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If you have a Facebook account, you now have a Facebook email address. If you don’t have one yet, you will have one very soon. This feature used to be optional but, as with Timeline, it is becoming mandatory. Facebook will soon be providing Facebook email addresses to all of its members, regardless of whether you:
a) want one or
b) sign up for one.
When Facebook first introduced email addresses in 2010, you had to sign up to get a Facebook email account, but the service wasn’t overwhelmingly adopted. People generally didn’t abandon their existing email accounts to use their Facebook email accounts.
Now everyone who is on Facebook will have a Facebook email account, which means that you should take a few minutes to adjust your email and privacy settings.
What You Need to Do Now
1. Check Your Email Settings in Facebook
- Go to your Timeline (found by clicking on your name in the upper right corner of Facebook)
- Go to About (on the left side below your Timeline Cover Photo)
- Scroll down to Contact Info and click Edit
Your email address associated with your account will appear, along with your Facebook email address.
- The right drop-down menu (blue arrow in image) controls whether your email address is Shown or Hidden on your Timeline.
- The left drop-down menu (red arrow in image) controls who can see your email address. Your choices are Public, Friends, Friends except Acquaintances, Only Me, or Custom. If you don’t want your Facebook email address to be visible, change this to Only Me. You can also hide your other email addresses by choosing Only Me.
You can also add or remove email addresses from this page but you cannot remove your Facebook email address. You’re stuck with it so long as you have a Facebook account, unless Facebook changes its rules (again).
Be sure to click Save at the bottom of the page so your settings will be saved.
2. Check Your Email Privacy Settings in Facebook
You should also check your email privacy settings now that you have a new Facebook address.
- Click on the triangle in the top right corner of Facebook, next to Home.
- Click Privacy Settings.
- Scroll down to How You Connect and click Edit Settings
From there you can control who can look you up using your email addresses (including your Facebook email address), who can send you Friend Requests, and who can send you Facebook Messages. Use the drop-down menus to make your choices.
What Else You Need to Know
If someone sends you a message using your Facebook email address, you will find it in your Facebook messages area. If you restrict who can send a message to your Facebook email address, no messages will be delivered from people outside your approved groups.
Some Facebook users are reporting that their Facebook address is set to Public on their Timeline by default so be sure to check your settings right away.
Bottom Line
If you’re on Facebook you have a Facebook email address or will have one soon. Take control of your Facebook email settings to make sure that you aren’t inadvertently broadcasting your new Facebook email address to the public.
Did you previously have a Facebook email account? Have you ever used Facebook email? Have you adjusted your Facebook email settings? Let us know in the Comments section below!
Great info Carolyn!
Yes, I do have an email address, though you just reminded me to check the settings because it’s put out as “Public” presently. Perhaps that’s the reason I am getting so many messages from people I don’t know.
I guess I better check it out right away and change those settings to the ones I like or prefer. However, I wonder if such emails would be of help to us, as we do have our own emails also fed in? Or perhaps it’s just for those trying to contact us through Facebook.
Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Hi Harleena, I don’t know of many people who use their Facebook email addresses, though I do have a few subscribers who have their Wonder of Tech subscription sent to their Facebook email address. I don’t think adoption of these email accounts has been widespread because they aren’t as functional as dedicated email accounts such as Yahoo and Gmail.
But you’re right, you should definitely check the settings. You can prevent people you don’t know from sending you messages using your Facebook account if that’s what you want.
Hi Carolyn,
I’ve just spent half an hour looking at Facebook and found that email goes to Facebook messages under the ‘other’ tag. I had lots! Some from a year ago! Requests for FarmVille and even some spam. They could have sent me a normal message or even an email to my Yahoo address and so I won;t worry about missing them! Facebook could be improved a lot and made more like QQ in China; except in English not Chinese! China is in their plum storm season and part are having storms, makes picking plums difficult I assume. I was talking to a student there until after midnight last night, she was woken by the storm.
I scanned some old pictures too and I intend to do more of them. I only did a few to embarrass my family! I have some art ones from many years ago and pictures from WWI. I could use those for my blogs! The Art gallery took an interest in that one of holes in the road. I’ll get an exhibition yet! 🙂
There are some tips on editing on a Zillion Ideas.
Hi Mike, Yes, if you see the comments to the Facebook Secret Other Messages article you will see that very few people knew that these messages existed. Some people discovered very interesting messages that they had missed!
Yes, I stopped by Zillion Ideas last night and was delighted to discover that one of my favorite pictures was on there this week!
Good luck with your next exhibit, Mike! (*)
Thanks Carolyn, I updated mine. I heard about that on the news. I am always checking my privacy settings and I get so pissed when I see something revert back to where my information is public. Sometimes I feel before timeline came about that the hold profile had more security. Who knows, but thanks for the information and keeping us updated.
Hi Sonia, I’m so glad that you updated your settings. Better safe than sorry! You’re right, the default should be friends only, not public. That’s why it’s so important for people to check their settings.
Thanks for sharing this, Sonia!
Hi Carolyn – I am not sure if I am the only one here, but I am losing interest in FB 🙁
It is so annoying sometimes when they come up with new updates and all of us have to check the settings to prevent something personal going public. It is becoming a pain and I feel they are taking us for granted.
I am not saying that I have given up on it, I do use it for my blogging and my personal purposes, but somehow not very catchy these days. I dont think I will ever use FB email, whatever be it’s features.
