Chapter 9
IN THIS CHAPTER
Realizing how Facebook’s messaging systems differ from other systems
Discovering how to send messages to friends
Chatting with friends instantly
Chances are that you’re someone who communicates with other people online. You may use email all the time or use instant messaging programs like iMessage or Skype. If you have a smartphone, you probably check email and text messages on it as well. Facebook has similar functionality and integrates into all these programs. In other words, Facebook Messages stitches together email, texting, and instant messaging with a Facebook twist.
One special component of Facebook’s messaging system as opposed to other systems is that you no longer have to remember email addresses, screen names, or handles. You just have to remember people’s names. The other benefit is that your entire contact history with specific people is saved in one place. I refer to this ongoing conversation as a conversation or thread.
If this sounds confusing to you, think of it as mirroring the fact that usually you don’t simply stop speaking to someone in real life. You may have asked a friend about getting lunch next week, but then you pick up the conversation again a week later to figure out where you want to go for lunch, or to let her know that you’re running 30 minutes late. Even after the lunch is over, chances are one of you will want to meet up again soon.
Instead of splitting all of these up into discreet emails, texts, or phone calls, Facebook thinks of your communication as one long, ongoing discussion that lasts the entirety of your friendship.
Figure 9-1 shows the basic New Message chat window. I opened this by clicking the Messages shortcut in the big blue bar on top (it looks like a word bubble with a horizontal lightning bolt inside it) and clicking the New Message link from the menu. A New Message chat window opens from the bottom of the page. This interface, with the message window floating over Facebook in the background, is designed to look like an instant messaging service. Remember, on Facebook there’s no real distinction between chats (instant messages) and messages. Everything gets saved to your message history. Anytime you click on a Message button or link from a friend’s Timeline or Timeline preview, a new message window opens, with that friend’s name pre-filled in the To: field.
The New Message chat window has only two fields for you to fill out: a To: field and a message box where you type the text of your message. Unlike emails, this chat window has no spaces for CC, BCC, or a subject line.
To address your message, simply start typing the name of the person you're messaging into the To: field. Facebook autocompletes as you type, and you’ll see that it tries to fill in the names of friends as well as friends of friends. In other words, it assumes you are messaging someone you know somehow. When you see the name you want, highlight it and click or press Enter. You can type more than one name if you want to have a conversation with more than one person at the same time.
After you enter a friend’s name, you can click in the Type a Message field to start typing your message. Enter your message in the message box. There are no rules around what goes here. Messages can be long or short, fat or skinny, silly or serious — whatever you have to say. Press Enter to send your message (or Shift + Enter to create a paragraph break). If you have an existing message thread already started with that person, you see that your new message simply gets added to the bottom of the conversation.
As you and your friend message back and forth to each other, you can continue to use Facebook — scroll up and down in your News Feed, browse photos, check out a Timeline. Regardless of where you go on Facebook’s site, your chat windows will remain open at the bottom of the screen. They won’t close unless you close them or close Facebook.
Figure 9-2 shows a chat window between friends. It is designed to look somewhat like the text message interface on your phone. A profile picture of your friend is shown on the left side of the chat window, next to the white speech bubble that contains her message. Your own messages appear in blue anchored to the right side of the chat window. You can scroll up to see older messages.
You can message more than one person at a time. Doing so creates a new conversation among all the people you message. Everyone can see and reply to the message. So if you send a message to Mike, Jenny, and Steve, a new conversation is created. When you’re looking at that conversation, you can see all the messages that have been sent by all the people involved. As you’re reading, you can see who said what by looking at the names and profile pictures identifying each message. Each message is separated and has a timestamp so that you can see when it was sent.
The main thing to remember about group conversations is that you cannot reply individually to members of the conversation. When you reply, all members of the conversation see your reply. If you are in multiple conversations with some of the same people, double check to make sure you’re in the right conversation before hitting reply!
Group messages have some specific options, like removing yourself from a conversation and naming a conversation, that are covered in the Message Options section.
