• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 30 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 30th Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    60,000+ subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

How do you use Facebook?

BocaBum99

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
6,651
Reaction score
4
Points
323
Location
Boca Raton, FL
Okay, I am finally going to join the new millennium and start using Facebook.
I'm turning to my TUG friends because many of you are in my age group and use it frequently.

I have stayed away from Facebook mostly because there are parts of my life that I really do want to keep private. My impression of Facebook is that it is for people who want to post their personal diary for all to see.

My question is this. What is the best way to use it? What are the choices? How do you make it effective? How do you keep private stuff separate from public stuff?

After looking into it. It looks like Facebook is like a personal Blog space. It seems that the goal is to get a lot of followers and likes. What is the psychology behind Facebook? Is it just ego? Or, is there something more?

Why am I interested? Anything that gets used 800,000,000 times per day is very important. I need to find out why.

I am interested in your opinions.

Jim
 

timeos2

Tug Review Crew: Rookie
TUG Lifetime Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2005
Messages
11,183
Reaction score
5
Points
36
Location
Rochester, NY
I use it to find old friends, stay up with family and see interesting posts. I don't post much myself and stay away from things like posting daily activities, making a big thing of my birthday (hey, we all have one) or reporting every small life occurrence.

I do enjoy "liking" pictures or posts, making an update post as we travel and some of the many interactive threads that spring up just as they do here. I'm not a big user but find what I do read / see to be a value.
 

Patri

Tug Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
6,728
Reaction score
4,005
Points
648
It is a good way to instantly connect with friends. I don't post a whole lot, but spy on others to see what they are up to. Some people don't understand, or don't care, what their settings are, and I track them without them ever knowing. (I have reasons to want to know about their activities.)
Anyway, only my friends can see my posts. Not friends of friends etc. There are ways to separate people on your list even more, so only some friends see particular posts.
I do like FB as a way to correspond in real time. The private messaging feature is also nice. I do live by the rule - everything I post I expect the world could see some time, if there is a glitch in the privacy system. So I keep everything respectful.
Uploading pictures and videos is also fun.
 

DaveNV

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Messages
22,003
Reaction score
29,217
Points
1,348
Location
Mesquite, Nevada
Resorts Owned
Free Agent
Jim, everyone has a different purpose for being on Facebook. It can be as much or as little as you want. You can control who can see what is posted, from nothing being hidden from view, to virtually nothing being seen by anyone but you. It's a case of deciding "how much is enough?"

I have one friend who uses it like his Personal Secretary -- posting every move he makes in his VERY busy daily life. For me, it's WAY over the top, and kind of annoying. When I go to FB to see what my friends are up to, I see post after post from him, name dropping and schmoozing the MORE THAN 1000 FB friends he has. (!!!) It must be exhausting. Frankly, I find that a PITA, because a lot of what he does is just not interesting to me.

I use FB in a much more sedate way. I use it as a way to stay in touch with my family and extended circle of friends, (currently totaling only 67 people), who live scattered around the country. I have a cross-section of friends on FB, ranging from my local circle of friends I see fairly often, to friends at the other side of the country I don't see or hear from very much. I'm selective in who I'll choose to "friend" on FB, precisely because I don't want everyone and their dog knowing my business.

If I'm doing something I think my friends would like to know about, I may post about it, or post a picture of it. I keep things under control, because I'm not socially-motivated enough to get my kicks from seeing how many "likes" I can get. Similarly, I enjoy seeing the selective posts my friends put up.

The best part of FB, for me, is being able to track down old friends, and staying in touch at arm's length with people I don't talk to very often. Knowing they're okay, and being able to send a quick "How are you doing?" message, makes it easy. I don't have to pick up the phone or send a long email just to say Hi to them. (And if I DO want to talk at more length, I will call them or whatever. FB is not a substitute for having a "real" life.) This works especially nice with my kids and siblings, who are scattered all over the place.

So the short answer to your initial quesiton is that I use FB to maintain a bit of contact with people I care about. I have a fairly active, busy life, and constantly "checking in" or doing "status updates" on FB would become tedious.

