Facebook 101 gems

"Be careful who you're poking," said Nataki Clark of the AARP Web team. This was the tip of the day to a packed-house of nearly 600 at the AARP Vegas@50+ conference at the Sands Expo Center. At least 100 more were turned away as the room reached capacity well before the start time of the presentation. More than two-thirds of the audience said they are already on the popular social networking site, with the other third eager to learn all they can about getting started.

Hugh Delehanty, editor-in-chief of AARP publications, told the audience that the best thing about Facebook is the fact that the user is in control of how much personal information is shared on the site. The trouble is, though, that users need to know how to set the customize tools, as Facebook defaults expose nearly everything for the world to see.

He led the group through a set of slides showing the privacy settings and the deep level of control the user has. "The bottom line is, don't put anything on your (Facebook) wall that you don't want your mother to see or your employer to see," he said.

Delehanty said one of the things he likes most about Facebook is it's "whackiness factor." He called it a sometimes crazy place that reminds him of the 1960s, and shared a story from the inauguration of President Obama in January. "The day after the inauguration there were more than one million people who joined the Aretha Franklin hat group on Facebook," he said. Crazy.

"Facebook gives me a finger on what's going on in the world," Delehanty said. "It's what people are discussing and that's not what is in the New York Times or on NBC."

The discussion turned to how to grow your Facebook Friends list. Delehanty said some users will "poach" friends from the lists of their friends friends. That's one way to grow your list -- simply ask all your friends' friends to become your friend.

That leads to the underlying question about Facebook Friends. "Is it a Facebook friend, or a real friend?," Angel Todd, also of the AARP Web team said.

The answer to that question has led me to accept friends only if I actually the know the person requesting my Facebook friendship. I still have a few people on my list who are unknown to me, so I need to carve out some time to pare down my list. Todd told the group that people should be ready to explain why you deleted a person from your friends list. That's simple. Do I know you?

I suggest the AARP folks add Facebook 201 and Facebook 301 to the agenda next year. The house will be packed.