Why Are People Posting On My Facebook Page?

“I saw some things on Facebook. I’m so confused about my Facebook. I don’t know how to use it, how to look at it. I get all these photos from all these different people. How do they get on my Facebook? There’s just all this trash. It’s just unbelievable. They go on and on about who and what’s happening in their lives. I’m confused if I’m looking at the wrong page or if this is it. Please advise me more!”

No, this is not a scene from the movie, The Sixth Sense. It is actually from an email that I received from a social media client that is new to Facebook. I can assure you, this client is not seeing ghosts nor is she alone in expressing these concerns.

As a social media trainer, I get this question all of the time. The first time was from my sister. When she was telling me all of this, I myself almost panicked until she showed me what she was talking about. When I realized she was speaking of what she was seeing when she logged into Facebook every day, I had to laugh. I told her this was not her profile page, and the people were in fact posting on their own profiles, which then shows up on the ‘Home’ page or the ‘News feed’, which is the default page when you login to Facebook.

So, let me recap to make sure you newbies understand. When you login to Facebook the first page you will come to will be the ‘Home’ page also known as the ‘News Feed’. This is the default page when logging into Facebook. This is not your personal Facebook profile. (Keep reading, and I will explain further.)

This last call for help via email made me decide it was time to write this post.

Following is my response to my client:

Here are the answers to your Facebook questions:

1. The people posting about their lives – When you login to Facebook, the default landing page that you will see is called your ‘Home’ page. This may also be referred to as your ‘News Feed’. Most people mistake this for “their page;” however, it is actually a feed containing messages from everyone whose friend request you have accepted or those whom you sent friend requests to who have accepted your requests. You will see the link to your ‘Home’ page or ‘News Feed’ in the dark blue navigation at the top center of your Facebook page. This is what the ‘News Feed’ looks like:

   

2. Your personal Facebook page – Your personal Facebook page is also referred to as your ‘Profile’ or ‘Facebook Timeline’. Some people even call this their ‘Facebook Wall’. You can access your personal Facebook page, any time you are logged in to Facebook, by clicking on your name in the dark blue navigation at the top center of your Facebook page. You will see it to the right of the thumbnail image of your profile picture (that is if you have uploaded a picture). Once you click on your name, it will bring you to your ‘Facebook Timeline’, which will look similar to this:

   

I hope this post helps anyone who is new to Facebook understand the difference between the Facebook Timeline and the Facebook News Feed. I hope this also lets you know that if you have these questions, you are not losing your mind, and you are not alone. You’d be surprised at the number of people who have asked this very same question. As they say, we learn something new every day!

Please comment below if you have had a similar experience as a Facebook newbie. Your comments may help someone else who is where you once were.