Home > Articles

Finding Friends on Facebook

Find out how to find people you know on Facebook, including people you went to school with or worked with several decades ago, and add them to your friends list.

This chapter is from the book

In this chapter, you find out how to find people you know on Facebook and add them to your friends list.

  • Finding Facebook Friends

  • Accepting or Declining Friend Requests

Facebook is all about connecting with people you know. Anyone you connect with on Facebook is called a friend. A Facebook friend can be a real friend, or a family member, colleague, acquaintance... you name it. When you add people to your Facebook friends list, they see everything you post—and you see everything they post.

Of course, before you can make someone your Facebook friend, you have to find that person on Facebook. That isn’t always as easy as you might think, especially when you’re looking for people you went to school with or worked with several decades ago. People move, women might change their names when they get married (or divorced, or remarried, or some combination of the above), and it just becomes more difficult to find people over time. It might be difficult, but if they’re on Facebook, you can probably find them.

Finding Facebook Friends

Because it’s in Facebook’s best interests for you to have as many connections as possible, the site makes it easy for you to find potential friends. This process is made easier by the fact that Facebook already knows a lot about you, based on the information you entered when you first signed up.

Facebook automatically suggests friends based on your personal history (where you’ve lived, worked, or gone to school), mutual friends (friends of people you’re already friends with), and Facebook users who are in your email contacts lists. You can then invite any of these people to be your friend; if they accept, they’re added to your Facebook friends list.

Find Friends in the Facebook Mobile App

It’s easy to find friends when you’re using Facebook on your mobile phone or tablet. Just let Facebook make some suggestions—and then decide whether you want to accept them or not. (This example shows how it looks on Facebook’s iPhone app; it works similarly on the Android version, too.)

  • circle-01.jpg Tap the Requests icon to display the Friend Requests screen.

  • circle-02.jpg Any pending friend requests are at the top of the screen. Tap Confirm to accept a request.

  • circle-03.jpg Suggested friends are displayed beneath the friend requests. Tap Add Friend to send that person a friend request.

  • circle-04.jpg Search for a specific friend by tapping the + at the top-right corner of the screen.

  • circle-05.jpg Enter the name, email address, or mobile phone number of the person you’re looking for.

  • circle-06.jpg Tap Search to display matching Facebook members.

  • circle-07.jpg Tap Add Friend to send a friend request.

Find Friends on the Facebook Website

The friend-finding process is similar on Facebook’s website—although you have a few more options when searching for friends.

  • circle-01.jpg On the Facebook website, click the Friend Requests button to display the drop-down menu.

  • circle-02.jpg Any pending friend requests are listed first. Click the Confirm button to accept a request, or the Delete Request button to not accept it.

  • circle-03.jpg Facebook also displays a list of suggested friends. Click the Add Friend button to send a friend request to a particular person.

  • circle-04.jpg To search for more friends, click See All at the bottom of the menu. This displays a page that lists friend suggestions and various search options. (You can also get to this page by clicking the Find Friends button on the toolbar, if you have one; it’s only displayed for newer users.)

  • circle-05.jpg In the right column of the page, scroll down until you see the Search for Friends panel. To search for someone by name, enter that person’s name into the Name box.

  • circle-06.jpg To search for people who are already friends with your other Facebook friends, go to the Mutual Friend section and check the names of one or more friends. (If a particular friend isn’t listed, enter his or her name into the text box first.)

  • circle-07.jpg To look for people who come from your hometown, go to the Hometown section and check your town. (If your hometown isn’t listed, enter it into the text box first.)

  • circle-08.jpg To search for people who live near you now, go to the Current City section and check your city. (If your town or city isn’t listed, enter it into the text box first.)

  • circle-09.jpg To search for people who went to the same high school you did, go to the High School section and check the name of your high school. (If your high school isn’t listed, enter it into the text box first.)

  • circle-10.jpg To search for people who went to the same college or university you did, go to the College or University section and check the name of your school. (If your school isn’t listed, enter its name into the text box first.)

  • circle-11.jpg To search for people who work or worked at one of your current or former employers, go to the Employer section and check the name of that company. (If a company isn’t listed, enter its name into the text box first.)

  • circle-12.jpg To search for former classmates who went to the same graduate school you did (if, in fact, you went to graduate school), go to the Graduate School section and check the name of that school. (If your grad school isn’t listed, enter its name into the text box first.)

  • circle-13.jpg Whichever options you select, Facebook returns a list of suggested friends based on your selection. Click the Add Friend button to send a friend request to a specific person.

Look for Friends of Friends

Another way to find old friends is to look for people who are friends of your current friends. That is, when you make someone your friend on Facebook, you can browse through the list of people who are on his friends list. Chances are you’ll find mutual friends on this list—people that you both know but you haven’t found otherwise.

  • circle-01.jpg Click or tap your friend’s name anywhere on the Facebook site, such as in a status update, to display his Timeline page.

    03fig09.jpg
  • circle-02.jpg Click or tap Friends under the person’s name to display his Friends page, which lists all of this person’s Facebook friends.

    03fig10.jpg
  • circle-03.jpg When you find a person you’d like to be friends with, click or tap the Add Friend button.

InformIT Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from InformIT and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview


Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information


To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@informit.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information


Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security


Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children


This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing


Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information


If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out


Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by InformIT. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.informit.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information


Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents


California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure


Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links


This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact


Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice


We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020