Social Networking Discover How to: Create your own profile Find and contact old friends Find others who share your interests Tips & Tricks from Share your messages and photos Sean McManus What is social networking Sean McManus about? Social Networking Older and Wiserfor the l Websites that enable people to get in Connect with Family and Friends, Old and New touch and stay in touch with friends, old and new ISBN: 978-0-470-68640-9 • £12.99 l You can tell your friends and family what you’ve been doing, and see what l Friends they’ve been doing Reunited. Best for organising UK school reunions or finding l You can share photos with friends, play old school and college buddies. Most games or arrange to meet up users drop in occasionally. l You can find others with similar interests, l Twitter. Good for publishing your or from the same town and/or age group thoughts to the world. Not so good for l You can seek advice from others on private communications. Focus is on your hobbies or personal matters short text messages. l It’s mostly free, although some more l Saga Zone. Vibrant community of over advanced services charge a modest fee 50s in the UK. Best for making new friends and discussions with others in l You can visit social networking sites the over 50s age group. from any computer with an internet connection l Eons. Large and friendly community of mostly over 50s, headquartered in the US. l Meetup. Find groups to meet with in Which social network the real world. Use it to plan events for to use? your own real-world groups. l Ning. A site for special interest discussion communities. It enables Different networks have different l you to create a meeting place on the features, but go where your friends are internet for your own social or special (or might be) interest group. l Facebook. Best for connecting with l Specialist networks. There are lots current and past friends, worldwide. of them dedicated to photography, Good for photo sharing, chatting and gardening, knitting… and more! games. You will definitely have friends or family on Facebook already. l Find links to all these networks at www.sean.co.uk Visit www.pcwisdom.co.uk for more details about the Older and Wiser series and to view author videos on social networking How to make it easy for l Review your privacy settings regularly your friends to find you l Consider an anonymous username (where the network allows this) l If you enter false personal l Make sure you can be found using the information, make sure you network’s search engine remember what you entered l Include your school, college, university l Consider using an abstract or symbolic and workplace details photo instead of a photo of your face l Use your real name and maiden name l There is a trade-off between how (where appropriate and possible) much privacy you have and how easy l Use a good head and shoulders photo it is for friends to find you for your profile picture l Invite your existing friends to join you Tips for protecting your security Strategies for finding your friends l Don’t tell the whole world when the house will be empty l Use both Friends Reunited and l If you go to a real-world meeting, Facebook take a friend l Complete your profile. It’s a good memory jogger when you send a friend request How to make the most l Search for your friends’ friends. They from social networking might be easier to find l Connect with all your current online l Actively seek out your friends friends. Who else do they know? l Visit regularly l Search the site by a friend’s email l Share what you’re doing and what address if you have one. It’s quicker you’re thinking l Leave comments and messages for Tips for protecting your your friends privacy l Find a community of people who share your interests l Don’t try to keep up with every l Work out how much information network out there you’re happy to share, and who with l Remember: the network only shares Find out more in Sean’s new book the information you put into it Social Networking for the l Create a separate free email address at Older and Wiser www.gmail.com for social networking ISBN: 978-0-470-68640-9 • £12.99 l Make sure you understand who can see what.