Facebook: The Missing Manual, 3rd Edition

Chapter 5. Sending Messages to Friends

Just like your email program, Facebook lets you send private Messages to other Facebook members. “Great,” you’re probably thinking, “just what I need: yet another inbox to check.” But before you skip to the next chapter, you might want to give these tools a chance.

First off, Facebook makes exchanging Messages dead simple—even easier than regular email. And then there are the slightly zany—but slightly addictive—ways to keep in touch with others that no email program can match. In an effort to mimic the different ways we interact with people in real life, Facebook lets you poke (give a virtual “Hey, how ya doin’?” wave to) friends and write on their virtual message boards for all their—and your—other friends to see, which can lead to the Facebook version of a group hug. Even if you’re not persuaded by any of this, it’s still worth understanding the messaging system since, soon enough, you’ll no doubt get a Facebook Message from one of your friends.

Sending Messages

Lots of websites offer free web-based email, and Facebook is one of them—sort of. As a Facebook member, you can send private Messages to any other Facebook member (whether or not they’re on your friend list) and to regular email addresses. But only other Facebook members can send you Facebook Messages. In other words, when you register for Facebook, you don’t get a [e-mail] email account; instead, people have to sign up for Facebook and follow the steps below if they want ...