If you want to add a link to a website or article to a message, you can copy and paste it into the message box. Facebook then generates a preview of the article so that your friend has more info before clicking the link. You can remove this preview by clicking the X in the upper-right corner of the preview. If you ever choose to share a link from another website (many news sites have links to share articles, for example) you can select to share it in a private message and accomplish the same thing: sending the link and a preview to a friend, as well as explaining why you are sending it.
To add photos to your message, click the picture icon (it looks like a framed picture of a mountain) at the bottom of the chat window. Doing so opens an interface for navigating your computer’s hard drive, so make sure you know where your photo is saved. If you want to share a photo that is already on Facebook, the easiest way to share it is to navigate to that photo, click the share link at the bottom of the photo, and choose to share it in a private message.
Stickers on Facebook are a lot like the stickers you might have once used to adorn a school notebook or a letter from summer camp, except, you know, digital. There are virtually infinite sticker options you can send to friends, from smiley faces to ones related to various holidays to ones created by specific artists.
Clicking on the square Smiley icon at the bottom of a chat window opens the Search Stickers menu, shown in Figure 9-3.
You can browse through the various categories of stickers here. Click a category name to see stickers in that category, then scroll down to see the full collection. As soon as you click on a sticker, it is sent to your friend.
Along the top of the Search Stickers menu are recently used sticker collections you have used. You can also click on the plus sign here to go to the sticker store. In the sticker store you can browse through sticker options and choose to add them to your personal collections. After you have added a sticker collection (by clicking the green Free button), close the sticker store by clicking the X in the upper-right corner. Then, when you reopen the Search Stickers menu, you’ll see your new sticker pack along the top of the menu.
A GIF is a file format that supports animated images. But when people talk about GIFs, they are usually referring to how GIFs are used on the Internet: as ways to share a clip, usually on a loop, that captures a moment, emotion, or thought. So, for example, if someone tells you something that exasperates you, you could send a GIF of a famous person rolling his eyes to communicate that you are, in fact, rolling your eyes as well.
You can click on the GIF icon at the bottom of the chat menu to browse through GIFs that you can send to a friend. By default, Facebook shows you trending GIFs (in other words, GIFs that other people have been sending). You can search for the type of GIF you are looking for using the Search box at the top of the GIF menu. As soon as you click on a GIF it is sent to your friend.
Emojis are small digital images that express an emotion or idea. The most common emojis are the yellow smiley (or frowny or crying) faces. You can select from a multitude of emojis on Facebook, ranging from the usual smileys to specific foods, locations, or modes of transportation.
To choose an emoji, click the round Smiley icon in the bottom of the chat window. This opens a menu for browsing emoji. Click on the one you want to add to any text you have written. Unlike stickers and GIFs, emojis get added within your text, so you will need to press Enter to send them.
You can use Facebook to send money to friends. It requires both you and your friends to enter debit card info into Facebook, which it stores securely in its systems. Facebook does not charge a fee to send payments between friends.
If you’ve never sent money before, follow these steps the first time you want to send money to a friend:
Tap the $ icon in the bottom of a chat window with your friend.
A payment interface appears, shown in Figure 9-4.
Click the Next button.
A window opens for entering your debit card info for making the payment.
Click the Pay button.
The money has been sent to your friend. He will need to enter a debit card into Facebook to receive the money.
Much as it does in many email programs, an icon shaped like a paperclip signifies attaching files to a message. Clicking the attachment icon opens an interface for searching and selecting files from your computer’s hard drive. You can attach photos, videos, documents, and so on.
Games are more fun with friends. That’s pretty much true in real life, and it’s true online. Facebook is one way for people to connect with real-life friends to play games online. Click the Games icon (it’s shaped like a video game controller) to open a menu of games that you can choose to play against (or with) the friend you are messaging. These games usually have not been built by Facebook, so by using them you are technically sharing some basic information (like your name and friend list) with third-party developers. You can learn more about using your Facebook information with third party applications in Chapter 15. Click the Play button next to the game you want to play. Once you’ve played a round, your friend will be sent a challenge.
The Camera icon at the bottom of the chat window opens an interface for taking photos with your computer’s built-in webcam (or, if you’re using Messenger on your phone, it connects to your phone’s camera). You may need to approve the use of your webcam or install a driver to your computer to access this feature.
