Several years ago Facebook has overtaken the position of the most popular social media website around the world, and although new websites like Instagram and Google+ keep appearing, none of them have yet reached the levels of popularity set by Facebook. However, even if you’re a years-long Facebook user, there is a good chance that you don’t know a lot of the cool features and tricks it has to offer. Keep reading and find out how to use Facebook like a pro!
1. Save news for later
How often have you browsed your Facebook feed and come across something really interesting that you don’t have the time to read right now? Earlier you had to either bookmark the page, or just let it go, missing the chance to learn something new and cool. But now you don’t have to miss anything. Whenever you see a post that caught your attention, press the small arrow button on the right and click Save link. Then you will be able to access the link from the Saved section of your settings. Never skip anything cool again!
2. Get rid of annoying notifications
Notifications are the single most annoying thing for millions of Facebook users. If you’ve ever had to reject an invite to Candy Crush or other popular game for the thousandth time in a day, you know what we mean. Now you can get rid of invites altogether. Go to your Facebook app on your smartphone, click Settings > Account Settings > Notifications > Mobile, and un-check the Application Invites field. That’s it – game invites will never bother you again.
3. Keep in trend
If your Facebook feed is limited to your classmates, relatives and co-workers, you risk missing out important topics that are currently talked about on Facebook. But don’t worry – the current most important events of the world are only a click away. Open up your feed, go to the right and find the Trending list. There you’ll see topics and hashtags that have risen to popularity in the recent hours or days. Now you can keep in touch with the world whenever you need.
4. Stop videos from playing automatically
When Facebook made auto-play the default setting for all users, some people were outraged – auto-playing videos are clearly disruptive and can stand in a way of your normal Facebook browsing. However, you can easily turn the auto-play off. You can use the settings of your mobile Facebook app for that. Go to Settings > Videos and Photos > and turn auto-play off, so that loud or suddenly loading videos never annoy you again.
5. Look at your activity
Not many Facebook users know this, but Facebook actually keeps a log of everything you’ve ever liked, shared, or commented on since you’ve started using Facebook. If you want to find an interesting article that you clearly remember sharing a few years ago, or a photo you’ve liked last month, go to your Activity Log and see everything you’ve ever reacted to while using Facebook. Never lose track of your activity from now on!
6. Hide your friends list
There are many reasons why you don’t want every Facebook user to see a list of your friends. Whatever reason you choose, you can easily make your Facebook friends list invisible for anyone but yourself. To do it open your complete friends list, press the Manage icon, and go to Edit Privacy. From there you can choose the accessibility levels for anything, including the friends list, for groups of friends, your followers or people you follow, or even anyone viewing your profile.
7. Block people altogether
If you’ve become victim to online harassment, or simply want to limit your communication with the certain people, you can stop that person from ever writing you or reaching out to you in any other way using Facebook. Whenever there is a person you want to break off contact with, visit their Facebook profile, click on the three dots on the right in the cover photo, and choose Block. That’s it – you’ll never receive a message from them again unless you unblock that person.
8. Follow a specific user
If you want to never miss updates from a certain person that uses Facebook, you can receive direct notifications every time that person posts something, uploads a picture or updates their status. Visit that user’s profile, click the Friends button, and select the Get Notifications option. Now you can be the first one to know what is happening to that particular user.
