Customer Reviews

Facebook: The Missing Manual: The Missing Manual

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

The Facebook online social network site has become a phenomenon with over 50 million account holders registered with the "online village." It is easy to open an account and almost immediately set up online relationships with friends, coworkers, and community groups. Like its online rival, MySpace, Facebook's features include easy ways for people and (businesses) to connect via blog features, online groups and networks, photo and video sharing, text messaging and postings, and an elaborate tracking system which stores Facebook's activities and allows access to that data to other FaceBook users and even to others not directly connected with Facebook.

The book, "Facebook: the Missing Manual," is designed primarily for the non-technical computer person who wants to join the fun and business of using Facebook. It is a basic primer describing how to use and enjoy the Facebook features --from registering, setting up a profile, finding and inviting friends to join your personal network, joining groups and networks which share your interests, playing with both silly and serious applications, and using Facebook for business purposes, even for job postings and searching.

The book is a relatively short 268 pages, given its layout of large-sized text, much white space, and the presence of numerous full color screenshots illustrating step-by-step instructions on using Facebook. Geeks and nerds probably will not find much value in this book, but computer neophytes will enjoy its simple, yet comprehensive, approach to its topic.

More importantly, in my view, not just for neophyte users but for many of those already using Facebook, is the books' most useful theme which is learning how to understand the privacy issues involved in using Facebook. Facebook's most salient feature is its activity tracking system which stores data on nearly all Facebook activities and provides ample means of access to that data by other Facebook users, data-mining companies, and even third-party businesses which track off-site consumer activity like shopping, - and up to recently - without a user's active consent .

Once data is entered into a Facebook account, it never disappears, not even after one deactivates the account. For those users comfortable with sharing nearly everything about themselves online - personal information, candid videos and photos, and the like, this state of affairs can have enormous practical consequences either now or later, both good and bad. Facebook's privacy preferences are mostly of the "opt out" nature, so if you don't pay attention to the consequences of even the seemingly most innocuous user configurations--for example, activating any third-party applications no matter how silly, allow the developer full access to your personal data--privacy-related problems can develop.

The book is filled with tips and practical suggestions at every section providing information on what can happen with these your and your friends' data and what steps one can take to protect your privacy expectations. Those tips alone justify the price of the book, for yourself, (or as the case may be), your kids, or grandkids.

I bought both this and Facebook For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)). This book did include some tips not present in Facebook For Dummies, but didn't have many of the tips found in Facebook For Dummies. I also felt like Facebook For Dummies did a better job of explaining why Facebook does things a certain way, and how the whole system works together. That's probably a result of Facebook For Dummies being written by Facebook insiders, while The Missing Manual was written by outsiders.

Ideally, buy both and get the benefits of both books. But if I had to just have one, I would probably go with Facebook For Dummies.

So let's say you're someone who hasn't dabbled much in the Web 2.0 world, and you're wondering what all this talk of Facebook is about. Or, you're a parent and you've heard media reports of how dangerous Facebook can be for your kids if they're not careful. If you want to get a overview of the site without getting totally bogged down in the details once you log on, Facebook: The Missing Manual is a good option to pursue. You'll find out the reality of what Facebook offers, why people find it appealing, and what sort of security matters you should keep in mind as you (or your kids) establish a presence there.

Contents:
Part 1 - From Signing Up to Staying Connected: Getting Started; Joining a Network; Finding and Adding Friends; Sending Messages to Friends; Exchanging Automatic Updates
Part 2 - Interest Groups and Shopping: Participating in Groups; Facebook and the Real World - In-person Events; Going Shopping
Part 3 - Doing Business with Facebook: Hiring and Getting Hired; Collaborating on Projects via Facebook; Advertising on Facebook
Part 4 - Privacy and Power Tools: Customizing Facebook and Adding Applications; Playing It Safe - Facebook Privacy; Facebook Mobile
Part 5 - Appendix: Getting Help; Index

The book starts off with the basics... how to sign up, create your identity, and what sort of groups you could join. I immediately learned something in that area when it came to what groups you're allowed to join in terms of locations and schools. I didn't realize there were the restrictions that required you to have an email address from the school you were associating with. There's also the information on how to send messages to others you know on Facebook. All that's pretty basic, and you could likely get most of that from just logging in and going for it. It's when you get to the following parts that you start to see some of the additional power that may not be readily apparent unless you dig deep on your own. For instance, I wasn't aware of being able to place ads, setting up group collaboration, or looking at Facebook as being a portfolio of your work that a prospective employer might see. Probably the most important part of the book is the section on privacy. It's tempting to want to load up all sorts of details on yourself, but it's really not a wise idea. Vander Veer does a good job in outlining where you should be drawing the line, as well as what risks you take by adding Facebook applications or not restricting your profile properly.