Have fun with it, but don't let it take over your life. You already have TUG for that. LOL! :hysterical:

Dave
 

JoAnn

TUG Lifetime Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
977
Reaction score
2
Points
16
Location
Lehigh Acres FL
I started with FB when friends of mine invited me to play Farmville and friends of theirs joined up too. Then FV got to busy and I quit, but I did manage to find friends and relatives were on, so I could keep track of them (or not) Then I found all the other games and now that's mostly what I use it for now...games (not the kind like FV). Now I can watch our 'nieces and nephews grow up, since we live so far from them.
 

AwayWeGo

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
15,686
Reaction score
1,630
Points
699
Location
McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.
Resorts Owned
Grandview At Las Vegas

[triennial - points]
The Social NetWork.

How do you use Facebook?
FaceBook is home to the Song Of The Day. TUG-BBS is merely back-up.

I click "like" on likeworthy items FaceBook "friends" have sent in.

I use the FaceBook message & I-M features now & then, even though both are redundant.

I do my best to ignore egregiously ignorant political commentary -- might as well try to hold back the tide -- but sometimes The Devil makes me send in a corrective internet link in response to something blatantly mindless (as though that will do any good).

In any case, I studiously avoid initiating any FaceBook political commentary -- just 1 beneficial side-effect of typing on TUG-BBS.

I do not play any FaceBook games -- no Farmville, no Jewellville, no Catville, no Dogville, no Mafiaville, none of that. I waste enough time typing on the Electric Computer as it is. Not only that, I block other people's FaceBook game activities from showing up on my FaceBook screen. Fortunately, it's easy to do that without "unfriending" FaceBook "friends."

Ordinarily I do not "share" FaceBook links, though I do not object when FaceBook "friends" do that links I've sent in. I also do not click on stuff asking me to share my affection for my sister or my brother or my sons or my daughters or my affinity for friends & family members who have survived serious medical maladies like cancer, heart attacks, etc. It's not that I don't have affection for siblings & offspring or affinity for people who've dealt with terrible medical issues. It's just that I don't use FaceBook for that -- i.e., for approximately the same reason there have never been any bumper stickers or decals on my cars. (OK by me, however, for others to put stickers on their cars & use FaceBook any way they want.)

FaceBook is fun, & addictive, even though I try to keep it within reasonable limits.

I do not bother with MySpace or Twitter.

So it goes.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 

ronparise

TUG Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2011
Messages
12,664
Reaction score
2,134
Points
548
I watched a Charlie Rose interview the other night with a guy named Jonah Peretti. (I never heard of him either) He was a co founder of the Huffington Post and his newest venture is BuzzFeed. I really enjoy listening to smart people, and this guy is really smart so I listened. When the show was over I got Facebook) Buzzfeed is in the business of creating content for the web that will go social ie something that if you see it you will want to share with your friends and that they will want to share with their friends

Mr Peretti made the point that in the old days the way you found something on the web was to go to an internet directory(like Yahoo). As time went on directories were displaced by search engines (like Google) but we are now entering a time when we find what we want on the internet by using social sites(like Facebook)

And if you are developing something for the web it used to be all about getting yahoo to add your site to their directory, then it was about developing a site to please the google algorithms, but now what you should be doing is develop your site to be something folks will want to share with their friends.

And if someone is looking for information, instead of googling it, folks will ask their facebook friends for help and advice...(kind of what you are doing here)

Up until I saw Charlie Rose interview Jonah Peretti the other night. I would have said..I dont get Facebook, I dont want to share my personal life on the internet...But like you I see 800,000,000 uses a day as something significant, but I still didnt get it... Now however, from a business perspective I see a use for it

It seems that there are folks on facebook that just share stuff with their friends (baby pictures, political opinions, what they had for lunch, etc) And thats what I just dont get, but then there are those that have something to share with their friends thats really important, or funny or cute that everybody wants to share with everybody else.

