BS: Making sense of Facebook...

Subject: RE: BS: Making sense of Facebook...
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 27 Jul 17 - 05:42 AM

Or rather, not being able to make sense of Facebook. Up till now I've steered clear of using it, except on rare occasions when I've had a tentative try. But now I've decided to make an effort to understand it, since it clearly has many useful features, and people I know rely on it.

But why can't it be more like Mudcat, which makes sense and is consistent. When I try using Facebook on my iPad and my PC it seems to be completely different. There are news feeds and timelines and home pages and profiles, there are privacy options that are greyed out... And every time I've had a go at making sense in the past, it seems they've moved the goalposts and dug up the pitch.

Nothing about it seems intuitive to me, and the explanations I've found online just add confusion to confusion. Anybody got any suggestions for some straightforward guide that I might actually find helpful?

Subject: RE: BS: Making sense of Facebook...
From: Senoufou
Date: 27 Jul 17 - 06:22 AM

I'm sorry McGrath but I'm no help at all. My husband's on it, and seems to navigate it all very well. He keeps in touch with various mates, posts photos etc. And my sister too spends a lot of time fiddling about on Facebook. But I decided not to bother. I keep hearing about people getting angry at what's been posted, at being 'unfriended' (??!) learning stuff about their family/friends they didn't know and didn't want to hear etc etc.

My nice neighbour was horrified that I'm not even on it. She offered to show me but no, I'm NOT going there. Can't see the point.

Subject: RE: BS: Making sense of Facebook...
From: Will Fly
Date: 27 Jul 17 - 06:52 AM

I can't understand it either - not that I want to. I have a fake name and login for it, purely because some links that I've been given by friends can't be opened without being a member.

Other than that, no idea!

Subject: RE: BS: Making sense of Facebook...
From: Donuel
Date: 27 Jul 17 - 07:55 AM

I don't get as far as you. I can't even keep track of my password.

Subject: RE: BS: Making sense of Facebook...
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 27 Jul 17 - 08:05 AM

The thing is, it's got all these neat tricks, like being easily able to stick in a picture or a song and send it to a bunch of people or an individual or everybody or just keeping it private and having it handy, and I'd like to have those facilities available to use as and when I want to, and it puts pretty well everybody within reach - but compared to Mudcat's beautiful simplicity, everything is so clunky and intrusive.

It feels like a robot camel put together by a bunch of people who don't talk to each other. But I need to ride it to get to the places I want to get to.

Subject: RE: BS: Making sense of Facebook...
From: bobad
Date: 27 Jul 17 - 08:30 AM

Asking what's it all about is too general a question. If you ask about specific applications someone may be able to help you with that.

Subject: RE: BS: Making sense of Facebook...
From: Senoufou
Date: 27 Jul 17 - 09:52 AM

"It feels like a robot camel put together by a bunch of people who don't talk to each other. But I need to ride it to get to the places I want to get to."
McGrath, that is absolutely brilliantly put!! :)

Subject: RE: BS: Making sense of Facebook...
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 27 Jul 17 - 04:55 PM

At it's point it's not so much about how to do different tricks, my problem is how to find my way around the place.

Subject: RE: BS: Making sense of Facebook...
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jul 17 - 08:21 PM

YouTube tutorials for Facebook.

Getting Started (Facebook help) (this may not be a durable link. If not, go to the upper right corner and click the question mark then type in Getting Started.)

Subject: RE: BS: Making sense of Facebook...
From: FreddyHeadey
Date: 28 Jul 17 - 03:20 AM

"robot camel"
and different on pc v android tablet.

I struggle to even find my main page.
I rely on a set of bookmarks to find features I like.

main page http://www.fb.com/profile.php 

most recent (rather than its random feeling 'most popular')
android
https://m.facebook.com/home.php?sk=h_chr 

pc
https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=h_chr 

I bookmark posts if I think I might need them later. I rarely find them if I use a search.

I find its events system good because if I've clicked an 'interested' it reminds me when it is coming up
(but people publish events as an ordinary post and I forget them).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
help centre
https://m.facebook.com/help/203305893040179?ref=nfx 

btw... feedback page
https://m.facebook.com/help/feedback/?sw_fnr_id=3488030853&fnr_t=0 

Subject: RE: BS: Making sense of Facebook...
From: DaveRo
Date: 28 Jul 17 - 04:16 AM

McGrath of Harlow wrote: my problem is how to find my way around the place.

To navigate a big internet site, you develop a mental map of it. It's like a big hotel - you're shown to a room and have to work out where you are relative to other rooms you know to exist - such as the bar. You're aided by experience - the bar is probably off the lobby - and it's easier if you know the shape of the building.

Big internet sites have no shape and, unlike a hotel, you may not know what they offer. Experience tells you there must be 'my account' pages, but little else. So you wander around opening doors trying to make sense of what you see, and remembering how you got there. Compared to other internet sites Facebook is a resort rather than a hotel; you're not expected to go outside.

So look for a map! Read Facebook's own description if their resort and decide which attractions you want to use and which are useless. Starting with their map rather than building your own will make it clearer.

Mudcat, in comparison, is a two-roomed shack in the bayou. Though like Dr Who's tardis it's bigger on the inside than the outside.

Subject: RE: BS: Making sense of Facebook...
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Jul 17 - 04:52 AM

I found Facebook really annoying when I first joined, so I disabled or blocked all the features. Then, one by one, I enabled features that I like - especially keeping in contact with family and sharing my photographs. I block "sharing" from all my friends who post ultra-conservative views, and I find I think much better of them if I don't hear daily how much they hate liberals.

Take a look at my latest photos (click)

-Joe-

Subject: RE: BS: Making sense of Facebook...
From: Senoufou
Date: 28 Jul 17 - 05:53 AM

Your photos are lovely Joe, and how strange - you look exactly as I've always imagined!

Subject: RE: BS: Making sense of Facebook...
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 28 Jul 17 - 06:38 AM

definitely lovely pics, Joe thanks for making them visible to folks not on facebook

Subject: RE: BS: Making sense of Facebook...
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jul 17 - 08:16 AM

Most of the stuff you're looking for is linked from the far left side. Shortcuts to groups, pages, etc.

Subject: RE: BS: Making sense of Facebook...
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 28 Jul 17 - 11:09 AM

That sounds a sensible way to go, Joe. Once I've found out what features are there, and how to go about blocking them.

But a properly designed site ought to be a lot easier to find your way round. It puzzles me how something like Facebook can rise to dominance on such a shaky foundation. But then that's cyberspace for you - the same is true of Microsoft.