When you look at a preview of yourself on the screen, click the green Take Photo button to take your photo. If you like it, click the blue Send button to send it to your friend.
The last icon you see in the composer section of the chat window is a thumbs-up icon, also known as the Like icon. You can click this icon to send a thumbs-up icon to your friend at any time.
Chances are if you send a message, pretty soon you’ll get a reply. Depending on your settings and whether you’re logged in to Facebook, when you receive a new message, you see either a new chat window open (like you’re receiving an IM) or a little red flag on your Home page over the Messages icon in the big blue bar on top. Click the flag to open the Inbox preview; then click the message preview to open the conversation in a chat window at the bottom of your screen.
At the top of each chat window is a blue bar displaying the name (or names) of the person you’re chatting with and several icons.
The plus sign icon allows you to add more friends to a conversation you are having with a friend. Click this to open a text field where you can enter a friend’s name. Remember to click the Done button when you have finished adding names. This opens a new conversation among all of you and will appear as a separate conversation in your Recent Messages.
Assuming your computer is up to the task, you can click on the video camera icon or the phone icon to start a video or voice call, respectively, with your friend (or with multiple friends).
The first time you use either of these features, you may have to set up video calling, which may include installing Flash or another driver to your computer’s hard drive.
When you initiate a video call, a pop-up window opens on your screen. Your friend will see something similar appear on her screen asking if she wants to accept a video or voice call. If she wants to take the call, she simply clicks accept and the two of you will be able to speak face to face (or voice to voice).
Click the gear icon to view a full menu of options related to your conversation. Some of these options only appear in conversations with one friend (I’ve added a 1-1 note to those) and some only appear for group conversations. Most, however, appear for one-on-one and group threads alike:
Clicking the X in the upper-right corner of your chat window closes the chat. Remember, everything you’ve said remains saved in your message history, so never worry about closing a window.
The Chat menu is like a buddy list that you may use for instant messaging. You can always see a minimized version of the Chat menu in the lower-right corner of Facebook. It is a tiny bar that says Chat (n), where n is the number of friends currently online. Click the bar to open the Chat menu, shown in Figure 9-6.
By default, the top Contacts section of the Chat menu displays the friends you messaged with most recently. A green dot next to their names means they are currently on Facebook and will likely see a message you send them pop up right away. A timestamp such as 20h or 2d indicates how long it’s been since they’ve been on Facebook. Rest assured that any messages you send to them will be delivered. Often people receive notifications in email or on their phone when they get a new Facebook message, so just because they haven’t been active very recently doesn’t mean they won’t get your message soon.
Beneath the friends you message most often are the rest of your friends, as well as any existing group conversations you might want to participate in. Scroll down to browse your friends.
At the bottom of the Chat menu is a Search bar. To quickly find the friend with whom you want to chat, or to see if that friend is even online, start typing that friend’s name in the Search box at the bottom of the Chat menu. As you type, the list of online friends narrows to only those with names that match what you’ve typed. After you see the friend you were looking for, click their name to start chatting.
When the Chat menu is expanded, three icons appear at the bottom of it. There is a New Message icon depicted as a pencil and paper icon. There is a Create New Group icon that looks like the outline of two people with a plus sign. The Settings icon is shaped like a gear; it offers the following options for adjusting your Chat experience:
After you’re comfortable sending and receiving messages to and from your friends, it’s time to find out about Messenger, which is what Facebook calls your message Inbox, where all your messages are collected for easy viewing at any time. Messenger is also the name of the mobile app you can download and use on your phone to communicate with Facebook friends. You can learn more about the Messenger app in Chapter 7.
Messenger is organized a bit differently from traditional email inboxes. Most significantly, messages you receive from people you aren’t friends with and are unlikely to know are separated from the conversations you're having with friends.
To understand how this works, look at how Messenger is organized on the page. First, navigate to Messenger from your Home page by clicking the Messages icon in the big blue bar on top (it looks like a word bubble with a horizontal lightning bolt inside). This opens a preview of your most recent messages. Click on See All in Messenger at the bottom of the preview to go to Messenger. Figure 9-7 offers a snapshot of a sample Messenger Inbox.
