Facebook continually changes, and often something you knew how to do no longer functions the same way. The new way is not always obvious. Here are questions I’m often asked and the current answers, emphasis on current. When in doubt, try the Facebook Help feature – hopefully it will also be updated to reflect updated Facebook features.
1. How do I remove my name from a photo I’m tagged in?
Click on the photo, click on Options under the photo, and click on “Report/remove tag” from the list of options, then select “I want to remove this tag” and click Continue. You will receive another list of options to either remove the tag, request the photo be taken off Facebook, or block the individual posting the photo.
2. How do I hide the Ticker?
Ticker is a real time feed of posts on the right most column of your News Feed. On the bottom right of the Ticker there is an arrow pointing to a bracket. It should say “hide sidebar” when you hover over it. Click on that and your Ticker leaves, but now you see ads instead. To bring the Ticker back, click on your Chat box located in the bottom right corner of your screen.
Never had Ticker? Not everyone has one. It is dependent upon your and your Facebook friends’ usage.
3. How can I find someone with a common name on Facebook?
Do you know their email address? If so, type the email address in the search bar. If your friend has used this email address for their Facebook account you are in luck!
4. I am getting too many emails from Facebook. How can I stop this?
Click on the tool gear near Home, Account Settings, and then click on the Notifications link in the left column. Click on Edit next to each category and uncheck any items you no longer wish to be notified about.
5. You want to stay friends with Peter, but Peter posts about 2 or 3 times a day. You don’t care about the size of his cat’s hairball, but you want to stay friends. What do you do?
Place your cursor over his posting until a check mark appears in the right margin. Click on the check mark and choose one of the subscribe options. Alternatively go to his Timeline (or Profile) and click on the Friends button (next to Message). Here you can deselect to receive updates in your News Feed or click on Settings to select what types of updates you wish to receive.
6. My friend posted a link about a really good offer, but it seems too good to be true – is it for real?
Ignore it, it might be spam. You can go to your friend’s Timeline (Profile) and click on Message to send an email to your friend to find out if it is a legitimate post. If you do click on the post, and you receive a pop-up asking you to click – DON’T! This is how spam gets created on Facebook.
Check out Facecrooks (on Facebook or their web page) for the latest Facebook scams.
7. How can I find out if a store or company has a Facebook page?
Most likely they do. You can use a search engine like Google or Bing, and search the store name followed by Facebook. For example, “Jim’s Ice Cream Facebook”. Or you can search for their name in the search bar at the top of any Facebook page.
8. You log into Facebook, and something seems wrong. Perhaps you post but don’t see it, or you can’t find a photo album, or your friend’s list is missing. No, it probably isn’t you.
Type Known Issues in the search bar and click on the Known Issues on Facebook page to read about recent Facebook technical problems. Most times you’re experiencing a bug that will be fixed in a short while.
9. How do I unlike a business page?
Now that business pages are all on Timeline, this is not so obvious. When you go to a business page, instead of a Like button, you will see Liked if you are a fan. Click on the Liked button for a dropdown which will have the Unlike option.
10. Why am I missing updates in my News Feed?
Facebook is filtering the posts you see. You can sort your News Feed by either Top Stories or Most Recent. The sort option is at the top right of the beginning of the News Feed below the Update Status box. To be sure you see all your posts, you can create your own lists and use these lists to filter your News Feed. Click on more next to Friends in the left column of your News Feed to create your own lists. Once you click on a list and view your filtered New Feed, click on Manage List to be able to add or delete friends from the list.
You can also go to your friend’s Timeline (Profile) and click on the Friends button (next to Message button) and click on settings to review which types of updates you are receiving.
What are your Facebook questions?
Jeri Usbay 