Facebook® for Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Chapter 1. The Many Faces of Facebook

In This Chapter

• Discovering Facebook

• Knowing what you can and can't do on Facebook

• Finding out how Facebook is different than other social sites

• Seeing how different people use Facebook . . . differently

Imagine trying to get from New York to California via some way other than riding an airplane. Try baking a pie (pecan, please) without an oven? Or getting to the seventieth floor without riding an elevator. Certainly there are ways to achieve those tasks, but without the right tools, they may take longer, come out less-than-perfect, and really make you sweat.

Like an airplane, an oven, or an elevator, Facebook is a tool that can make life's To-Dos fun and easy. Facebook enables you to manage, maintain, and enhance your social connections. Think about how you accomplish these tasks:

• Getting the phone number of an old friend.

• Finding out what your friends are up to today.

• Making a contact in a city you're moving to or at an office where you're applying for a job.

• Planning an event, tracking the guest list, and updating everyone when the time changes.

• Garnering support for a cause.

• Getting recommendations for movies, books, and restaurants.

• Showing off the pictures from your latest vacation.

• Telling your friends and family about your recent successes, showing them your photos, or letting them know you're thinking of them.

• Remembering everyone's birthday.

The preceding list is merely a sampling of life's tricky tasks that Facebook can help you accomplish more easily ...