The main portion of this page, the center area, is where conversations appear. As you click different conversations, which are listed on the left, the contents of that conversation — messages, photos, links, and files — appear in the main portion of the screen.
The left side of the page displays your conversations. Each conversation gets its own line in the Inbox. Like your email inbox, these conversations are organized from most recent near the top to older ones toward the bottom of the page. As you scroll down, Facebook will continue to load your conversation history.
Figure 9-8 shows a close-up of two conversation previews. The top one is a group message, the bottom one is a one-on-one conversation with a single friend. Your friends’ names are listed, and their profile pictures are displayed in this preview. On the right side of each is the conversation’s timestamp. And below the name of the person or people you're talking to is a snippet of what was most recently said. Messages that you haven’t read yet will appear in bold.
When you hover your mouse over a conversation, a gear icon appears right below the time stamp. Clicking this icon opens a menu with options for that conversation:
Whenever you get a message from someone you aren’t friends with yet, these go to a section of your Inbox labeled Connection Requests. When you get a new one, you’ll see a bold preview in your list of messages, which you can click to view the message. You can also view your history of connection requests by clicking the gear icon in the upper-left corner of the Messenger Inbox and selecting Connection Requests from the menu that opens.
You can choose to Accept or Decline connection requests from people. Often a connection request is a person you know simply verifying that you know each other. Once you accept the request, you can write back, and that conversation then appears in the main section of your Messenger Inbox. If you choose to decline a connection request, that person is not notified, but the message from them will be permanently deleted from Messenger. You can also choose to leave connection requests in a sort of limbo, where you neither respond, accept, nor decline the request. It will just hang around in the connection requests section of your Inbox gathering dust until you are ready to do something with it.
The center portion of the Messenger Inbox is dedicated to whichever conversation you have selected to look at. The most important thing to notice is that all the content here is the same content you would see in a chat window. Facebook doesn’t care where you wrote a message from, all of it goes into your message history. The most recent message is on the bottom of the page. Scroll up to see older messages. This should look like the same conversation in a chat window, just a bit bigger.
At the bottom of your conversation, below the most recent message, is the message composer. The message composer is similar to the one you use in the chat window. Simply type your response and press Enter to send. You can click the icons for sending photos, stickers, gifs, emojis, money, photos from your webcam, or likes.
One additional option you have from the composer is a microphone icon for recording voice messages to send to friends. Click the microphone icon then click the big red Record button to start recording your message. Click it again when you’re done to send it. You won’t have a chance to review your recording before it gets sent.
To the right of your conversation is info about the person (or people) you are talking to, as well as options related to that conversation. There is also a space where photos you have shared recently in the conversation are displayed. Some of the options, like Edit Nicknames and Change Color are the same as the options available to you when you’re using a chat window while browsing Facebook. The new options are:
Once you are in the Messenger Inbox, you can go to other sections of the Inbox and access your settings by clicking the gear icon in the upper-left corner. This opens a menu with the following options:
Facebook integrates its messaging system seamlessly with its smartphone apps. It even has an app just for messaging: Facebook Messenger. Regardless of where you are looking at a message — on your phone, in a chat window, in the Inbox, you will see roughly the same thing, with only slight adjustments to account for the amount of space on the screen the message can take up.
The Facebook Messenger app is pretty simple. It displays the contents of your Inbox: a list of conversations from most recent at the top to oldest at the bottom. You can tap any conversation to open it and read it. When you’re looking at a conversation, tap into the text box at the bottom of the screen to open a keyboard for typing a new message.
To start a new conversation, when you’re looking at your Inbox, tap the new message icon (it looks like a pencil inside a box) in the upper-right corner of the screen. This opens a New Message screen, where you can enter the names of the people you want to message and the message itself. This should feel eerily similar both to sending a text message and to sending a message on Facebook.
If you’re using an app like Facebook Messenger on your phone, you will likely be notified on your phone each time you get a new message. You can adjust these settings from the app itself. If you want to know more about using Facebook from your mobile phone, check out Chapter 7.