Facebook friend lists are a great way to group your friends into different categories. Friend lists allow you to:
- See wall updates from only members of the list you are currently using.
- Send a message to members of a particular list
- Screen out friends who update too much or frivolously
Your friends can belong to more than one list at a time. Of course you can see the uses:
- Send a message to your business list on an upcoming business event
- Keep up to date on what’s going on in your customer’s lives by watching them on your wall. Send them a birthday wish or a congratulations!
Here are the steps to setting up a friend list: (OK -the Facebook screen shots are a bit squished – I elected this option rather than shrinking the image to fit the post space so you could read the page better.)
1. On my home page, you’ll see my friend lists along the left hand side (1). You’ll see my “LC Chamber” list is highlighted and I am only currently looking at wall updates from my Lake County Chamber friends.
2. Let’s say you are me and you want to add a new friend list, “Customers and Prospects”. Click on the “Friends” button at the top of the page (2):
3. You’re taken to the list of all your friends. Click on “Create New List” at the top of the page:
4. A box opens up that allows you to create your list. Enter a name for your list (1) and select names of friends you want to join (2):
5. Click on the names of your friends to add them to the list (1), then create your list (2):
6. You’ll then be taken to your home page with your new list selected and only seeing wall entries from list members (1).
7. Now, if you want to manage your lists, click on “Friends” at the top of the page (2):
8. Select the list you want to manage (1). You’ll see all of your friends who are in this list. You can then edit the list name and members, or delete the list entirely (2):
9. Another way to manage your friends and which lists they belong to is to click on the “Friends” button at the top of the Facebook page. You’ll see all you friends. Along the right hand side of each friend’s listing, you’ll see the number of lists they belong to or the “add to list” link (1). To add and subtract friends from a list, click on the “list number” or “add to list” link and then select (or de-select) the lists for your friend. (2):
10. To send a message to a particular group, Click on the “Inbox” link at the top of the Facebook page. Select “Compose New Message” from the drop down list:
11. A message box will open up. In the “To:” field for your message, type the name of the group you want the message to go to, type your message, and send:
And there you have it! How are you using (or, how will you use) Friend lists to improve your Facebook experience?
