I'm baffled! I want to start using Facebook Places when I'm in public venues (having read your article yesterday about Facebook Places and Privacy, thanks for that!) but it can't ever find my location. Is there some secret to getting it to work on my iPhone 4?

I'm a big fan of geolocation apps and have been using Foursquare almost since it first arrived on the scene. I like knowing where my friends are and having accidental, synergistic meetings with new friends based on my willingness to share my location information. Facebook, however, is a world where I share my status updates with over 1,300 people and I don't really want all of them to know where I am most of the time. If I did, I'd include it in a status update!

That's why when Facebook introduced Facebook Places, I was a bit leery. Worse, not only do they now have check-ins, but they'll show people who are checked in to your current venue even if you're not friends, and will let other people check you in if they're in the same place.

Disaster. But fixable...

I get a lot of Facebook event invitations and while it's not too hard to go to the Facebook site and see my calendar there, I'd love to have the events show up on iCal on my iMac. Is that possible?

I RSVP'd to an event invitation on Facebook that I wasn't able to attend, but it turns out that I can attend the event and want to change my response. Problem is, I can't find it in my news feed any more. How do I change a Facebook event RSVP??

Dave, Help! I posted a status update to my Facebook Wall, then realized I didn't want it there, but while I can see the "hide" buttons on other people's entries on my page, and I've seen "delete" buttons on people's comments on my earlier Wall postings, I can't see how to delete my own posting. Help! This is important!!

Facebook has introduced a new "Ask Question" feature. Can you give us a quick demo of how it works and offer some thoughts on how to best use it, Dave?

I want to email a really cute photograph of my cat to my girlfriend while she's on a business trip. We communicate via Facebook. Is there a way to email her the photo in Facebook?

Hi. Someone put two photos in my photo section on Facebook as pictures of me. They are supposed to be a game labeled who's glancing thru your profile or some to that effect but they don't work. The real problem is they've ruined my photo page. People click on my photos and that's all they see. Facebook people tell me all I have to do is click on untag photo by my name but there is no tag. I suspect it is on her computor.

I have a ton of friends on Facebook, and it's generally pretty cool, but there are two or three people who keep inviting me to their MLM marketing events and I not only don't want to go, I don't want to see their invitations any more, nor any other communications from them. I can't "hide" them as I do with status updates, so what's my option?

Now that I have a humble fan page on Facebook, I'd like to have a simple button on add to my blog so people can click and become fans. Surely there's some way to do that? If so, I sure can't find it on Facebook!

How do I delete different list that were created for my friends? Example: my daughters friends, a list was created that says "my crazy step-daughters". How do I go about deleting something like that? There are more list, this is just an example and no, there are no names/friends in these extra list either.

At a local conference, a social media "guru" was telling me that LinkedIn is very particular about what groups it allows on the site, and that I can't just create whatever group I want. I run a resume review service for college kids and I want to have a group associated with it on LinkedIn so that if people search for resume help, they'll find me. So, can I create a group on LinkedIn or not?

I'm ready to finally give in to my many friends who are pushing me to sign up for a new Facebook account, even as I have been reading about Facebook privacy issues. I figure if I don't put much info on the page in the first place, it won't be a problem. Can you walk me through the signup process, please?

I've been inspired by your Facebook fan page, Dave, and have one of my own. Now that I have it, though, I'd like to be able to inclue a "like" box on my blog so that people not only see a link to the fan page, but see a few members, etc. I have seen it done on other blogs but can't figure out what they did. Is it a Wordpress plugin?

I'm sick of the never-ending privacy changes at Facebook, frustrated that I have in good faith entered a ton of information about myself and my social circles, just to have them constantly tweak and fiddle things so that they can get more visibility and make more money, all while compromising my privacy. What's up with that, Zuckerberg?? I'm done. How can I cancel, delete, erase, axe, kill my account?

