How Hard Is It to Make a Facebook Account?
- The requirements for a Facebook account are minimal. You need a valid email address. The email address you provide during signup will be used to complete your registration. Facebook will also send notifications about your account to that address unless you change it later. You are also required to divulge your true age and use your real name. Facebook does not allow minors younger than 13 years old to open accounts, nor may anyone use fake names or false identities.
- Registration begins on the homepage where you enter your real name, email address, birthdate and sex. Choose a strong password that you will remember. Facebook recommends you make it at least six characters long and a mix of letters, numbers and punctuation marks. After the initial signup, check your email for a message from Facebook and click the confirmation link in it.
- After registration, you can search for your school or work network or use the Friend Finder to search for contacts who may already be on Facebook. At some point you will also want to fill in your Profile page with your biographical details such as current location, family, work and education history, hobbies and interests and contact information. You are free to add as much or as little as you like to your profile; however your name, picture and network are always visible.
- Security is one of the biggest concerns that people have about Facebook. Be vigilant against phishing attempts, spam and abuse. Do not click links in emails that claim to be from Facebook -- always sign in to the actual site by first typing facebook.com in your browser. Avoid using a security question if you think others may be able to guess the answer. When choosing a password, do not use one that you have used in another site or a word that can be found in a dictionary.
- You almost certainly will not want to share all your profile information or activities with everyone on Facebook. To set your privacy controls, go to "Privacy Settings" in the "Account" menu. You can customize the privacy strength of most items in your account such as your photo albums, statuses and profile details. However some things are always public, such as your posts in Facebook Questions, your picture, name and network.
