Facebook: Six tips for savvy users

Facebook has many helpful features – some obvious, some less so. Here are six tips to help you to make the most of your Facebook experience, whether you’re using it mainly for personal or for business purposes.

I’ve given instructions for Facebook on a PC and an Android phone, but you should be able to find the same features on a Mac or an iPhone. And do bear in mind that Facebook changes from time to time, so these features might appear in a different place in future – or even disappear altogether!

1. Following a post

If you want to receive notifications when something’s been added to a post, Facebook has a useful feature that’s worth knowing about. In the top right-hand corner of each post there’s a drop-down menu (click on the three dots to reveal it). Simply choose ‘Turn on notifications for this post’. And if you want to turn off notifications, you can do that from the drop-down menu too.

Of course, you should automatically receive a notification if you’ve already contributed to the thread. But there’s no need to type ‘Following’ or ‘F’ in the comments just to make that happen. Far better to turn on notifications from the menu so that you’re not cluttering the thread. Your friends and colleagues will thank you for it.

2. Saving a link

We’ve all had the experience of seeing something on Facebook, thinking we’d go back later to read it, and then not being able to find it. The same drop-down menu you use to turn notifications on and off also has a ‘Save link’ option. Click on that and it’ll be saved for you, without you having to comment on the thread.

To retrieve your links, go to the ‘Saved’ section.

• On a PC, that should be in the ‘Explore’ list on the left-hand side of your personal newsfeed (your personal newsfeed is what you see when you click ‘Home’ at the top of the page). 

• On a phone (Android), choose the menu at the top of the screen and find ‘Saved’ in the list

You can even organise the links into ‘Collections’ (e.g. work, health, music), making them even easier to find.

3. Sticking to group rules

Facebook groups are a great way to connect with others through shared interests. For example, many editors and proofreaders enjoy reading and taking part in discussions in the Editors’ Association of Earth public group and its associated closed groups.

Before starting to post in a group – whatever type of group it is – it’s a good idea to read the rules. Many groups have guidelines on the types of posts allowed. For example, are you allowed to advertise (either your own products and services or those of someone else)? There are often other rules about what is and isn’t acceptable.

• On a PC, the rules can often be found in the group’s description (on the right-hand side of the screen) or in the ‘About’ section (which you can access from the left-hand side).

• On a phone (Android), click on the arrow next to the group’s name and you should see more information, including the group’s rules.

It’s important to follow all the guidelines. It makes the job of the group admin(s) so much easier, avoids wasting everyone’s time, and makes the group experience far more pleasant and productive for all users. If it’s a professional group – like the ones for editors and proofreaders, for example – following the rules helps you to maintain your professional image.

And if you decide you don’t like a particular group’s rules, you can always start your own!

4. Searching in a group

One useful aspect of Facebook groups is the search feature. This enables you to look for previous discussions on a particular topic so that you don’t run the risk of asking a question that’s already been answered. 

• On a PC, go to the group and look for the search box on the left-hand side of the page.

• On a phone (Android), go to the group and look for the search facility right at the top. 

5. Protecting your privacy

One thing you need to be aware of when commenting on a Facebook thread – whether that’s on a friend’s timeline, on a page, or in a group – is the privacy settings. 

• Personal profiles on Facebook have different levels of privacy. You can easily check the privacy of a particular post by looking for the symbol underneath the poster’s name. If it’s a grey globe, the post is a public one, so the post itself and all the comments can be seen by anyone – on or off Facebook.
• The majority of pages are set to ‘public’ (as they are often used to promote a cause, a business, or a particular community, so they are looking for the largest possible audience).
• When you join a group, you need to find out whether it’s public, closed or secret. If it’s public, bear in mind that any posts or comments within the group can be seen by anyone, whether or not they have a Facebook account. I’ve written a more detailed account of this in a previous post.

This is where the privacy details appear on the group page on a phone:

And on a PC:

6. Hiding posts

Facebook’s algorithms are such that it’s difficult to control what you see in your newsfeed. But there’s one useful feature that does at least allow you to hide specific posts from friends, groups or pages if you’d rather not see them again (for whatever reason).

When you see the post in your newsfeed, click on the three dots in the top right-hand corner of the post to find the same drop-down menu mentioned in Tip 2 above. Simply choose ‘Hide post’. You’ll notice that there are also options to ‘Snooze’ a particular person for 30 days, or ‘Unfollow’ them completely so that you won’t see their posts at all (but you’ll still be friends). Very handy!

You’ll only see the full menu with this option if you click on the post in your newsfeed, rather than, for example, within a group, or on a page or a friend’s timeline.

So there we are: six little tips that can make a big difference to your – and other people’s – experience of Facebook. I hope you find them useful!