I've been running a group on Meetup.com for a while, but have decided to move it over to Facebook because that's where all my members are anyway. What I'd like to do is delete the Meetup group, but I have heard from more than one person that it's impossible to accomplish. Not for Dave Taylor, though! Show me how it's done!

I hid my status updates on facebook from a friend, but I'm unsure about how to change that if I want them to see them?

A friend of mine was chatting away with a couple of people at school yesterday and I noticed she had a separate window up for the chats, not the tiny little Facebook popup windows in the Web browser. How the heck did she get a separate Facebook chat window??

I've recently created a Facebook group and want to get beyond just sharing discussions. What I'd like to do are have meetups and use the Facebook group to advertise the events. How can I create Facebook group events?

I've read your earlier article about how to hook up my blog via RSS feed to my Facebook profile [see Import your Blog entries or RSS feed to your Facebook Profile] but I'm trying to do something slightly different: I want to import an RSS feed into a fan page I've created, so your instructions don't work. HELP!

I read through your article on how to friend someone on Facebook, but what you list is out of date and needs to be rewritten for the latest interface. There isn't a Friends menu and I can't figure out how to invite friends. How do you invite new people to Facebook via their email address like we used to be able to do?

I read your earlier article on how to unfriend someone on Facebook, but my Facebook interface doesn't look at all like yours. I think your stuff's just out of date, Dave. Can you update this for the new Facebook 2.0 (2010?) interface? Thanks!

This is going to sound dumb, but a few days ago I posted a joke and got a ton of great responses (comments) from my friends. Now I want to show my girlfriend and can't find it because all I see is my most recent status update on my Wall. So, what the heck? How do I find my older stuff?

We have two admins to a fan page (for a mothers of twins club) and were wondering how we could comment on our fan page as ourselves and not as the page admin? Every once in a while it would be better for us to interject a comment as ourselves versus the admin. How can you choose what profile you comment under?

A couple of my MySpace friends have super cool new profile layouts and when I asked them was told that it's just the new MySpace interface. Uh, it isn't on my account. How can I get to this new interface where I can pick a more modern layout and appearance?

I run a Facebook group and am considering switching it to a Facebook fan page, but I don't think it'll address my basic problem: how do I make a Facebook group or fan page interesting and lively to my online community? Do I need to have giveaways? Spend an hour each day making new postings? What's the secret, Dave?

Kind of a weird request, but I'm wondering if there's a way to minimize my logins when I'm at an Internet Café so that I can log in to one service, like Gmail, and be automatically logged in to Facebook?

I read that you can now respond to Facebook comments via email, which is pretty cool when you don't have a fancy smartphone. My question is, how does it work?

This is a guest article written by freelance programmer Ville-Matti Hakanpää

In this brief introductory tutorial I will go through some basic aspects of Facebook application development. The work itself is basic app programming, but it's a whole new world and environment. If you have a wonderful idea, Facebook can work as a great distribution channel for you. Heck, even a bad idea can get some attention fast!

Start out with the most basic of questions, though: what makes a good app?

That's the first and most common question people are asking or they should be asking. The best way to start when you're trying to decide what to develop is to look through all the other applications what are inside Facebook already. Facebook applications are listed and rated by users, so there's a feedback loop there too that tells you the kind of things people find useful and engaging.

I work for a small manufacturer and our product brand is a registered trademark. I recently created a facebook fan page and when I went to set a custom facebook fan page shortcut I found out that the name was already taken. What the heck? How can we file a complaint with Facebook so we can recover our trademark and prevent someone else from using it??

Okay, this is crazy. My friend and I both have Apple iPhones. We both have Facebook accounts, and we both have the Facebook app for the iPhone. On his, however, if he shakes his phone it gets the latest data from his Live Feed, but on mine, nothing happens when I do that. Is my iPhone 3GS busted, or what??

