion that you are still at home. These “virtual updates” will comprise of pre-approved updates, message and tweets, which the subscriber can schedule according to their own comfort.

This precreate Solutions assures you to have a relaxing vacation without you having to worry any stuffs back home. Though this service can elevate your level of security, its is also recommended that you do certain things in order to make sure that your home is save all the time: accept friend request from people that you know well, keep your profile private so that only those that you trust can see what you are doing, try not to give details about any upcoming vacation plans. Remember, certain things are worth keeping secret.

In Stuart, Florida, Cindy Lincoln’s life was saved by Facebook when she had an accident while folding laundry. With her broken femur, she couldn’t reached  a phone up the stairs but luckily she was able to drag herself a laptop after spending an agonizing ten hours and posted a plea for help on Facebook.

Lincoln posted a 911 call(I need a help) in a Facebook filled with her friends and family. Her daughter-in-law noticed the post and brought help immediately.Lincoln said, it was the most painful thing she has ever been through, she’ll always be a fan of Facebook.

Lincoln’s story reveals the vital role that social media plays in communication. The ability to reach out to many people at once makes social media a well suited for communication in disaster situation. It is predicted that social media will gradually displace e-mail, with almost 20% users making the shift by 2014.

As for lincoln, Facebook has been the rescue and if it hadn’t been for Facebook, she’s not sure she would have survived.