To answer your question; I hope to develop content, (a blog, an e-book, or something, cute and funny and informative and important) to showcase my expertise and then share it with my facebook friends. The hope of course is that it goes viral (and folks start throwing me money for my consulting services)
 
Last edited:

stmartinfan

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2005
Messages
1,815
Reaction score
1,059
Points
523
Location
Minneapolis, MN
Resorts Owned
Divi Little Bay, St. Maarten
I occasionally post a comment or picture on FB but use it much more to stay up to date with family and friends. When my daughter studied abroad for a semester, it was wonderful to see the photos and comments about her travels and daily activities. She would never have had the time to email those all to me, but I (and lots of other family members) got to share in her experience.

I'm also friends with all my great nieces and nephews, who are college age. Without FB I know I'd never hear about their girl friends and job hunts. It's nice to be able quickly send them congratulations and greetings. I know my sister - their grandmother - also does quick on line chats with them often, especially nice when she's gone during the winter.

I accept most friend requests so have a mix of family, professional and old HS friends on my list. If some I don't care much about post lots of annoying info, I may just "unfriend" them. I also use the "hide" option, so I can opt to not see their post in my newsfeed but still have a connection . And I have used hide to block the myriad of game posts fromFarmville,etc., and add each new one that pops up.

I work at a nonprofit and we use FB to post quick alerts to our followers. One of the advantages of FB is that our "friends" can easily share the info with others in their network and provide comments that expand on our post. I have "liked" my church, which posts fun photos from church activities, a few none profits and a couple of businesses so I get notices of special offers.

Take the time to go through all the settings and narrow who can see your information. There are also options to have lots of info sent to your email, so opt out of most of those unless you want tons of junk mail.
 

Tia

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
3,282
Reaction score
446
Points
468
Not on facebook. Have two kids who are and used to checkin on them/friends when they used the family computer... but now they have their own laptops and don't live at home.
 

scrapngen

TUG Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2009
Messages
1,373
Reaction score
0
Points
36
Location
Washington
I got on Facebook because my DD's joined a hip-hop crew. They have a user-only site that has practice information, shows, updates, etc. The teen/20 somethings communicate this way almost exclusively and it interacts with texting. Anyway, my DD's are too young to legally use Facebook, and I believe they are too young anyway!!! It's been a good decision, IMO, as I have witnessed other friends children having negative experiences through posting. It maintains enough distance that allows kids to be mean. I also now get some posts from the other kids in their crew - who are mostly teens - and don't need my girls seeing their interactions. It's been quite an education in today's teen world :) I don't friend anyone too young, altho I've been requested to. I've explained to their parents why. Some parents like their kids friending other adults, as they feel those adults might alert them if need be to anything happening. I could say a lot here, but I won't...:doh:

I am the contact, instead. As a by-product, I gradually added a few friends and family. I keep it friends only for my posts/pics. Most of the friends are also school contacts - parents of my DD's friends. It keeps me in the loop as to what events are happening, etc. My school and church are on facebook, so those also send out notices. My long-distance friends are not on facebook. It is very popular in this area, though.

I
 

MichaelColey

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2010
Messages
4,914
Reaction score
108
Points
299
Location
Mansfield, TX
It can be used many, many different ways. I use it mainly to keep up to date on friends and family and to let friends and family have a small glimpse into our lives. My Facebook friends include family, friends from high school, friends from jobs I've had, friends from church, timeshare friends, friends from affiliate marketing, and more.

You'll get tons of app requests for various games and other useless things. When I get one, I block it and I never get a request from that app again. When I get several from one person, I block app requests from that person. That keeps the newsfeed clean and interesting.

I typically create a photo folder for each vacation and upload 2-3 pictures a day. Outside of that, I'll typically upload a few pictures per month when the kids do cute things or I see something funny.

I'll respond to postings/pictures that other friends make, if they catch my interest.

On the business side, I have a Facebook page for a business that my wife and I run. I post new products, sales and shows we're exhibiting at on there, as I have time (which hasn't been much lately).
 

Stressy

TUG Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2005
Messages
611
Reaction score
86
Points
388
Location
So Cal.
Okay, I am finally going to join the new millennium and start using Facebook.

Jim

Can you clarify this statement? Have you already joined and will now begin to use your account OR are you contemplating joining?