Now that I have read your splendid tutorial on how to create a Facebook fan page (see How to Create Your Own Facebook Fan Page) I want to take the next step and set a custom URL shortcut for the page. Can I do that, or is it reserved for just the big guys in the fan page world? If so, what's the procedure, Dave?

I just received an email from Facebook telling me about a new login system that they're implementing in a few days, and telling me I need to log in and update my profile. I'm skeptical. Is this legit, Dave, or bogus?

I have the Facebook app on my Apple iPhone 3GS and like it a lot, but am wondering if there's any way I can manage my fan page while mobile, in addition to accessing my regular user account?

I have an account on Facebook but want to create a fan area for people who read my books. I know other people have "fan pages' but am unclear: do I have to pay to set it all up or what?

I know that Facebook has fiddled with its privacy settings, but I'm wondering if I can now post status updates that aren't for the entire world to read, but just my friends? In fact, weren't old updates just for my friends anyway??

I want to set up a private group on Facebook for my friends that works just like a regular Facebook group, but is only visible to us, not the general public at large. I also want to be able to approve members before they can join the list too. Can Facebook do that?

Okay, I read your article about how to create Facebook lists and had lots of fun experimenting, but now I have too many lists and want to clean things up. So, um, how do I delete a Facebook list?

Now that I have over a hundred friends on Facebook, I'm kind of drowning in the never-ending flow of live updates from them all. A social media guru pal of mine told me that I should be using facebook lists, but I've no idea what they are. Dave, help! What's a Facebook list and how do I create one?

It used to be pretty easy to hide application updates from my Facebook Live Feed, but now that feature seems to have vanished and I'm forced to find the app and block it. Big step in the wrong direction! Isn't there an easier way?

My stupid little brother got into my Facebook account and sent friend requests to a bunch of his weird friends. Now some of them are my friends. Yech. How can I get rid of them?

Hi Dave! Since you're such a computer expert, I bet you know all of the smileys and emoticons you can use on Facebook when you're chatting with someone, right? You know, the :-) that turns into a smiley face, the (^^^) that becomes a shark swimming upwards, and on and on. My pals and I can guess at them, or we can ask the guru... :-)

Somehow I seem to be having an application on Facebook posting to my news stream information about me without ever remembering that I signed up for it. Disconcerting, to say the least! How do I check what apps I have authorized and delete ones I don't want from the Facebook universe?

How does Facebook make money, Dave? I mean, seems like every time I log in there are new applications from third parties and more friends to connect with, but I never pay a nickel. In fact, the only place I've ever bumped into a request for payment is when I want to send someone a "gift", but that's all based on "facebook credits"? What's the scoop?

It's not that I'm paranoid, but I am worried that my roommate might have figured out my Facebook password and I want to change it ASAP. How do I change my Facebook password?

I've been reading all of your earlier articles about how to work with Apple's iPhoto (see iPhoto help) but what I haven't seen is a piece about how to publish photos from iPhoto directly onto Facebook with vast amounts of hassles. Is that doable? If so, how? Thanks, Dave!

I know you've written about how to create an "add me" button for MySpace, but, um, I'm not on MySpace, I'm on Facebook. is there some way to build or hack together an "add me" button for Facebook to add to my site instead? Thanks.

I got a really weird email from a friend on Facebook: it was just a Web site URL and when I went to it, I got a warning message that it was an "unsafe" and that it'd been blocked. What the heck? What's going on?

I have been honing my computer skills to try and make some money and start a business. The only problem is i seem to be having troubles finding jobs. Pretty much I'm doing free computer diagnostic. I pick up the computer, diagnose every aspect of how its working all for free. After that I contact the customer and discuss the problem(s) they may be having and discuss were to go with it.

This is a really good calling for me and I'm really good at it, not to mention I love doing it. So pretty much what I'm wondering is if you have any insight on how to promote my business and get some new clients. Keep in mind I'm only 22 and don't have money for advertising and such.

