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Facebook is a magnet for top designing ability, so it makes sense that the organization would brag one of the world's most mind boggling and multi-faceted sites. It rivals numerous independent programming applications with the sheer measure of personalization, changes, and tinkering accessible to guests.
Truth be told, there are such a large number of things you can do on Facebook.com that you presumably don't think about everything. We're discussing all the official, prepared in, effortlessly open capacities that are only a couple clicks away. As you'll see underneath, there are even a few capacities that seem, by all accounts, to be remains from former periods that we're not in any case beyond any doubt Facebook still knows are there. Investigate and stir your inward power client social genius.
The Inbox You Didn't Even Know You Had
If you've been a Facebook user for a while, then you probably have a folder full of unread messages that you didn't even know you had: the "Message Requests" folder (formerly, the "Other" folder.) This is where Facebook sends all the messages from people you're not currently friends with. It could be filled with old high school flings reaching out or a bunch of Nigerian spammers, who knows?! Only one way to find out!
To review these messages, click the "messages" icon at the top of your homescreen (a chat icon with the Messenger lightning icon in the middle). By default, you'll find yourself in the "Recent" tab of your inbox. Directly to the right, you'll find the "Message Requests" tab. After you click this, you may see a link that says "See filtered requests." Click that and then you'll see all sorts of messages from strangers on the internet. Have fun with that!
In 2012, Facebook experimented with allowing members to pay to reach the inboxes of non-friends. Fees started at $1 and went all the way up to $100 for Zuck himself, but the option to do this appears to be limited.
See Who's Snooping In Your Account
Want to know if someone is logged into your Facebook account without your permission? First, go to your settings page. Under the Security folder, you'll see the link "Where You're Logged In." Here you will find all your active Facebook log-ins from desktop or mobile. It will (usually) provide data on the location, browser, and device. If something seems fishy, you also have the ability to "end activity" from individual or all devices.
This also comes in handy if you logged in to your friend's computer or on some public laptop, but forgot to log out.
There Are Lots of Secret Emoji
Emoji. They take away some of the horrible pain of writing in plain language. Facebook will render all the usual face emoticons into pictorial representations. But there are a whole bunch you may not be using.
(y) = thumbs-up 'like' symbol
(^^^) = a great white shark
:|] = a robot
:poop: = well, you know
<(") = a penguin
You can use these in wall posts, chats, and comments, but they don't always render in mobile. You can find a full rundown of Facebook emoticons here.
Transfer Files Over Facebook Messenger
If you open a Facebook Messenger window, there's a little paper clip icon along the bottom. This allows you to upload and send a file directly from your computer. The receiver can just click on the included link and download them from there. Of course, never download anything from someone you don't know.
Upside Down or Pirate Speak
Remember 10 years ago, when pirates were all the rage for a minute? Well, at one point the Facebook engineers got swept up in this ironic buccaneer frenzy and programmed a peculiar Easter egg that allows you to translate your Facebook interface into Pirate or Upsidedown speak.
Does this sound appealing to you for some reason? Go to Settings > Language, and you can change your settings to either "English (Pirate)" or "English (Upside Down)." Think that's a whimsical little feature that you will never ever get sick of?! You're wrong. It's actually quite annoying.
Create a Customizable Supersized Post
Sometimes you want to share something that is worth more than a few sentences or a single image. If you don't have your own blog you can take advantage of a Facebook "Note." This is a personal blog post that lives inside the Facebook ecosystem. Here you can share paragraphs of text and multiple images (no HTML coding knowledge required).
Just head on over to facebook.com/notes, where you'll find notes from people you follow. If you want to add your own, just click the "+ Write a Note" link in the top-right corner. Spill your thoughts using the easy post editor, add a cover image if you want, and share just like you would a regular Facebook post. If you can't finish your note in one sitting, save it and publish later.
Detail Your Facebook Romance
If you want to see the detailed internet history of you and your significant other, go to www.facebook.com/us, and you will see the complete Facebook history with whomever you are listed as in a relationship with ("us," get it?). If you're not listed as being in a relationship, it will just go to your regular page because Facebook thinks that you are just in love with yourself.
Save Posts for Later
Did you ever want to read a link that a friend shared on Facebook, but didn't have the time at that particular moment? Then, when you finally do have a moment, you either forgot about it, or it has been buried under so much other junk that it's not even worth searching for? We've all been there. That's why you should get acquainted with Facebook's "Save for Later" function.If there's anything you want to save for later, click the little arrow in the top-right of any post. Then click the Save link button from the pull-down. This will send the link to your Saved folder. "Where's your Saved folder," you ask? Good question! You actually won't see it until you save something for the first time. Then you will see a little "saved" ribbon in your left-hand favorites bar. Click that and you will find all your favorite stories. It also works with any video your friends posted.