The reason I ask is IF you haven't already joined then there is someone else on Facebook posing as you.

If it's you..then it's you but I never believed it was actually you because from what I can tell-when you decide to do something-you do it! This person did nothing with that account except collect fellow timeshare friends and perhaps gain entry in to their personal lives while never offering anything on their page.
So, I've always been curious.

Anyway...you can always start with a business page. Doesn't have to be anything more personal than what already exists on your website. The plus side is of course that you would/could have daily contact through Facebook updates to your wall with clients who "like" (follow) your page.

For instance, I "like" many resorts and/or exchange companies via Facebook. I've reaped benefits (discounted exchange fees, won a GPR vacation..etc) just for looking. Had I received an email about a contest or event-then it would be up to me to remember to log in somewhere else.on some certain day...etc. On Facebook, it's in your face daily (assuming you log in as often as I do) To me, it's like having a dedicated place where all my favorite people, places and things come up in one easy step..by logging into Facebook.
 

Htoo0

TUG Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2005
Messages
1,320
Reaction score
9
Points
248
Location
Oklahoma
Count me among those who like hearing about friends, family and old acquaintances through FB but rarely post myself. I don't mind catching people up by IM if they ask but I never update about trips while I'm away (why advertise?) and even upon return I usually don't post. (I tend to travel more than most of my FB 'friends' so I don't care to make a big deal of it.) I click 'Like' for most good things and add my quirky comments more often than I probably should.
I've 'caught-up' with many old friends lost through time and many moves. People I've thought about in the, "I wonder whatever happened to so and so?" vein. I don't really even have to seek them out, just open an account and the friend requests start popping up.
BTW, I always make sure I'm signed out because I found it tracks you relentlessly whenever you're online otherwise. (Maybe it does anyway but it really bothered me to go to a business site for information and have something show up asking me to 'like' the company on FB using my FB ID.)
 

laura1957

TUG Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2007
Messages
932
Reaction score
2
Points
18
Location
Eastern Shore of Virginia
I use it everyday to stay in touch with my extremely large extended family:) I have brothers/sisters/nieces/nephews in NY, PA, NC, VA, FL, and LA. Aunts, Uncles and cousins NY, NJ, VA, W.VA, FL, LA, AL, AZ, NC..... cousin's children in the service in Japan and stateside.

It is wonderful to see the pics of the kids growing up and having kids of their own - my greatniece in Shreveport, La just had my first great-greatniece last month - we saw pics within an hour after she was born! This is my moms first great-great grandchild and she was thrilled to see pics of the new addition:)

Also stay in touch with old school friends. Also a few singers and authors that I follow - Billy Dean and his family, James Dupree and his, Monroeville.... I have been to their performances and I have become friends with other fans. I have "liked" local towns and can keep up to date with activities/festivals/sports events.... I get updates on Massanutten, Gatlinburg, Nashville, Palace Resorts..... all in one place.

I don't play the games, and keep my "friends" list fairly small - Usually around 210. MOST of those are family:) I do not accept friend requests from anyone I dont know personally or have at least corresponded with for some time on a group page.
 

Pat H

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
3,469
Reaction score
67
Points
433
Location
Sun City Hilton Head
Resorts Owned
Brigantine
I get to see more photos of my grands on FB. I only allow friends to see what I post. I have found some old friends and family members too. I don't play any games. My DD started a business and she is doing well thanks to FB.

The community where I live has a FB page and that is very interesting.

Boca, I also have you has a friend so if it's not you, let us know.
 

amycurl

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Sep 26, 2011
Messages
3,071
Reaction score
3,117
Points
449
Location
Greensboro, NC
A high school friend of mine put it this way, "Facebook is a way of getting all of my friends from different parts and times of my life on the same page....literally." Personally, I'm interacting with high school friends in a way that I haven't since high school. Also, I have a young daughter who has a large, diverse following (I call it her "international fan club",) so it's a good way of making sure that they are in loop on her activities/development.

I do follow a few personal rules/quirks:
-I never initiate Friend requests. I never want to put someone in a position of deciding whether or not to friend me. So, everyone who is linked to me, is someone who *wants* to be linked to me.