I've been experimenting with a variety of different Twitter clients on my Mac, and while I'd been stuck for a while on Twhirl I've recently switched to the beta of Seesmic Desktop a few weeks ago. Until a few days ago when a few friends encouraged me to try Nambu. Worked pretty well, but the Seesmic team mailed me a notice about an update to its Seesmic Desktop client that includes Facebook integration. Nice. I want it. So I updated the client and switched back.

Very nicely done! Right now, it's my favorite Twitter client and a very convenient way to stay in touch with what's going on in the world of Facebook.

Let me show you how it all looks...

In his sermon last weekend, our pastor talked briefly about the dangers of our teen children sexting. He didn't go into it and I've no clue what it's all about, but I want to know more about sexting before I talk with her so I don't seem completely clueless. Help?

In previous blog entries (see How do I sponsor searches on Google? and Advertising cannot be your only online marketing channel), I've talked about how to use paid services to promote your business online, focusing specifically on Google Adwords and how it lets your company appear as "sponsored" results on a search page. Then we talked last week about the distressingly ephemeral nature of paid advertising and explored examples of how mindshare rapidly declines once you stop paying.

The solution to the dilemma, the path to sustained visibility in the online world, is to understand the gestalt of Google, if you will, the core concept behind modern Internet search engines. Once you understand how they work, you'll see how you can rethink your online presence to maximize results without paying the proverbial arm and a leg.

In a word: content.

Now that I have a fair number of friends on Facebook, I'm wondering what I need to do so that I don't see the status updates in my newsfeed from the more, uhm, lame of my friends. I don't want to unfriend them, I just don't want their marketing drivel or personal junk in my news feed. Is there a way to do that in the new Facebook UI?

Is is possible to promote someone to creator of the group? I own a school group and I no longer attend that school so I would like to give all rights/privileges of the group to someone who still attends the school.

I got the strangest email, unlike anything I've seen from Facebook, telling me that I have a message to pick up on the site, but not giving me any of the message. Then it included a weird URL at which I was supposed to log in (even though I am already logged in to Facebook) so I could pick up the message. I stopped and decided I'd check with Guru Dave. So, is it legit?

On my Facebook home page, usually on the top-right corner, there is a bubble that says ___ requests, and ____ notifications, with the little sign-post logo next to it. The notifications alert on the home page is gone, and I don't know why!! Can you help me get it back onto my homepage?

I have been inspired by some of the evening meetings I've attended, both those that are 'meetups' and those that are more informal. I want to host one of my own but don't know how to start. Can you give me some tips to get started, Dave?

How do I delete a "comment" I made on my own album in facebook?

We're living in a noisy world. There a millions of blogs, and photos and radio shows and podcasts and websites, and... whew! There's a lot of stuff out there. So if you're just starting out, or even if you've been doing it for awhile, you probably wonder how you're going to get noticed.

The bad news is if it was easy, you'd be noticed already. The good news is that there's never been a greater time in the history of the world, than right now, to effectively get noticed without having to spend millions on advertising.

I've just started really getting into Facebook and want to grow my circle of online friends there. From talking with other people, it's definitely a site that's more fun with lots of friends. But how do I find them short of spamming everyone I know with an invitation?

Some of my friends do some sort of magic that lets them identify individuals in photographs that they upload to Facebook and it's very cool. I would like to also circle and link to each of my own friends in the photos I put on Facebook. Can you show me how to do that, please?

Hi Dave! A while back you wrote an article about how to unfriend someone on Facebook (see How to remove a Facebook friend connection), which is useful, but Facebook's changed. Can you update your instructions for the new Facebook interface?

When I connect to Facebook I get these delightful "notifications" that people have added comments to my status, left comments following my own comments on photos, etc. Nice. But every time I click to learn more about ONE of the status updates, I then lose the page that has all the status update notifications and can't find it again. Where the heck IS this crazy page in Facebook if there are no new notifications to make it appear on the home page???

