Work On It Wednesday: Facebook

By Emily Young MA ‘16

If there is one thing you should work on before starting college, it’s your Facebook, not your resume or your baking skills.  Yes Facebook.

During the first week of college you’re going to want to go to all the cool events, like the USC Welcome Back Concert.  The best way to find out where and when all these fun events are is Facebook.  Trojan 360’ers usually post all the latest stuff around campus as well as the club who is hosting the event.  By looking at Facebook Events, you can see which of your friends are invited/going to the event and invite more friends. 

Furthermore, the first few weeks of college you are going to meet a TON of people.  You will be meeting so many people you might forget to exchange contact information or forget their name altogether.  People will turn to Facebook for the answers.  If you don’t have a Facebook that’s fine, but if you haven’t updated your profile or cover picture since sophomore homecoming or have some embarrassing photos lurking, it’s now or never.

Finally, when you start missing your friends and family back home, you are going to want to stay connected and comment on their pictures or send funny messages.    

 Emily’s Tips to Freshen-Up Your Facebook

1. Change your Profile Picture and Delete old Embarrassing Photos.

Make sure your profile picture looks like you/is you.  It will make it easier for friends to find you and you won’t be living up to any false pretexts.

2.  Teach People how to Pronounce your Name.

Go to your profile page, then About, click Details About You, then under Name Pronunciation, click “How do you pronounce your name?”  People will still butcher it, but at least you tried.

3. Disable the Facebook Messages “Seen” read receipt.

Joey Facebook messaged you to ask you to invite, but you are waiting on Connor?  Those pesky read receipts RUIN lives….okay maybe just one night. If you’re the type of person who doesn’t want to reply, then you should disable “Seen” receipts so people don’t know you’re ignoring them.

Download the Facebook Unseen Chrome extension or install Chat Undetected for Firefox and Internet Explorer.  On the downside, you won’t be able to see when people have read your messages.

4. Never Forget a Friend’s Birthday Again!

Yes, you are at college, but that’s no excuse to forget when your friends back home celebrate their birthday.  Export all of your friend’s birthdays!  Go to your Events page in the left column.  Now look on the bottom right for two links: Upcoming Events and Birthdays.  Copy one of those links. 

Open Google Calendar, and click on the down arrow next to Other Calendars > Add by URL, paste the URL and… you’re done!

4. Access Facebook Messages “Other” Inbox that you didn’t know existed.

Did you know that you have two Facebook inboxes? Yeah, me neither.

There’s an Other Inbox for messages from randos/people who aren’t your friends.  (According to Facebook security, people who haven’t friended you must pay a nominal fee to send a message to your main inbox.) Click on the Messages icon and then select Other.  You never know, some person you met last night at Parkside cafeteria might message you, but otherwise it is probably all spam.

5. Share a Post with Everyone Except One Person.

Want to share that you don’t miss home at all?  Do your mom the favor and hide her from the post.  In the “Who should see this?” menu next to the Post button, select Custom and add the undesired person to the Don’t share this with list.

6. Save the Data Plan!!!  Stop Facebook from auto-playing videos in your News Feed.

Open the Facebook app, Settings, Videos and Photos, Auto-play and slide to disable Smart Auto-play. Then select Use Wi-Fi Only.

7. Stop Game Requests if you are a Candy Crush or Farmville Addict and Want to do Well in School.

In the Facebook App, go to More > Settings > Notifications > Mobile Push and uncheck Application Requests. (You’re GPA will thank me.)

8. Hide Your Online Chat Status.

It’s okay to have Facebook in the background while doing homework, but if friends keep messaging you, it’s nearly impossible.  On your desktop, open the chat window, click on the gear icon in the upper right.  Click Advanced Settings.  Then, turn off chat for all friends or turn off chat for only some friends.

9. Change your Relationship Status, without causing any ~drama~.

Going from in a relationship to single?  Prevent all the notifications by going to the About tab, Family and Relationships, change our privacy settings to Only Me.  Switch your status to Single and changes will not appear in the News Feed.  

10 . Going to a Lot of Events?  Download new Facebook photos you’re tagged in to a Dropbox folder.

Awesome for saving photos from a party or wedding! First create an account at IFTTT.com where you’ll be prompted to connect your Facebook and Dropbox accounts.  Once the accounts are verified, you can turn on the “recipe” and every photo you’re tagged in will be saved!

11. Missing Home?  Create a “Look Back” video of your entire Facebook history.

Go to facebook.com/lookback to watch your entire Facebook life flash before your eyes. The video, which is automatically generated by the site, features your first moments, your most liked posts, and a collage of your most recent happenings.  Scroll down to edit the photos you want to be featured.

12. Don’t Post anything you wouldn’t want your Mom, Potential Employer, or Pastor to see.

Keep it classy on Facebook. Take down inappropriate pictures, anything involving alcohol, and posts that can be interpreted the wrong way.  Let your Facebook be a place of positivity.  Showcase that you are having a great time at USC and doing many great things! 

HAPPY FACEBOOKING!

~Emily