Facebook Groups and messages

Introduction

As you use Facebook, you might find that you have groups of Friends with whom you communicate about certain interests, activities, and real-life connections. Facebook Groups are designed to make this type of interaction easy and fun. If you've used Friends Lists to communicate and share with set groups of Friends, you'll enjoy using Groups.

Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups is a feature that lets small groups of people communicate about shared interests and activities. Each Group has its own page where Group members can view and share content like wall posts, links, images, and videos.

Groups can be a useful way to interact with multiple people at once. You might set up a Group to reconnect with old classmates, plan an event or party, or communicate with members of a club. Groups are intended to be small andpersonal. In fact, if a Group gets very large, Facebook actually turns off certain Group sharing and communication features.

To Create a New Group:

1. In the left pane of the home page, click Create Group....
2. The Create Group dialog box will appear. Enter a name for your Group in the Group Name box.
3. Add Group members by typing the names of the people you wish to include in the Group Members box. You can only add people who are already your Facebook Friends.
4. Choose the privacy settings for your Group. There are three options:
• Open: Anyone can view the Group, its members, and their posts.
• Closed: Anyone can view the Group and its members, but only members can see Group posts.
• Secret: Only members can see the Group or any of its information. People who are not members won't even be able to see that the Group exists.
5. When you're satisfied with your Group settings, click Create. The Group will be created

Doing More With Groups

Once you've created a Group, you can use it to interact with other Group members by sharing, chatting, creating Group Events, and more. You can also modify Group settings and add or remove members at any time.

Messages

Messages allow you to communicate directly with your Facebook Friends.

Sending Messages

While you can communicate publicly with wall posts, Facebook messages give you a chance to communicate in private.

To Send a Message:

1. On the top toolbar, locate and click on the Messages icon  .
2. A drop-down menu will appear. Select Send a New Message.
3. Click the To: box and type the name of the person you wish to message.
4. Click the Message: box and type your message.
5. When you're satisfied with the message, click Send.
6. The message will be sent.
7. You can also message someone directly from their profile. Simply click the Message button in the top right corner of their profile.

Doing More with Messages

Facebook provides a few extra options to enhance your messages. You can:

• Type multiple names in the To: box to address a message to more than one person.
• Type a link into the message. Facebook will automatically insert a description and thumbnail image for the link.
• Click the Attach button   to send a file from your computer.
• Click the Picture and Video button  to take a picture or video with your webcam and include it in your message.
• Check the Text Message checkbox to also send your message to the recipient's phone.

Reading Messages

When you receive a new message, Facebook will notify you with an alert on the messages icon .

To Read a Message:

1. Locate and click the Messages icon .
2. A list of recent messages will appear, with unread messages highlighted in blue. Select the message you wish to read. Or, if you'd rather see a list of all the messages in your inbox, click See All Messages.
3. You can reply to any message by simply typing a response in the box below it. When you've written your reply, click Reply

Understanding Your Inbox

The Facebook inbox isn't just for messages. In fact, your inbox is the place where you can read all of your private communication on Facebook, including your chats.