When choosing a profile picture, look for one that shows off your smile, your eyes, or a moment where you look expressive and friendly. Add photos with interesting textural backgrounds like an art gallery or beautiful gardens. Avoid using logos or brands as your profile picture, as this may appear you are a spam page or trying to sell something to people who become friends with you. Try not to use a picture of your pet or a group shot of you with others, as this could make it hard for someone to know who they are becoming friends with. Your cover image (the large image at the top of your Facebook profile) should also be approachable and personal. It could show a collage of other pictures of you or one bold image that conveys you as a whole.
Putting down your interests, your favorite movies, and your favorite books in your About page will give someone a better sense of what you enjoy and whether you would be a good fit as a friend, but keep in mind these are considered “extras” on your profile and are not required to set up a Facebook profile page. Be aware that Facebook sells your information to marketing groups and third parties, who will then use the data to better market products to you. So be cautious of how much information you share about yourself on Facebook. [3] X Research source
Use this feature with caution, as you don’t want to become guilty of oversharing one post or clogging up your friends’ Facebook news feeds with your online activity. If you are sharing a tweet from Twitter on your Facebook, try to remove all the hashtags used in the original tweet. Hashtags can look redundant and are unnecessary when they are posted on Facebook.
Everyone: Grants access to anyone on the Internet. Friends: Grants access to only your friends on Facebook. Friends of Friends: Grants access to your friends on Facebook, as well as their friends. Custom: Grants access to a select audience of your choice, including specific people and networks. Use the audience selector tool option, which allows you to decide how public or how private you want a certain status you just posted or a photo of you added by a friend or by you, to be. [6] X Research source You can also set privacy settings for future posts or tags by you and of you by others. Doing this will ensure you know exactly what you are sharing with your friends and what will remain private. This way, you can keep your profile friendly, and still have control over how much you want your new friends to know about you.
Start with individuals you know directly via your other social groups, as well as relatives or family friends that may be on Facebook.
To do this, you will need a . csv file of all your contacts. If you are using Microsoft Outlook, simply export your contacts, and if you are using Gmail or Hotmail, go to contacts and look for export in the settings menu. Be sure to screen your email contacts before you upload them to Facebook, as sometimes work contacts or old contacts can get mixed in. You want to avoid adding individuals who are purely work related to your personal Facebook page. As well, its best to avoid adding individuals you do not talk to anymore or interact with as they will likely be a non presence on your Facebook page or not accept your friend request.
Facebook will also show you how many mutual friends in common you have with this potential friend so you can trace how you know this person and are assured it is not a complete stranger.
By joining online groups full of like minded individuals or those who also share your interests, you will be posting and sharing with a potentially large pool of individuals who could also become Facebook friends with you. If you see a post on a group you are part of that you find interesting, reply to it and start a dialogue with the person who posted the comment or link. This dialogue could then develop into a friend request.
For example, if you’re sending a friend request to someone in the same online West African Music Appreciation group as you, add a friendly note to the request clarifying how you know each other and that you thought it would be great if you could be friends. As well, if you are friending a friend of a friend, add a note about your mutual friend in common.
Sharing and commenting on the walls of your friends will not only lead to more friend requests, it will also give your new friends a sense of who you are online and what you like to talk about or share with others.
In fact, posts about personal journeys, stories, or just a funny thing that happened to you that day tend to get some of the highest likes and comments. Of course, keep in mind the too much information rule and try to share things you would want to tell a casual friend or the general public. Don’t overstep the comfort level of others, and if you do decide to TMI, be prepared to lose some Facebook friends!
When in doubt, ask a yes or no question to start a conversation and then respond promptly to keep the conversation with your friends going.
By keeping your Facebook presence interesting and full of different posts or shares, you will keep your friends engaged in what you have to say.
Always keep your audience in mind before you post anything on Facebook. If the information seems better suited for your Facebook business page or as a private message to someone who has expressed interest in your business, put it where it belongs and don’t let it clutter your friends’ news feed.
Try to post two to three things a day, at different times of day, to reach the most friends and not seem like you are trying to clog up their news feeds.
