Why use lists

In Facebook you may have many different types of friends that share different interests with you.

Lists help you to easily view posts by friends that you select to put on a list.  You might want a list for your family, people you work with, specific interest groups etc.

Lists also help you to direct YOUR posts to friends who are really interested in the topic you are posting about – rather than posting to PUBLIC since not everyone is interested in all your topics.

How to create a list

On your HOME page of Facebook – on the left side is a section called “Lists” this usually includes “Family” and maybe others if you have already created lists.

Click on the “Lists” heading – and on the top right of the page you will see “Create list” – click on this.

 

In the “Members” area = type in a name or part of a name and a list of friends will come up that you can add. Just add a few using this method and you can add more later.

Click CREATE

You will now see that list and any POSTS from members of that list – it makes it an easy way to see posts by specific lists of your friends.

You can also add more people to this list at any time by ADDING the suggested names – on the right side of the page.

Adding people to a list

View the list

On the top right you will see different people suggested for the list – click on the ADD icon.  Click on the “See more” to get more suggestions

Removing people from a list

Step 1 – click on See All

Click on the small X on the top right of the person image you want to remove – they will be removed from the list you are managing – but they will still be on your Friends list.

Another way to remove someone from the list

While viewing the POSTS from your lists – you can click on the small icon to the top right of the posting and choose to REMOVE the person from this list.  They still will be a Facebook friend.

Posting to a list and Sharing

Although there is no direct method to send a MESSAGE to the members of your list, when you create a POST (Update Status) on the top right you can select a list that will see the posting.   You may find this useful if a posting is specifically of interest ot targeted at a specific group.

You can also use this for SHARING posts with a specific list of friends.

About the Author:

Denise Davies works with non-profits and small businesses to plan and implement internet and media strategies that are effective in growing your audience, increasing donations, building your network, creating a credible web presence and providing education and training to use Internet and media tools effectively.