Customer Reviews

Facebook Me! A Guide to Having Fun with Your Friends and Promoting Your Projects on Facebook

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Facebook social activity site has become a global phenomenon and continues to grow and add new members. It appeals to millions of users attracted to the idea of connecting with friends, neighbors, affinity groups, and even strangers using the myriad tools the Facebook web application provides.

The Facebook interface, however, is a bit clunky and confusing, and the configuration settings complicated enough (especially in the privacy set settings) that a manual like Facebook Me! is needed and helpful. Author, Dave Awl, has created a nice primer on Facebook that will help make it easy for anyone to set up and use an account, configure it to their needs, learn the tools, and make the best use of Facebook for their social purposes.

The book is an easy read and well laid out . It has plenty of easy-to-follow illustrations and instructions. It is geared for beginners and the casual computer user. It is loaded with Tips, Notes and Warnings about Facebook settings and use. Awl includes a large handful of special sections on Facebook norms - etiquette, the politics of "friending," discretion with privacy settings, using photo and video promotions, and more - which help new users especially, from getting into trouble with their friends, families, employers, and Facebook administrators.

There are 13 chapters comprehensively covering nearly everything one would want to know about Facebook. The early chapters cover the basics of setting up an account and a profile. The middle chapters detail how to make "friends, set up or join groups and networks, and how to use Facebook in promoting a business or an organization. There are sections on publishing text, photos, and videos and adding on third-party applications of all types-for communication, purchasing gifts and other items on the site, and just plain silliness.

A whole chapter is devoted to important privacy and security settings and behaviors. Facebook facilitates the disclosure of personal information which can have both good and bad consequences. Awl helps the reader understand how to deal with each. Some Facebook fans who are shut out of Facebook at work by overzealous employers will learn a handful of workarounds to maintain their Facebook presence, regardless. The final chapter shows how to integrate Facebook with mobile communication devices so as to never be away from interacting with Facebook friends.

All this personal information sharing may not sound worthwhile for some people, but the author describes how he overcame his own skepticism to become an advocate for the program, while carefully learning how to set limits on his personal disclosures.

In its own way, this is a remarkable little book. It is a guide to the everyday use of Facebook. It is neither too broadly focused nor too narrowly. It doesn't delve into areas that the typical Facebook user will never use. It doesn't, as some book on Facebook do, spend endless and needless time on privacy settings. They're covered, but not obsessed over.

And "Fscebook Me!" has some surprises: information that you're not likely to see elsewhere. I've read a bunch of book about Facebook lately in a kind of crash course of my own making and was truly surprised to learn things in "Facebook Me!" that I hadn't seen elsewhere.

Chapter 5, entitled "Wall, Status and News Feeds" is an eye-opener and, frankly, worth the price of the book.

David Awl has done a fine job of ferreting out the "secrets", if you will, of Facebook. There are a lot of tips and tricks to be found, nearly all of them useful.

This is far mote than a basic introduction to Facebook: it is truly a user's manual and a reference. (By the way, the book is so new that it covers the recently revamped Facebook interface. Nice.) I should add that the book is very well illustrated.

I can't overstress how thoroughly Awl has covered the use of Facebook. It is a very impressive effort - and extremely useful if you want to get the most out of Facebook. I learned a lot from this book that isn't apparent from the Facebook interface.

Definitely a keeper.

Jerry

In a word, this book is outstanding.

This is not a book about facebook, it is a book about how to get personal value out of facebook -- an important distinction. Dave Awl begins by explaining that he is a very unlikely author for such a volume -- having been dragged into the facebook world by some old friends. He soon discovered that facebook enabled him to connect with old friends, express his creativity, and participate in a vibrant online community.

The book is written for the novice and expert alike. Writing is informative, engaging, and unexpectedly funny throughout. Graphics are abundant -- those who prefer to skim could probably learn alot just by reviewing the screenshots and captions. Of particular interest is that Dave helps navigate not only the pages of facebook, but the culture of facebook, including how to handle unwanted friend requests, how to guard your privacy, and how to manage the flow of information you get in your friend's newfeeds.

This is one of the rare technology books that I believe will be enjoyed equally by those who thrive on the online experience as well as those who have some fear of it.

Great job, Mr. Awl! Now if you can just write a book about some of the other sites I use...

This book provides the ideal balance between introduction to the Facebook application and reference manual for the more experienced user. The first few chapters will prove a bit superfluous to all but the greenest of newbies. After that, you can count on some pretty solid information on using Facebook to enhance your online social communications leveraging the breadth of Facebook's communication features. Several elements of the book appealed to me particularly:

* Very visual and, for the most part (ca. July 2009), up-to-date with respect to the latest enhancements to the Facebook user interface
* Offers pragmatic advice on using Facebook features without overhyping features such as messaging, where there are clearly other capable tools.
* Provides a balanced view of Facebook's features and alternatives for integrating other alternative mechanisms in with Facebook to augment the out-of-the-box offering.

