Get started on Facebook and Twitter

Facebook: Create a profile

1. Go to http://www.facebook.com/

2. Under “Sign Up,” enter the following information.

• Full name (Using your first and last name instead of just a first name or a nickname will help people find you and recognize you. You can always adjust your privacy settings to make yourself more or less visible.)

• E-mail

• A password

• Gender

• Birthday

3. Enter the security text pictured.

4. Find friends using your e-mail account. After entering your e-mail address and password, Facebook will search your e-mail contacts to find out if any addresses match up with Facebook profiles.

5. Fill out your profile info. In order to help you connect with former or present classmates and co-workers, enter your high school, college/university, and/or your company name.
   Facebook will automatically start finding people you may know. You can either start sending friend requests now, or you can wait until your profile is complete.

6. Join a network. By entering the city in which you currently live in or near, you can also connect with neighbors and fellow community members. You can always add another geographic area if you move or want to connect with people you met in a different location.

7. Welcome to Facebook. From this screen, you can either start finding people you may know or continue editing your profile.

8. Click “View and edit my profile.” After clicking this button, you will be taken to your profile page. You can upload a profile picture and enter information about yourself, including your education and work background, interests and hobbies.

9. Find friends. Once you are satisfied with your profile page, begin searching for people. By clicking “Add as a friend,” that person will receive an e-mail, requesting them to log onto Facebook and confirm that they know you.
   If a person requests to add you as a friend, you will receive an e-mail, requesting that you log on to Facebook and confirm them as a friend.

10. Explore Facebook. Join groups, add applications, and create a photo album. More information can be found at http://www.facebook.com/help.php.

Facebook: Create a business page

1. Go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

2. Select one of three categories:

   • Local

   • Brand, Product or Organization

   • Artist, Band or Public Figure

3. Under your selected category, choose a subcategory.
   Example: An on-farm creamery looking to sell artisan cheeses across the region may want to select “Brand Product or Organization” then “Consumer Product.” A farmers market looking to attract local community may select “Local” then “Grocery.”
   If no subcategories fit your particular business, select most closely associated or most general category, such as “Other Business.”

4. Create a name for your page.

5. Sign with an electronic signature. If you already have a Facebook account, use the same name for your electronic signature as you have for your profile. If you do not have an individual Facebook account already set up, you will be directed to a page, requesting that you do so.
   For steps to set up an individual profile, scroll to top of page.

6. Enhance your page. Fill out background and contact information for your business. Post links, photos, videos, etc. to make Facebook users want to “become a fan” of your page.

7. More information about applications and features at http://www.facebook.com/help.php.

Extra advice: For both an individual profile and a business page, be sure to check out other users’ pages. Figure out what you like and update yours similarly.

Twitter: Setting up an account.

1. Go to http://www.twitter.com/

2. Click the “Get Started — Join” button.

3. Enter a full name, a username, your e-mail address and a password. Twitter will check the availability of your full name and username.
   If what you want is taken, try a slight variation. Check out these tips here: http://twittertips.org/tips-on-creating-a-better-twitter-username.html

4. As on Facebook, Twitter will ask you for your e-mail address and password so it can search for people you may know using Twitter.

5. Answer the question: what are you doing? Post your 140-character-or-less response for your first Tweet.

6. Personalize your account. Click the “Settings” link at the top of your page. Use this section to upload a photo, provide more information about you or your business, set up your privacy settings and link your mobile phone.

7. Click “Find people” to begin searching for users. Once you find a user you want to see updates from, click “follow.” Users are also able to “follow” you.

8. To post a reply to someone you are following or someone who is following you, use the @ symbol before their username.
   Keep in mind that these replies are public to the entire Twitter universe (Twitterverse). For a more private message, use the “Direct Message” function in Twitter.

9. To find Tweets about a particular topic, use the search toolbar on the right side of the page. When you are “Tweeting,” be sure to place the # symbol before key words so that others searching for your topic can find you. Examples are #ag, #dairy, #pork.

10. For more information and advice, check out http://help.twitter.com/portal or http://www.twittertips.org/.