How To Contact And Make Friends On Facebook

Step 1: Facebook Friends

Unlike MySpace, you are not able to view someone's full profile until you are friends with each other (unless you are in the same network). So it is in your interest to find your mates if you want to communicate with them on facebook.

Step 2: Random friends

If you see someone who is your friend on a mate's page, click 'add to friends' on the right of their profile picture. They will receive a 'friend request' in their profile homepage and will be able to describe their friendship with your from a screen full of options. They may say, for example, that they met you 'randomly' in 'Tibet' in '1986'. They will then click the 'request confirmation button' which will send this information back to you to be verified. You will receive a message in the top right of your homepage screen saying '1 friend detail request'. You can either confirm, deny, or add to the information they have sent. They will now be added to your friend's list and you will be able to write on their wall. You'll also receive updates of anything that happens on their profile through your news feed - which you can see both on your homepage and in your profile.

Step 3: Classmates Search

Searching your old school networks is a good way to track down old buddies. Firstly, go to www.facebook.com and login with your email and password. Next click on 'search' in the blue bar in the top right of the screen. Then click 'classmate search'. You will find that Facebook is automatically set to your school and / or college because you specified it when you setup your profile. You can change the school name or country if you like.

Continue by specifying the class year and entering the name of your classmate and pressing search. Once you see the profile of someone you want to befriend, click 'add to friends' on the right of their picture. You'll get a message saying a friend request has been sent to them. They will then have to specify how they know you by choosing an option from the screen. Most likely they will choose 'went to school together'. You will then receive a 'friend detail request' - which you will see in the top right of your screen after you return to your homepage. Click on this to confirm how they know you and add to it if you like.

Step 4: Messaging & poking

If the person you have found is a random, or you're not sure if they want you as a friend, you could send them a message to provoke a friendship. Simply click 'send message' next to their photo, type something in, and click 'send'. They will be notified both through their email account and in their profile homepage that you have sent them a message. Needless to say you can also send messages to people you are already your friends.

Facebook has a unique feature called 'poking'. Once again on the right someone's profile picture, or beneath their picture on their profile page, click 'poke him!' or 'poke her!'. They will receive notification that they have been poked by you. They can poke you back or hide the poke. This can go back and forth for days. It's a good way to gently introduce yourself to someone, or just to have some mindless fun with friends.

Step 5: Co-workers search

To search for a co-worker, click on 'search' in the blue bar in the top right of the screen. Then select 'co-worker' search. Enter the name of the company they work and the name of the person. Assuming they listed their company name in their profile, they should come up when you search.

Step 6: Search engine

Sometimes friends won't be listed under their schools or companies because they may have not entered them on their profiles. You can use the main search engine to find them. Click on 'search'. Here you can enter the name of the person and if you like, specify a network to narrow them down. The likelihood is that you will end up with