I can't emphasize the importance of the last two points to my assessment of the book. It showed me how to integrate other Web 2.0 technologies that I'm very happy with, e.g. FlickR for photos and Twitter for status updates, into Facebook. This integration allows me to enjoy what I believe to be the best of what Facebook has to offer (a huge social network of people you already know) with dramatically more sophisticated, open, and evolved media and messaging capabilities of other platforms.

For the new to intermediate Facebook user, this may be the only book they'll ever need. More dedicated and fanatical Facebook users might find that this book doesn't go deep enough. I find myself somewhere in between. I've caught on to Facebook pretty quickly but I still don't plan on using the majority of features outlined in this book. That's why the book is a solid 4 starts for me. Were I a bit more into Facebook and a bit less into other Web 2.0 technologies, I could see this being a 4.5 or 5 start book.

Facebook Me! discusses the basics of setting up a profile, adding friends, joining groups, and privacy issues. It's particularly strong in how to share photos & videos, how to use FB's calendar, setting up Pages, and setting up Events. Facebook Me! offers a 5-page essay on the Politics of Friending and a 3-page essay on The Fine Art of Not Being Obnoxious.
Author Dave Awl goes deep into FB Applications and discusses authorizing apps, blocking them, managing them, book marking them, how to find them. He's particularly enthusiastic about using photos and videos to promote your interests. For example, a theater company with a show about to open might post shots of rehearsals in progress. Or if you make handcrafted jewelry or furniture, post some samples of your work.

I really like the book's attractive page layout with color screen shots and illustrations.

We all know that Facebook is the hottest thing since maybe Friendster (anyone remember that?) or MySpace (does anyone go there anymore?), and unfortunately, Facebook constantly reinvents itself.

Whether you are logging on to Facebook for the first time, or are a pro, "Facebook Me!" will teach you some valuable tips and tricks on how to maximize your usage. The author takes the novice user through ever aspect of Facebook including a heavy emphasis on privacy and security. In particular, Awl's book will survive most Facebook interface changes because he focuses on the core values of why you are on Facebook and what you hope to accomplish. He handles such tricky issues as friending your boss and coworkers as well as to how to deal with friends who send you invites to every application known to man.

Awl gives great advice to new users on how to follow proper social mores on Facebook as well as how to prevent getting viruses on it. Experienced users will benefit from Awl's suggestions on topics such as how often and what to say in status updates and most important, how to check Facebook from work. Business owners in particular will benefit from this book's excellent explanation of pages, groups, and advertising on Facebook.

The book is extremely well organized so more experienced users can focus on the subject that interest them the most. A detailed table of contents helps readers hone in on their particular topics of interest and excellent use of color screen shots helps everyone visualize his descriptions. Although Facebook will surely redesign it's interface and the pictures will then look different, the concepts of keeping up with friends and acquaintances are at the core of Facebook. Awl's book is about how to use Facebook effectively, not merely a "how to" guide.

Pros: Well organized, detailed, perfect for novices and experienced users
Cons: Still doesn't tell me whether I should friend my Mom or not

Five out of Five Dogcows

The book was received promptly and as advertised. The information is good, easy to access and understand. I returned a previous book because it wasn't user friendly and the info was incomplete. This book answers all the questions I have had. I keep it handy because I use it quite a lot. I recommend this book highly.

Facebook Me is an extremely well written and humorous guide for navigating the ever-changing world of Facebook. I think it is especially appropriate for the over-30 crowd who may not be as technically savvy as their younger counterparts. The book is full of colorful screenshots, helpful margin notes and tips that make it very easy to understand the many different features that can be overwhelming to new users.

But it's not just an instruction manual for new users....it goes into great detail about how you can use Facebook to promote projects, events, groups and other interests. It delves into the meaty details of privacy settings and customizing your friends list that even seasoned Facebook users will find helpful. Filled with helpful nuggets of wisdom from start to finish, Dave Awl explains everything you need to know and then some! Every social networker should have a copy!

Facebook me! is witty and easy to read even for this non-technical gramps of 64. One basic problem is that today is Feb 6, 2010 and just yesterday Facebook changed it's front page look. When I bought the book in December of 2009 some features had changed from the time the book was printed, thus even more has changed. So, the illustrations of the actual web pages shown in Facebook me! will not match the actual pages in Facebook, 2010. Facebook is a fast moving entity, but Facebook me! can still teach you the core ideas needed to wrap your head around this "human bee-hive" concept of Facebook. Strongly recommend. Bill in Colorado.

I learned a few new tricks in this book, and found myself stopping several times to check out the item on Facebook that was mentioned on a particular page in the book. There are good examples (including screenshots) of the things mentioned in the book. I think it would be an even more interesting read for people who are newer to Facebook.