Category Archives: Facebook Tutorial

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Facebook Game Ads and Facebook News Feeds, taking control of your options, with pictures – HaliPawz

One of the joys of writing about a Facebook game such as Candy Crush Saga, like I did yesterday led to my news feed on Facebook having game ads.  This is different than the game requests we get from friends I wrote about before.  These ads show us what games our friends are playing.  I don’t fault someone for playing games on Facebook, I just don’t want my news feed filled with advertisements about all the games I can play.  This post will show you how to minimize them and how to control some of the options of your Facebook News Feed so you see what you really care about and not everything else.

As with most things on Facebook, if you want to make adjustments and changes, the easiest way is to do it from a desktop or laptop.  If you don’t have access to those, open Facebook up in your web browser on your smart phone or tablet, not in the app, click on your options (my pictures show on IOS so it may be different on another phone or tablet but it should be in a similar location) scroll all the way to the bottom, and click on Desktop Version.

Accessing Desktop Version on an IOS system

Accessing Desktop Version on an IOS system

Accessing Desktop Version on an IOS system

Accessing Desktop Version on an IOS system

This is what Facebook will look like after you switch it to Desktop Site Option

This is what Facebook will look like after you switch it to Desktop Site Option  Shoutout to “Smokey the Pony” featured in this pic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you can see, it is pretty small, so it is a lot easier to do on a desktop or laptop computer but if you don’t have it, then make the best of it!

 

 

So, now we are ready to begin.

 

 

 

 

 

****To just see how to edit News Feed Options, scroll to the bottom to the Bonus Tip****

Step 1 – Determine you do not want to see a particular game’s advertisement on your feed anymore. I have chosen Vegas Downtown Slots.  I will never play it and I don’t want to continue seeing it.

Selecting a Game you no longer want to see on your newsfeed in Facebook

Selecting a Game you no longer want to see on your news feed in Facebook

Step 2 – Click on the Select Options button (Looks Like a V in the right hand corner of the post) Then click on the “Hide All” Option

Two steps, first the option select button, then the hide all optio

Two steps, first the option select button, then the hide all option

You will see a screen like this

Facebook Game Advertisement is now hidden

Facebook Game Advertisement is now hidden

The next steps are optional.  You can go and enjoy Facebook like before or take control of your News Feed

 

Step 3 – This is to have better control of your news feed.  Click on News Feed Preferences

Facebook Game Posts 3b

 

Step 4 – Go through each option, look to see which groups, people, etc you want to “follow”.  If you don’t want them showing up on your news feed but you don’t want to remove the group or the person, just click the “following” box.  All the ones with a check mark next to them are ones you have showing up in your news feed.  If they have a ” + Follow” box then they are not showing up.

Looking through each category to see who you want to follow or unfollow to determine what shows on your news feed

Looking through each category to see who you want to follow or unfollow to determine what shows on your news feed

Step 5 – Click on any you do not want to show up in your news feed.  Once you have gone through each category, you can just close it and you are done!  Your news feed will be more of what you WANT to see and less of what you don’t!

Make sure the ones you do not want showing up in your news feed have and + before the word follow.

Make sure the ones you do not want showing up in your news feed have and + before the word follow.

****Bonus Tip****

If you just want to edit your News Feed Preferences, you can do this at any time.  On a desktop or laptop, Move your mouse over the News Feed option on the left hand side (under Search Facebook)

A little gear shift icon will appear to the left of News Feed

Click on it and then click on Edit Preferences

This will take you to the same options as listed before

Facebook game Post 9 Facebook Game Post 10

 

 

 

 

 

Forgive the graininess of these pics, I couldn’t hover and do a screen shot at the same time so I had to take with my iPhone.

 

 

I hope this helps you have a better experience with your Facebook News Feed!

 

If you like this and want to stay up to date with my posts, follow me on Twitter @HaliPawz  or Like me on Facebook.com/HaliPawz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Internet Tutorial: Minimizing Game Requests on Facebook – HaliPawz

All too often, I hear the complaint about game requests.  I have mentioned in previous posts it is not always easy to stop a game from sending a request to someone you know doesn’t play, or even more accurately, it is impossible to know who really plays and who doesn’t.  This blog is going to help you minimize the requests because it will stop the recurring requests from your friends who play games you do not play.