I really love Facebook and have lots of fun with my friends in that universe. Every so often, however, I get a weird, creepy or unpleasant comments left on my Wall. I don't like it, but do I just have to live with it forever or can I delete it, even if they don't want me to do so?

I have a lot of friends on Facebook. A lot. But there are a couple that are just weird and I have second thoughts now about being friends with them. How do I remove my friendship or "unfriend" them on Facebook?

As I get more and more into the world of Facebook, I find myself wanting to create some mailing lists. I know how to do it in LinkedIn, for example, but what's the process for creating a new list on Facebook?

As I learn more and more about Facebook -- and I so appreciate all your great Facebook help -- I have decided to start listing some of my professional events on the site too. What's the most efficient way to add Facebook events?

I admit, I've probably gone a bit wild joining Facebook groups. I'm in 79 of them. Not a big deal, except a few of them generate lots of junk in my inbox that get in the way of me corresponding with my actual friends. How do I quit a Facebook group?

I'm always on the go and seem to constantly bump into interesting and weird situations. I'd love to be able to take those photos and share them with my friends on Facebook, but I don't know how to connect my phone with my Facebook account. Can you step me through this entire process, please?

At Blogworld last week, I heard loud and clear from a number of people that it's a good idea to have my Facebook friends notified when I have new blog entries published. Cool. But how the heck do I do that?

I want to start getting into the habit of inviting people I meet at conferences to join me on Facebook. Is there an easy way to do that?

Not to sound too antisocial, but the new chat feature on Facebook is driving me a bit wacky. Every time I'm on Facebook now, people are bugging me. Is there some way to turn it off?

I am a member of a bunch of groups on Facebook that I don't really care about any more, but I keep getting bulletins and updates in my inbox. What's the easiest way to unsubscribe from them?

All of a sudden I'm hearing lots of people talking about "reputation management" and "online reputation management". What the heck are they talking about and how does it different from what we've all been doing, trying to put our best foot forward in the digital universe?

As you might well know, I'm happy to be a faculty member at Stompernet, a completely new idea in the world of Internet Marketing, a consortium of top marketers pooling their knowledge and expertise to create a single place where you can learn about search engine optimization, search engine marketing, ecommerce, keyword research, proven techniques to improve your PPC campaigns and close rates on your sales pages, leveraging blogs and podcasts for marketing, and even discuss and compare notes about such mundane topics as shopping carts, web hosting companies, designers, and copywriters...

Some of my friends on Facebook have tweaked things so that they can have their Facebook status automatically updated when they send out a new Tweet on Twitter. How the heck do they do that?

I have a nice external URL for my friends who want to find me and hopefully connect in MySpace and LinkedIn, but Facebook seems like a world unto itself. Is there some sort of URL I can use to get the same result in Facebook?

Not to sound like I'm becoming antisocial, but a woman who's on my friends list on Facebook turns out to be quite the kind of person I don't like to associate with. Can't say more than that, but I need to "defriend" her (unfriend her?) How do I do that??

I just read your earlier entry about sending a message to a Facebook group (see How to send a message to a Facebook group) and get most of it, except I don't really see how the "Posted Items" thing works. Can you explain?

I've created a Facebook group and have some of my pals involved now, but one of them just emailed me and asked how he can send messages to everyone. I dunno. Dave, how do I send a message to a Facebook group?

I'm slowly getting more into Facebook and just heard that there are tons of groups, just like there are on MySpace. How do I find and join a good group on Facebook?

I've seen some Facebook profiles that have very attractive slideshows of their photographs, rather than a static display of images one after the other. How can I do something like that for my own photographs?

I am just getting into Facebook and want to create a new group for my friends to join. How do I do that without getting lost in the admittedly slick, but still confusing, world of Facebook and its many, many capabilities?

Is there a way I can use Web phenomena such as MySpace and YouTube to get more clicks on my affiliate site?