What I learned about Facebook

I mentioned going to a web-based communications class in Duluth where I took photos of fabulous murals. The class topic was focused on using the various online communication tools in ministry. One of the communications tools talked about was Facebook. This was particularly of interest to me, since I have grand plans of (eventually, but hopefully soon) using Facebook as a means of communicating with our wonderful group of nursery volunteers as well as our ladies' ministry, since a good many of us are on Facebook and I am trying (trying) to be more active there.

With the Facebook portion of the class, there were the more obvious-if-you-think-about-it things, like leaving political views and affiliations vague at best on your profile page and being careful about what you post in regards to such things if you are a public face for a ministry. It was also suggested that you never post your phone number or address on your profile page for security reasons. The reason behind this is the "Friends of Friends" privacy setting.

Assuming that each of the following people have the "Friends of Friends" setting in place, suppose I am friends with Jane. I can click on any of her friends and see their profiles, wall, and photos; let's say I click to find out about Jane's friend Sara. While I'm on Sara's page, I click on her friend Tina, and then Tina's friend Barbara, etc. I don't know anyone except Jane, yet I can see all of these other people's profiles, wall posts, photos, and comments by all of their friends, all with the help of the "Friends of Friends" setting. Yikes...I like my privacy. ;) I have all of my Facebook privacy settings set to "Only Friends."

Now onto photos...You can change the privacy settings on individual photos while having a global privacy setting for all photos. The example given was if your global privacy setting for photos is "Friends of Friends" or "Only Friends," you can change the setting to "Only Me" if there is a photo of your niece in one of your albums and your sister doesn't want the photo to be seen by anyone. Go to your photos, click on "Edit Photos" along the top of the photo, click on the "Edit Info" tab along the top of the photo, click on the "Privacy" drop down menu, choose "Customize," and choose "Only Me." (You can also block certain people from seeing individual photos here, too.) NOTE: I have only one photo I've uploaded to a Facebook album--all my photos are on my blog--but hopefully these steps will be the same if you have many photos.

One more note about photos...any photo in your Profile Photos cannot be made individually private. After I realized that, I deleted the photo I had uploaded as a Profile Photo of my kids (with their names and ages listed) and put it in an album. I use pseudonyms for my kids on my blog, which is totally public; I don’t want their names to be available to anyone I don’t already know on Facebook, either.

I also learned how you can "Hide" people and/or applications. I love this, and it doesn't take as long as it sounds like it will take to do it. I have hidden applications such as Farmville, Mafia Wars, etc.--things that my Facebook friends do but I have no interest in--and it has cleaned up my page tremendously! Now I can easily read the activity that I'm interested in without scrolling through Farmville updates or seeing a new high score on Bejeweled Blitz. (I'm really not picking on y'all! :) It's just not something I play, OK?) To "Hide" an application, hover on the applicable post and the little box that says "Hide" will appear; click on "Hide" and you will have the option to hide the person or the application.

You also have the option to "Hide" the person rather than the application. You can do this if, for instance, you reconnected with your long-lost friend from middle school but you have vastly different views on life now. You still want to keep in touch and don‘t want to go so far as to remove them from your list of Friends, but you don't want to see the off-color things she and her friends post on a daily basis; you can "Hide" this person and she will remain in your list of Friends, where you can send her a message anytime you'd like. For information on how to unhide people or applications, see http://socialmediaanswers.com/how-to-unhide-people-and-applications-from-your-facebook-feed

If you want to remove someone in your list of Friends, they will not get a notification of any kind that you did this; you will simply no longer show up in their list of Friends. To remove a Friend, go to Account, Edit Friends, click on your list of Friends, and click on the X beside the person’s name to Remove Connection.

One last thing about Facebook, and this wasn't at all part of the class but I will share it...I consider my online activity to be much like the way I consider my phone and even my front door. I don't always answer my phone just because it's ringing, and I don't always answer my door just because someone has rung the doorbell. This can really drive my kids a little nuts, but my phone is there for my convenience, and my home is my private area. In the same way, my computer is for my convenience. I am "invisible" most of the time when I am on Facebook so if I only have a couple of minutes to spend at my computer, I don't have to explain to someone that I don't have time to chat. To be invisible on Facebook, look at the lower right corner of your screen and click the "Chat" box. A small box will pop up, and from there you will click on "Options" and then "Go offline." To go back "online," all you have to do is click on the "Chat" box and you will immediately be back online and able to see who is available to chat with you.

