Facebook Tutorial: How to Create a Facebook Profile

Do you want to know how to register for Facebook and create a profile? This tutorial will walk you through the process of registering and getting set up. This first video is approximately 6 minutes in length and by the end of the tutorial you should have learned how to complete your profile will all the relevant personal information. For more tutorials check out our Facebook tutorials page.

Facebook Profile Tutorial Overview

You probably know a lot of people on Facebook already, and they are probably wondering why your not on it yet. Facebook is one largest social networking sites on the web and it’s a great way to keep in touch with your friends. As more and more people join Facebook is becoming an important tool in helping people stay connected. It’s also free so there no real reason not to join!

The first step in joining Facebook is creating your account. On the Facebook homepage you’ll see a large blue box in the lower right hand corner of the page. Here is where you sign up for Facebook.You’ll need to type in you name. This is the name you’ll want to appear on your profile and the name by which people can search for you within Facebook. You’ll also have to add your email address and a password. This is how you will login to Facebook. Facebook will also ask you to add your gender and your birth date at this time.
Once you click the green ‘Sign Up’ button you’ll be taken to email confirmation page. Facebook will have sent you an email to confirm that you are creating an account. Just click on the link in the email and you’ll have a Facebook account.
First, Facebook will prompt you to several ways you can find your friends on Facebook such as through searching your e-mail and your school/company networks. Skip these pages for now; we’ll come back to them another time.
Facebook will then ask you to join a regional network. If you choose you can join a network that represents where you live. Just start typing in the city or region in which you live and Facebook will present you several options. Just choose the closest fit.

Now you’re ready to create your profile page. You’ll first be taken to the Facebook homepage. To get to your profile page click on your name on the banner on the top of the page. You can also reach your page by clicking on ‘Profile’ on the banner.

This is your Facebook profile page. Here you can add information about yourself to share with friends. To add information click on the info tab underneath your name and Facebook will guide you through a few different pages. You can pick and choose what information you want to share on your profile. There are also several privacy options you can choose from if you want to restrict who can see certain parts of your profile.

The first section Facebook will guide you to the page for your ‘Basic Information.’ Here you will see the information you added when you signed up, including your birth date information. You can choose how people see your birthday in your profile by clicking on the dropdown list. You can also add your hometown, relationship status and your political and religious views on this page. Any field you choose to leave blank will simply not appear on your profile. Once your finished click on ‘Save Changes’ at the bottom of the page and you’ll be taken to the next section.

This section is for your ‘Personal Information.’ In this section you can pretty much put any information about yourself that you want to. There is a section for activities, interests, music, movies, books, your favorite quotes, and an ‘About Me’ section where you can write about yourself. You’ll notice when you start typing in a field Facebook will prompt you with several popular choices but you can add whatever information you choose. Once your done save your changes and move on to the next page.

This section is for your ‘Contact Information.’ Here you can add your various ways people can get in touch with you. Again, if there’s any information you do not wish to share leave the field blank and it won’t appear. Here you can add your IM screen names (up to five), any phone numbers, your address, and a website if you have one.

If you want to add this information but want to restrict who can see it you can click on the lock to the right of the information you want to restrict. A window will appear with a pull down list. The list will give you several options to control who can see the information including your networks (the region) you joined, friends of friends, only friends, or you can customize to make your privacy options even more specific. Once you choose the privacy settings you want you can save the changes and move on to the next page.
This page is for your ‘Education and Work’ information. Here you can add information about the colleges you’ve attended, including the year you graduated, your majors/minors, and whether you attended for college or graduate school. You can add up to five colleges. You can also add up to two high schools you attended. There is also a section for job information. If you want to share where you work you can add this information in this section including a description of your job, how long you worked there, or if you currently work there. You can add up to 15 jobs. Once you your done adding information, save your changes and you are now done editing your profile.

Once you finish editing you’ll see how all the information you just added looks on your info tab. Now you can add your profile picture.

Click ‘upload’ link under the silhouette. If you have a picture in mind (it must be a jpg. gif., or a png.) just click on ‘browse’ in the window it will open your files. Find the picture you want and open it. Facebook will upload it onto your page.

If you have a webcam you can add a picture that way. Click on the ‘Take a webcam picture’ under the silhouette and it will open your webcam.

Once you have added a picture you can update your Facebook status. Fill in the bar that asks you ‘what are you doing right now?’ you can answer the question, add how you’re feeling or any update about yourself that you want your friends to know. You can update this as frequently as you want. Once you filled in the bar click post.

Once you refresh the page you’ll see how your completed Facebook profile page appears. You can change any aspect of your profile page, including the privacy settings, at anytime.

On your profile page you’ll see that everything you have just done appears on your mini-feed. Every time you do something on Facebook it will appear in your mini-feed. People can also comment on the stories that appear in your mini- feed.

You can change the comment settings by clicking on ‘settings’ above the mini-feed. If you uncheck the box comments on your mini-feed stories will not appear on your profile.

You can also remove stories from your mini-feed by scrolling your mouse over the information you want to remove and to the right an ‘edit’ button will appear. When you click on it, the option to delete the particular mini-feed story will appear.
Now you have completed setting up your Facebook profile page. In the next tutorial we will look at how to find your friends on Facebook.