It’s possible to log in to Facebook with your phone number and to send SMS messages via Facebook Messenger. However, there’s some risk involved, as your number might be sold to marketers or be used by strangers to look up your profile without even knowing your name. Stick with your email address if possible.

Creating a strong password for all of your online accounts is a necessary but not sufficient measure for protecting your information. Even major services like Facebook suffer security incidents in which login credentials are stored in plain text, meaning anyone could potentially retrieve them. Set a reminder to change your password periodically and do it […]

Facebook and Messenger are two of the most common mobile apps, but they both ask for extensive permissions and consume a lot of battery. One alternative is to use the Facebook mobile website, which is less resource-intensive and minimalist. You can also find third-party messaging clients like Friendly that handle all of Messenger’s functionality in […]

Early 2019 marks the fifteenth anniversary of Facebook’s launch. Since the winter of 2004, social media has come a long way, becoming deeply ingrained in the live of billions of people worldwide. According to the Pew Research Center, 73 percent of Americans used YouTube in 2018 and 68 percent were on Facebook. Even smaller network […]

You might have tried viewing a video on Facebook or another social site, only to be prompted to download a special codec or plugin to actually watch it. These requests are almost always spurious, given the wide compatibility of video formats between browsers and operating systems. Basically, if you did not go looking for a […]

If you’ve ever signed into a website or another app with your Facebook account, then you’ve given a third party access to some information from your profile. Not every third party can be trusted; always review the permissions you’ve granted and revoke any that you’re unsure about.