Have you learned any tips for Facebook? Please share!

Lead Me to the Cross

Thank you, Lord, for everything you endured for us!

Lead Me to the Cross performed by Hillsong United with clips from The Passion of the Christ.

He is Risen!

As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' " (Mark 16:5-7 NIV)

Happy Easter, everyone!

Giveaway winner

Congratulations, Sherri! You are the winner of the 18x24 poster print giveaway! In the next few days, you'll receive an email from UPrinting with a link to claim your prize.

Overheard: Does everything have a food reference?

Josiah [explaining his ideal day of meals]: Breakfast, lunch, dinner, supper, snack, and dessert!

There have been times he has suggested that we have breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, supper, snack, and bedtime snack. It's no wonder he's growing so quickly...

~~~~~

Josiah [after I accidentally put salsa on his tortilla]: Awww...I didn't want salsa.

Me: Oh, yeah--you're not much of a salsa person.

Josiah [nodding vigorously]: I'm more of a cake person!

~~~~~

After his first math lesson involving Venn diagrams:

Me: Now, what is this called?

Josiah [shaking his head, and completely serious]: I don't know...a canoli-gram?

~~~~~

Click here to enter my giveaway for an 18x24 poster print of one of your digital prints! Hurry--this giveaway ends March 30th!

Overheard: Birthdays

Me: I've heard that little song so many times, I've had it in my head all day.

Jason: What, the "Happy Birthday" song?

Grrr...that's not what I meant! I was referring to the little (and, fortunately, not annoying) song this cute My Little Pony toy sings:


~~~~~

Grace: Mommy, I think you should go to your Secret Sister's house, take a picture of her, and put it on the blog!

Well, I can't do that, with her being secret and all, but I can put photos of what she gave me on the blog:

My very first Edible Arrangement!

Everything was wonderfully delicious! And isn't this the best-looking pineapple you've ever seen?!


On top of that, I also got a generous LifeWay gift card! Thank you, Secret Sister! :)

~~~~~

Click here to enter my giveaway for an 18x24 poster print of one of your digital prints! Hurry--this giveaway ends March 30th!

You Capture: A Moment

Be sure to see the details on my giveaway for an 18x24 poster print at the bottom of this post!

Wow...it's been a really long time since I've participated in the You Capture photo challenge hosted by Beth at I Should be Folding Laundry. I started thinking about this week's challenge, though, and immediately some photos I'd taken this week came to mind. (And I'm working backwards on this, since I found out the theme of "A Moment" just today...)

The first moment that came to mind was this one, taken as the kids and I left comfortably spaced out in our "new" minivan to run errands:


As I thought more about the theme of "A Moment," however, another moment came to mind. This moment happened on Tuesday, when my friend Kathy and I went to a web-based communications class in Duluth at the Georgia Baptist Missions and Ministry Center. First, there was the moment depicted on the ceiling of the Old Covenant Lobby as we first walked into the building...Creation.


(I wish now that I'd gotten more photos of that one.)

In the moment we approached the elevators to go to our floor, we spotted the ceiling of the New Covenant Room with a beautiful replica of the globe.

North America

South America

Asia

Africa

Australia

It only takes a moment to make a decision to accept Jesus' sacrifice for us...

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:16-17

Click here to read more about the mural artist, Frank Murphy. There is a video on Murphy's mural here as well.


Click here to enter my giveaway for an 18x24 poster print of one of your digital prints! This giveaway ends March 30th.

Our newest addition to the family

After a careful search, van fever, and saving up the cash (not in that order), I am quite pleased to announce the arrival of our new addition...


This was taken as I was following Jason home after the purchase. Better photos coming soon... :)

Click here to enter my giveaway for a professionally printed 18x24 poster print! This giveaway ends March 30th.