This is easiest to do from your desktop / laptop.  You can do it from a mobile or tablet, but you have to switch it to desktop mode.  I have found it to be so much easier to do from the desktop or laptop though.

First step is to go down to the Apps on the left hand side and click on games.

FB Game 1st block

Once there, it will show you the games you play (if any) first, you don’t want to do anything with them.  Under that, there will be your game invites.  You click the X or Ignore next to the games you do not want and then it will ask you if you want to ignore the game.

FB Game Block 1

FB Game Block 2

Then you will click confirm.  Once you click confirm, it will stop that particular game from sending you requests.

As you scroll down, you may see it also listed like this, when you do, just click “Block” and then “Confirm” again.

FB Game Block 3  FB Game Block 4

By doing this, the friends who play the games will not annoy you by sending you continuous game requests and everyone will be happy!

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Internet Safety Tutorial #1 – Facebook Giveaways – HaliPawz

It happens to the best of us. We get overwhelmed with everything on social media and we miss those dreaded problem sites. Those moments a friend or family member shares or likes a posting on Facebook from companies that are just using it to spam their friends! I recently was talking to a couple of family members about when to click and when not to and they had no clue about some of the basic tell-tale signs so I thought I would take the time to help educate everyone. Will this stop all of the SPAM? No, not at all. Will it help? YES!!!! Please do some due diligence before you start clicking and liking pages on Facebook. This first tutorial is focused on those amazing giveaways that everyone wants to win.

Here are a couple of steps to keep you and your friends from getting hacked or SPAM.

Step 1. LOOK at the offer. I mean, REALLY look at the offer. If it seems like it is an amazing offer that a company has NEVER given away before…..chances are, it’s going to be easy to spot the tell-tale signs of a fake. You should already be on alert that there may be a problem with it.

Facebook giveaway

Facebook giveaway

Step 2. Click on the business name that is attached to the item being shared. It should take you to their business page or group page. This is where a lot of information is found. Do not go by the number of “likes” a business has because many people are duped. They believe that if their friend shared it, it must be reputable. NOT TRUE!!!! Once you are on that page, take a look at it. Is it a company you are familiar with? For the sake of this blog, I am using a giveaway that was posted for Southwest Airline. They are a large company that many people are familiar with. The first thing to look for is the spelling of the business. The actual spelling is Southwest Airlines (notice the s is missing from Airlines). Large corporations aren’t going to spell their business name wrong. The next thing to look for with a large corporation is a blue and white check mark after their name. That check mark means Facebook (and twitter) have done the work for you and verified that it is the legitimate company. I have included some samples for you to see the difference. Those two things right there will have you stopping the “share” before more people are affected.

Let’s talk about the smaller companies….the ones that Facebook hasn’t deemed big enough to verify. The first thing you want to look at is when was their Facebook page started? How many other posts are on the page? If that particular give-away is their ONLY post (even if it’s multiple times) then it probably isn’t a valid company. For example, I saw a couple of friends share a Camaro give-away from a smaller company. When I went to that site, the only posts were about that give-away and nothing else. The page had just been started in 2014. Chances are, a company that just entered into the world of social media doesn’t have the capital to give-away a $20,000+ prize. You can find all of their posts if you scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on “More posts”. Most companies doing a large give-away have been on Facebook for a few years.

Step 3. If you have done the following steps and you still aren’t sure if it the real thing…..go into the search box of Facebook and type in the company that you believe is doing the give-away. Find the one that has the verification mark next to it and go to their page. If there is no mention of the give-away, then it isn’t happening!

Verified and non Verified Southwest Airlines Companies

Verified and non Verified Southwest Airlines Companies

Another one that is shared a lot is Walt Disney Corporation. Here is an example of all of their verified entities and the fake ones

Verified Walt Disney Corp

Verified Walt Disney Corp

Step 4. IGNORE THE TEMPTATION TO SHARE BAD GIVEAWAYS!!!!! It’s that simple. You will help cut down on the dangerous SPAM emails that you and your friends receive that could potentially give your computer a virus or allow someone to hack into your Facebook to get detailed information on you.

The BAD company

The BAD company

Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines

Just taking a few extra seconds and paying attention to some small details will help keep your Facebook perusal safe and fun!

Thanks everyone!