At f8 2016, Facebook announced it is extending "Save for Later" to the web, so you can save things to Facebook even when you're not on Facebook.com, a shot at services like Pocket and Instapaper. Facebook's first two partners are Overstock and Product Hunt, but any site can add the functionality, so look for it to expand over time.
Download a Copy of All Your Facebooking
Want your own personal copy of everything you've ever shared on Facebook? I'm talking, ev-er-y-thing: Every post, every image, every video, every message, and chat conversation (not to mention all the settings you probably don't even think about)? You can do that!
Just go to Settings > General and click on the link "Download a copy of your Facebook data" at the bottom and follow the directions from there.
This feature lets you take a trip down memory lane, or just save your info should you ever decide to delete your Facebook account. However it is probably most useful to those in the legal profession as it can capture your Facebooking at a particular moment (social media posts can trigger lawsuits, after all).
Choose a 'Legacy Contact' for After You Croak
Everyone on Facebook will die. One day. This may be true for other social networks as well, but you can definitely be assured that everyone you are friends with on Facebook will perish from this Earth. (Or, you know, unless the Singluarity comes to pass.) In anticipation of this unavoidable truth, Facebook has created a way to name a legacy contact who will manage your account after you are gone.
Your legacy contact will have the ability to write a pinned post for your profile, respond to new friend requests (e.g. friends or family who weren't on Facebook at the time of your demise), or update your profile and cover photo (do you really want your final image to be you in your ironic SpongeBob Halloween costume?) They won't have access to all your messages unless you proactively decide to give them access.
To assign a legacy contact, go to Settings > Security > Legacy Contact tab and choose one of your Facebook friends to handle your digital affairs. You will also have the opportunity to choose that your account is deleted after you die.
Curate Your News Feed
Your News Feed is your home on Facebook. And as your home, you should try your best to keep it clean, orderly, and free of distractions. You don't want to be inundated with posts from that one brand or friend you follow who just posts all. the. time.
One of the most direct ways to do this is by giving more voice to the things you want to see, while removing the stuff you don't want. The quickest way to access this feature is by clicking the three dots next to "News Feed" at the top of the left rail. Choose "Edit Preferences" from the pop-up screen, click "Prioritize who to see first," and choose the people, Pages, and brands you want to see more or less of in your News Feed.
You can also click "Unfollow people to hide their posts" to mute annoying posters (they won't know they've been muted). This feature is also accessible by clicking the little arrow in the top-right corner of a post and selecting "Unfollow [Friend]." You'll still be "friends" but you won't see their posts on your News Feed unless you re-follow them down the line.
Edit Your Ad Preferences
Do you hate-follow any celebrities or personalities on Facebook? A while back, I gave former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin a follow. I was just curious more than anything. But then I noticed that the ads on Facebook feed began to ... change. Let's just say, I started getting ads for things I really wasn't all that interested in.
Facebook's business is built around providing marketers with detailed information on its users' interests, which Facebook's algorithms insinuate based on—among other things—celebrities and personalities they've actively followed. However, if you "like" something on Facebook that's a little out of your usual media diet, you also have the ability to keep your ad experience in check.
To curate your ads, go to Settings > Ads > click "Your Interests." You can delete an interest simply by hitting delete on the right of each interest. Under the "Advertisers you've interacted with" tab, you'll see all the advertisers whose ads you've clicked on and/or provided your information (you'll also have the ability to delete entries form your ad-interaction information). Under the "whose ads you've clicked" sub-tab, you can even choose to stop seeing ads from a particular advertiser altogether.
Send Money Through Facebook
Do you have any old people near you right now? Ask them to tell you about "Western Union"—that's how people used to send money before the internet.
In the digital age, there are lots of services that will allow you to transfer money from your computer or mobile device, including right through your Facebook account (as long as both the sender and recipient have a valid debit card). In addition (and probably of greater interest to Facebook), these payments will allow users to purchase products and make in-game purchases through Facebook.
While this feature is largely tied to Messenger, you can use it on regular Facebook as well. To set it up, go to Settings > Payments to enter a debit card. Once accepted, you can send (or request) funds to/from another user via Messenger.
To use this feature on Facebook.com, just open a pop-over conversation with one of your contacts (accessible via either the "Chat" window in the bottom-right-hand of your screen or through the Messenger icon in the right side of the top rail). Next, just click the dollar sign at the bottom of the chat window to send/request funds. Cha-ching!
See What's Happening Right Now All Around the World
Facebook Live is an increasingly important medium (we use it quite a bit here at the ol' PCMag). One of this live platform's coolest features is an interactive live map available, which you can find at facebook.com/livemap (only available for desktop).
Here you can scroll zoom all around the map of the world and see tiny blue the current live streams and how popular they are (larger dots have more people watching). Placing your mouse over each dot will present a preview. There are a lot of local news broadcasts, televised soccer matches, and pairs of giggling teenagers. It's a strangely engrossing experience.
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