While I do have a Facebook presence already, I came away from this book with a greater understanding of how you could use the tool for more than just "poking" your friends. Many of the features of Facebook have stand-alone equivalents (such as blogs, picture storage, etc.), but you may choose to want to keep everything in one single place for easier integration. And if you're the parent who wants to know what your kids are up to, you'll be able to discuss Facebook with them without all the associated hype and hysteria so often present in media reports.

One thing to keep in mind, however... Sites like Facebook change often with little tweaks and new enhancements. While this book will cover the basics well, don't be surprised if there's a new feature that's not covered at all by the time you read it, or if the screen shots don't match exactly. Such is life in the world of Web 2.0.

This book was published in January 2008. It may have been helpful in its day, but in Facebook terms this book is about as current as a manual for fixing a black and white television or describing the optimal position for rabbit ear antennas.

I have been a Facebook user since 2005, when the social network was limited only to college kids (I worked in a college: I was not a college student at the time). Seeing it evolve as it has in recent months has been a pleasant thing as it has allowed me to reconnect with old friends that I had effectively lost touch with.

As a longtime user, I thought I knew most of what Facebook had to offer, but this Missing Manual proved that there was lots more that I had no clue about. I was unaware of the ability to sell things through Facebook, for instance and, also, I was not as clear about the multiple options available for advertisers (though I found the chapter dedicated to this topic a bit limited).

I liked that the book was not all praise about the platform: there is clear recognition about the areas that are still confusing and the use of certain names (such as "Pages") for things that could have been named more intuitively.

Last, there were an excellent couple of chapters devoted to Privacy and Facebook Mobile (for sure a dimension of the social network that we will see grow in the coming months and years). Overall, the book was a pleasantly useful resource that I highly recommend to anyone who is starting out with Facebook and longtime users alike.

I am surprised that Amazon still sells this book without posting a disclaimer that it is so outdated as to be nearly worthless. Again and again readers are advised to go to menus that do not exist, or to click on links "at the top of any page" that no longer appear anywhere, on even one page. To make matters worse, the index omits many essential terms, so when the text refers you to a nonexistent feature, there is no way to tell whether it is simply a misprint, or if the same feature is discussed elsewhere in the book.

Some of the basic information is still usable, but for optimizing your use of Facebook, you would be far better off saving your money and putting your questions to random middle schoolers on the nearest street corner.

*****
I bought four Facebook books to help me figure out how to more effectively use Facebook and this is far and away the best. Although I've been a light user of Facebook for over a year, I've had trouble figuring out things like privacy, security, applications, and more. I'm the sort of person who likes to understand what's behind what I'm doing or what I'm adding to my profile, and this book fits the bill.

It is well-organized and easy to use for reference after reading once through. It is funny, useful, and interesting to read. Most important to me, it is easy to understand, explaining things via screen shots (pictures in the book of what your screen looks like). The book also includes access to a web site with links to everything mentioned in the book as well.

I found out answers to some of my basic questions such the following:
What is a poke?
How do I send anonymous gifts?
What is the difference between news feeds, mini-feeds, and notifications?
How do you create an event?

Most importantly, this book discusses security and privacy issues at length.

If you are familiar with all of the above, or have been using Facebook for a while and know your way around, this probably wouldn't be the book for you. But if any of the above intrigues you, you will love the format, style, and information found in this book.

Highly recommended.
*****

Published in Jan 2008, this book no longer describes Facebook as it has made radical changes to the site recently. The book's pictures of screens and menu items are mostly not there. Should be pulled from circulation.

As do other books on the subject, the one covers the basics: setting up a profile, finding friends, how to use the Wall, news feeds, communication options, applications & add-ons, joining and setting up groups, buying and selling things, and going mobile. But it's particularly strong on business uses of FB, including hiring, collaborating on projects, and file sharing. The author discusses setting up FB Events to organize get-togethers for co-workers and clients, how to use FB Marketplace to "buy or sell just about anything," and how to use FB to find employees and to find employment.

I bought this book for my kindle2 and found it almost useless. I'm new to facebook and was hoping for a quick primer. Unfortunately it's all about a previous version of facebook. You can use some of the information, but only with a lot of work. Wish I'd bought "Facebook for dummies."