I love Facebook, but no one has written a manual for how to use it. I think that’s good and bad. It allows for creativity, but it’s also intimidating, and leaves people feeling overwhelmed. Since Facebook is the most popular website on the planet, let’s talk about how to use it.

It’s hard to handle the sheer volume of information on the screen, let alone try and keep up with it. Over the next few days, I want you to really look at your news feed. If you see something interesting, like it or comment on it. Facebook places higher priority on content from people that you interact with regularly. If you don’t interact with it, Facebook doesn’t know that it interests you, and it may get shuffled to the bottom or not get displayed at all. Also, try removing people and companies and groups that don’t really affect your life. (see my guide to leaving groups HERE).

One of the hardest things about Facebook is saying “No” to a friend request. The barrier to entry for adding friends is so low, it’s almost insulting for someone to refuse a friend request. We aren’t conditioned to say No when someone asks to be our friend. Facebook is different though. They aren’t asking to be our friend, they are asking to display information to us with content and timing of their choosing. They will be part of a constant stream of information that we have to wade through. They aren’t just friends, they are contributors. If you don’t have the room in your brain to handle more input, it’s ok to say so. We have to manage the flow somehow. So don’t add that childhood friends older sister that you barely talked to back then, and haven’t seen in 20 years. It’s ok. We have to be the masters of our environment.

Facebook is an amazing tool for communication and collaboration. It’s also a vast sea of information and rapid-fire status updates. How do you organize your digital life?

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