3 Steps to Getting Started on Facebook

stay connected with people they know and with people who have similiar interests.Using the Facebook website, you can stay in touch with friends and family by sharing updates and pictures and also stay up to date by following your interests.

People are joining Facebook every day, and now, according to the most recent Pew Internet study, one-third of internet users age 65+ use Facebook, and 18% of them log on everyday.

Have you been curious about Facebook, wanting to see what the big fuss is about? You can get started using Facebook in three steps: 1) Sign up, 2) Search, and 3) Share! Here's a walk through guide (with pictures!) to help you get signed up and connecting with the people you know.

1. Sign-Up

First, go to www.Facebook.com. Fill in the simple sign-up form with your basic information.

After signing up, it will prompt you through a few steps where you can find friends through your email account, enter your basic education and employment information, and upload a profile picture. You can do these steps now or simply click skip, and Facebook will prompt you to do these steps later. You do not have to provide any of this information. If you do decide to provide these, you can adjust your privacy settings later to make sure that only the people you know can see it.

Once you've signed up, Facebook creates your Timeline. This page may also be referred to as your Profile Page because its what people first see when they search for you. You can view this page by clicking your name in the right-hand corner in the top blue bar. You can control how much personal information is shown on your Timeline in your Privacy Settings.

2. Search

Now it's time to find "Friends" on Facebook. Once you become Friends with someone it means that youll be able to see the updates that they post, and they will be able to see what you post.  One way that Facebook suggests Friends for you is through your email account. If you enter your email address, Facebook uses your email contacts and searches those email address to find people you know on Facebook.

You may not want to use your email account to find Friends. If so, you can simply search for someone by entering their name in the search field.

Facebook will then show a list of people with that name or with a similar name. To make sure its the correct person you know, look at their hometown (if you know where they live) or their education (if you know where they went to school). Once you know it is the right person, click on their name. This will take you to their Timeline page. To send a Friend Request to this person you know, click the "+1 Add Friend" button.

The other person has to accept your friend request. Once they accept your Friend Request, you can view your friends' updates and pictures on your News Feed, which is on your Facebook Home Page. You can view your Home Page by clicking the word "Home" in the top right-hand corner in the blue bar. Each new post from your Friends is added to the top of your News Feed. You can scroll down on your News Feed to view your Friends' updates. For example, if you are Friends with your granddau