-I actually have to know and like the person to accept the request. I have a few requests from some middle school people, and I'm like--I didn't like you then, why would I want to share my life with you now?

-I set pretty high filters. Everything is "friends only," pretty much.

-I put work-related people in a separate group, and they can't see my status updates and a lot of other activity. Parents (and in-laws) are also in a separate group that operates under a different set of filters.

-I consider it to be a quasi-public space. Therefore, I don't put anything on FB that I wouldn't mind being brought up in a future political campaign. ;)

Right now, it works for me. I think each person needs to figure out these kinds of rules for themselves...it's obvious when people don't.
 
Last edited:

Rose Pink

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
6,291
Reaction score
1
Points
36
Family only. I've declined requests from friends. It is a way to keep in touch with family.

No games or other time wasters.
 

amycurl

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Sep 26, 2011
Messages
3,071
Reaction score
3,117
Points
449
Location
Greensboro, NC
Ooohh--and there are some moments that would have been missed without Facebook. As an example:

I have a good friend who lives in a city about an hour and a half away who I once saw fairly often, but our lives changed, and I hadn't seen him in 6-7 years; he friended me on FB awhile back, so we've stayed connected that way. About a month ago, I "checked in" on FB from a local brew pub, and saw that he had "checked in" from a hotel that was literally two blocks away from where I was sitting. I offered to buy him a beer, and while I had to leave sooner than I wanted (play tickets,) we got about 30 minutes to catch up in person and give each other big hugs.

Without us both being connected and using FB, we would have both missed seeing each other entirely.

And here's another, very practical use of FB:
I have a high school friend, who shares a lot of my values, interests, concerns, etc. She has children a little older than mine; she lives in a city about an hour away. She works in PR for a publishing house. Her schedule and her job requirements have her checking the New York Times and other media sites relatively early in the morning, about an hour or so before I get into work. She'll post interesting/newsworthy stuff on FB before she gets into the rest of her day; I've found these posts to be a kind of RSS reader for me. It's a very handy and time-saving service! She scans the NYT so I don't have to! :D
 
Last edited:

Elan

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
4,455
Reaction score
409
Points
468
Location
Idaho
Don't use it. When my life becomes so interesting that everyone needs to know what I'm doing 24/7, I'll sell the rights to a reality show producer.
 

Passepartout

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2007
Messages
28,462
Reaction score
17,213
Points
1,299
Location
Twin Falls, Eye-Duh-Hoe
I can't imagine that my life is interesting enough for anyone to want to look into. I think am the last person in the world to NOT have a Facebook account. Or care.

Jim
 

Rose Pink

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
6,291
Reaction score
1
Points
36
Don't use it. When my life becomes so interesting that everyone needs to know what I'm doing 24/7, I'll sell the rights to a reality show producer.

I can't imagine that my life is interesting enough for anyone to want to look into. I think am the last person in the world to NOT have a Facebook account. Or care.

Jim
I think you guys are interesting but I don't want to friend you on FB. That's what TUG is for.:D
We Idaho people need to stick together.
 

artringwald

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2011
Messages
4,737
Reaction score
3,680
Points
448
Location
Oakdale, MN
Resorts Owned
DRI: The Point at Poipu, 3 deeded weeks, 1 of which is in The Club.
Advice

Never post anything on Facebook unless you wouldn't mind if the whole world sees it.

When I used to have a picture or a link to something I thought was interesting, I'd email it, but I'd have to decide which of my contacts might also be interested. Now I just post it on Facebook, and they can ignore it if they're not interested.

I haven't seen many people use it as a blog. If people I hardly know start making too many trivial comments, I block them. I also block posts from any games that I don't play. I don't play games much anymore, but I do love Angry Birds. I didn't like playing it on my cell phone, but it's great on Facebook.
 

artringwald

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2011
Messages
4,737
Reaction score
3,680
Points
448
Location
Oakdale, MN
Resorts Owned
DRI: The Point at Poipu, 3 deeded weeks, 1 of which is in The Club.
Top