Technology Lesson: Updating Your Facebook Status

If social networking Web site Facebook "pioneered" anything common in today's world of social networking (there is, believe it or not, the Old World—Makeoutclub, Friendster—in the social networking wonderland), it is the status update.

When Facebook started, the site didn't have status updates. When updates were implented, a user would fill-in-the-blank to "[Name] is..." For example, I would write, "writing a post for her blog." Facebook would post, "Katherine M. Hill is writing a post for her blog." In present day Facebook, the site asks, "What's on your mind?" The updates includes only your published name and allows you to share your status, thoughts, links to sites or articles, photos, videos, and events.

Personally, I think it's better form to translate your status update in to a complete sentence. For example, "Katherine M. Hill wishes her mother would use Twitter more!" is better than "Katherine M. Hill wish my mother used Twitter more!" (I also think it's poor form to ignore punctuation.)

I also think it's poor to use passive aggressive, rude, or mean language, provide Too Much Information, reveal secrets or embarrassing information about others, pick fights, or behave in a manner that opens judgment and ridicule in a status update. (It is better to read Lamebook than provide fodder for it.)

In short: look smart, be brave, be nice, and don't overshare.
To Post Your Facebook Status

1. Log in to Facebook.

2. Find the bar that says "What's on your mind?" The status bar is in the center of your screen at the top. It is under "News Feed Live Feed"
3. Put the cursor of your mouse (it's the arrow you move around on your screen) in that box.

4. The cursor has changed, and the question from Facebook should be gone. Enter your status.
-If the status is just an update about your activities, type the message and click SHARE.
-If the status is a link, click the fourth icon under the status bar.
When your mouse hovers over the icon, or clicks the icon, a bubble will appear that says LINK. Paste your link in the status bar, provide commentary for your link in the status bar, and click ATTACH.
5. Click SHARE.
6. Facebook may ask you to confirm that you are not a robot. If it asks you to fill out the captcha, do so. If you decline, your status will not post!
Your status will post immediately:


Additional Resources:
Previous Facebook posts
Lamebook