Facebook - The Basics
Navigation
Facebook has lots of different places you can go - timelines, pages, groups, profiles... it can be easier to get lost if you are new to the platform. But there will always be that “F” in the top left which will take you back home!
If you are new to facebook we recommend typing “Extinction Rebellion” into the search bar and following a few pages and maybe even join your local group if you can find it! Then you can pretty much stay on the home page and scroll through posts to boost!
Making a Post
When on the homepage of facebook, which you can return to by clicking the “F” in the top left you should see a box at the top which asks “What’s on your mind?” This is where you type in a post.
There is no limit on the size of Facebook posts (to my knowledge) but you want the important bit in the first 2-3 lines so it doesn’t get hidden by the “See More” button. So in practice you want a 2-4 line post with a bunch of tags under the cut off.
Boosting a Post
There are 3 main interactions on Facebook which can be found under any post, you can “React” to the Post, you can “Comment” on the post or you can “Share” the post (more on that later!).
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Reacting is the minimal way to interact with a post, you can “like” it or give another reaction. This doesn’t boost the post much but will typically show how controversial it is. But if you really want to help us on Social media go beyond liking!
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Commenting on a post really boosts it in the algorithm! It doesn’t take much, a simple “Thank You” or “Well Done” is great, add to it with a hashtag #WeWantToLive or #TellTheTruth or go even further by starting a conversation!
If you ask a question in the comments you are likely to get a response, or you can respond to other people’s questions! Here the strategy is to have a conversation to boost the numbers of comments! If you post a hashtag then that’s one comment but if you engage a bunch of others on the thread that can get up to 10-20 comments and that is a huge boost!
Stay Safe & Don’t Feed the Trolls!
Starting conversations can be a great way to engage with people and boost our social media, but you are likely to encounter some trolls. These are people (or robots) who comment incorrect, offensive or just nonsense things to annoy people. There is no point to Trolls, we recommend you do not engage. Often they are bots that if you reply to their nonsense comment they will simply post more of that same comment elsewhere… The best thing to do is to be polite and to report any offensive comments.
Sharing a Post
There are several ways to boost posts by sharing them on Facebook. You can share on your Timeline, this is automatic if you click “Share Now” but we recommend clicking “Share…” or you can share in your “Story” or in a Group you are in.
So what happens when you share a post on...
Your Timeline
It will pop up on your page and be viewable by all your friends
Your Story
It will appear for 24hrs in your story which can be found in a bubble on your friend’s homepage or in messenger.
A friend’s Timeline
It will appear on their page and be viewable by all of their friends
A Group. It will appear on the group page and be seen by members of that group
Hashtags & Accounts
As we mentioned in the first section you will want to use tags to make sure that your post can be seen by people beyond your own following - especially if you are new to Facebook!
We recommend always using #ExtinctionRebellion, to add 1-2 tags for the campaign or location you are talking about and “@” 1-2 accounts to aim your post - especially if you are asking a direct question!
For Example
if you see a powerful image of mother earth in handcuffs then you can click the Share button and select “Share…” tag the @metpoliceuk and ask them if this indicated their view of the #ClimateEmergency. This will then alert them to your interaction as you have now publicly asked them a question!