Hi Praveen, I can understand how you’re feeling. Facebook tends to run roughshod over its members a bit when it imposes changes on them without softening the blow. We don’t tend to like change, but this is a feature that no one was clamoring for and few people will probably use. I haven’t heard of anyone embracing this change. But perhaps we should keep an open mind?
I did change the email setting when a friend of mine posted a link about it. It is weird how Facebook changes things around without even asking.
I haven’t used Facebook mail though. Wonder how different would that be…. one mailbox is more than enough! 🙂
Hi Hajra, you’re probably not the only one who doesn’t need another email address, especially one that’s pretty basic in its functionality. I doubt Facebook making these email addresses mandatory will produce a groundswell of adopters. But time will tell!
Hi Carolyn…!
We all know Facebook always comes up with new ideas for privacy of their users and its a good step that we have our own facebook e-mail id.one can lookup @their facebook notifications separately,rather than finding them in mailbox/junk mails of other id’s.Hope people will appreciate this 🙂
Hi Aditya, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Good point, if we want to keep communications from Facebook friends separate, then using our Facebook email address will be very useful. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Aditya! 🙂
Thanks for welcoming me Carolyn… 🙂
More thoughts of mine are on the way,you just keep writing my comments and suggestions will be there.
If a tree falls in the forest when no one around, does it make a sound?
My question would be, ‘so what?’ Just because I have a publicly shown e-mail address certainly doesn’t mean I would ever use it. If people want to send me stuff I should see, they better know the e-mail address I use or you might as well be sending it into a black hole.
You know this stuff; why should I adjust my settings? If my platform and I’m trying to be seen; why would I limit who can see me?
Inquiring minds want to know?
Hi Bill, Great question. If your Facebook email address is public on your Timeline, then anyone who looks you up on Facebook can see that address and send you emails in Facebook. These emails will appear in Messages so you could find your Messages full of spam messages, making it very difficult for you to find messages from your friends.
If you want to avoid spam emails going to your Facebook messages, then change your settings. If you’re a big fan of spam emails, then check your settings to make sure that your Facebook email address is public on your Timeline. 🙂
Spam is my friend; I’ve met some really hot chicks who really like me….
This area pretty good information, I have been using facebook in a long time but I did not know that you can have a facebook email. I really love to try this one out and good I came along in your post.
Hi Centrelink, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I’m glad you found this information helpful. If you use Facebook a lot, you may like having a Facebook email address. Just be sure to check your settings to make sure your Facebook email address isn’t public. 🙂
I have had a facebook email for awhile but I have just never used it that much. I guess it has to do with the fact I already had several other email accounts and it just becomes a hassle to change from one to the other. I really need to use it a little more for just certain things though.
Hi Dadblunders, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! You’re right, it can be a hassle to check multiple email addresses. If you’re on Facebook quite a bit, it’s not a big deal to check messages, but it is one more thing to check. If you start using it more you can see whether it’s handier for you than using your email. You may find that you get faster responses from people who are on Facebook a lot! 🙂
Thanks a lot for the heads up. I’m glad I was able to read your post. I had no idea whatsoever about this. I’ll definitely fix my settings as soon as I can. Thanks a bunch. 🙂
Hi Ayla, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I’m glad this post was helpful to you. Yes, definitely adjust your settings to the way you want them. You can have your Facebook email address as public or as private as you want it to be! 🙂
It’s been so long now Carolyn I didn’t remember so I had to run over there to see if I had that all set up right. I did, I thought I did but I just couldn’t remember.
I don’t even know why we need one of those, it’s not like people don’t have enough email addresses and now having to deal with one more. Oh well, it can’t be avoided.
Thanks for this scoop.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, I’m glad that your settings were in place just as you wanted them. You’re right, the Facebook email address can’t be avoided so long as you’re a member of Facebook. But you can adjust the settings so that it isn’t used. That way you don’t have to check on it if you don’t want to, but if you want to use it, the email address is there for you.
Thanks for stopping by, Adrienne! 🙂
Carolyn,
Great tutorial. I have read about the Facebook email, but I probably won’t be using it. I have more than enough emails as it is on my other email accounts and one more, that would probably just end up in chaos 🙂
Hi Jens, Thanks. Yes, from what I hear from most people, they aren’t happy about having another email address. I don’t know too many people who were looking for another email address but were having difficulty finding one! No need for chaos, Jens. If tech doesn’t make your life more fun or easier, why have it? 🙂
Thanks for keeping us up to date with the latest from Facebook. I didn’t know I had e-mail account with them!
Hi Carol, You’re welcome. Yes, Facebook decided not to notify its members about this change so I thought The Wonder of Tech should let the world know! Or at least the 900 million people who are on Facebook… 😉
People will use Facebook email Ids once they get complete features like Google mail.
Hi Asher, Interesting prediction. You may be right. Facebook may provide its users with lots of email features, making the service compelling. Time will tell! 🙂
So many people are connected to facebook nowadays, i guess it is the most famous social networking site so far. Yes i do have a facebook email address but i never knew it is to be used in a such a way as you mentioned in your post. As per my information it was just namesake. But I will surely change the privacy settings now, thanks for this information.
this is very good step from Facebook to become a mail provider i appreciate this step from Facebook. even this mail is good to remember as @Facebook.com
Hi Anurag, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Great point, it would be very easy to remember everyone’s email address if we were all had an @facebook.com email address. :-bd
This information is really new to me …this seems to be interesting ..will check out soon 🙂
Hi Linda, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Yes, definitely check to see what your Facebook settings are. You may need to adjust them so your Facebook email address isn’t public. Good luck!