Facebook is many things, but “intuitive” definitely isn’t one of them. But hey, guess what? After 10 years, it's finally figured out that most of us have no idea how to perform some of the social media platform’s most basic actions — and accordingly, it's created a bunch of Facebook how-to videos and posted them to its official YouTube channel. It’s about time, right?
So far, they’ve covered four topics: How to edit a post, how to untag a photo, how to share something with just your friends, and how to block someone. Of course, the one they haven’t done yet — how to adjust your security and privacy settings — is probably the one that we need most; if I had a nickel for every time the way they operate changed, becoming almost comically inscrutable in the process… well, let’s just say I’d have a lot of nickels. Hopefully the current four are just the first installment of a continuing series, because seriously, Facebook. Why are these things so difficult?
One of the other downsides to the videos is that they focus exclusively on the Facebook mobile app; things look a little different on the website, but with luck, they’re not so different that you won’t be able to extrapolate the lessons from one platform to the other. At least each one puts the topic in question in some sort of realistic context — it makes them a little more relateable. After all, we’ve all had friends tag us in unflattering photos that we’d rather not have splashed across our profile for all the world to see, right?
Here’s the short version of each video (in case you don’t have five minutes to, y’know, actually watch them), presented in a handful of pictures:
How to Edit a Post:
See that little downward-facing, minimalist arrow in the top right corner of your post? Click on it. When the drop-down menu appears, select “Edit Post”…
…Et voilá! Edit away, then click “Done Editing” when you’re finished.
How to Untag a Photo:
Did one of your coworkers ignore the cardinal rule of not posting embarrassing photos from the company holiday party on the Internet? Go ahead and tap the little “three dots” icon on the right-hand side below the photo.
Then, when the menu comes up, tap “Remove Tag”…
And then confirm it by tapping “OK.” It won’t make the photo vanish entirely — but at least it’ll make it a lot more difficult for people to match you with it. P.S.: Is anyone else curious about what the “I don’t like this photo” option is for? If it doesn't untag it, what does it do? Hide the image from you, maybe? I don't know. It's a mystery.
How to Share a Post with Just Your Friends:
This one might be a little difficult to see, but up at the top of the screen below “Update Status,” there’s a line that says “To.” The default setting is “Public,” meaning everyone and anyone will be able to see your post — but by tapping “To,” you can change it.
Once you tap “To,” it’ll bring up the menu seen here. Select “Friends”; then hit “Done” and “Post.” Ta da! Your post will only be visible to people who you’re actually friends with.
How to Block (and Unblock) Someone:
It’s worth noting that blocking someone isn’t the same as hiding updates from them; the example the video uses centers around wanting space from someone after a breakup, but it’s also what you’ll want to do if someone is harassing you. Go to the person profile and tap the “More” icon (the one that looks like three horizontal lines stacked on top of each other)…
Then select “Block”…
Then confirm it by selecting “Block” again. The person will now no longer be able to see things you post on your timeline, tag you in posts, invite you to things, message you, or add you as a friend; if you were friends with the person when you blocked them, the action will also unfriend them. Facebook also won’t notify the person that you blocked them.
If you want unblock them, tap the “More” icon on your homepage (again, it’s the one that looks like three horizontal lines)…
Scroll down and go to “Account Settings”…
Then “Blocking”…
Then tap the word “Unblock” next to the person’s name, and tap it again when prompted to confirm it. It won’t re-friend them, but you can go ahead and do that manually if you want to.
Watch the “How to Block and Unblock Someone” video below; head on over to Facebook’s YouTube page for the others:
Images: theofficialfacebook/YouTube (14)
