6 Facebook Hack Codes & Tips To Show Off Your Geeky Skills

The very first thing I should mention is that when it comes to Facebook, there’s really no such thing as “hack codes.”  The title of this article is  partially tongue-in-cheek, because with Facebook, the rules change so often that one “Facebook hack” code that works today will likely not work tomorrow.  Facebook designers change links and features at whim – and you’re left trying to guess what’s coming next and why your link or plug-in no longer works.
I’ve previously written a couple of articles here about Facebook, such as the controversial method on how to view private Facebook profiles, or how to email mobile photos to your Facebook account. However, in addition to those tips, there are other codes and features that aren’t immediately obvious to most users – so I wanted to provide a list of the top 6 of my favorite Facebook “hack” codes and tips to other Facebook enthusiasts out there.

#1 – The Konami Code Lens Flare Hack

This is a rather silly hack, but if you’re visiting friends who may not be very computer savvy – this is a very easy way to impress them with your hacking skills. Borrow their computer (or bring your laptop), log into your Facebook account, and then on the computer keyboard just type the following key sequence of arrows and letters exactly: UP-UP-DOWN-DOWN-LEFT-RIGHT-LEFT-RIGHT-B-A-<Enter>
Then, click around on your Facebook page, or scroll up and down the page (this seems to work best), and you’ll discover a pretty cool display of lens flare effects.

Oddly, the effect isn’t horribly annoying because it disappears pretty quickly when you really need it to. It isn’t the most impressive hack though, because it’s probably the most common one mentioned across the net – but it’s still kind of cool and fun to play around with.

#2 – Aye, Make Yer Profile a Pirate’s Page You Landlubber!

The second profile hack is also one of the easiest to implement. Facebook offers users the ability to transform their Facebook pages into any language that they like. If you scroll down to the lower left corner of your profile page, you’ll see your current language setting. Click on this, and you’ll have a list of all languages available to you. Notice the English Pirate option?

Ahoy matey – yer now a Cap’n! Now as you go through your profile page you’ll notice some pretty hilarious pirate variations.

Now, the wall is the Plank, your profile is the Cap’n's Log, and you can now either click a post as pleasin’ to me eye (like) or blabber t’yer mates (comment).  It certainly removes the “boring” factor from your old standard Facebook pages.

#3 – Upside Down Status Updates

If you’ve been on Facebook long enough, you’ve probably noticed a few people posting upside down status updates. They sure do think they’re clever don’t they?!  Yes, you too can be the envy of all of your friends and family by posting your updates so that people have to look silly by tilting their heads upside down so they can read it.
Most of the people you’ve seen doing this have likely installed a Facebook app just to do so. However, I dislike installing apps because you always have to provide permissions to those applications to access your profile. A better approach is to use the free online application at FlipText to generate your upside down status update.

Simply copy the upside down text from the lower text box, paste it into your Facebook status box and post!

#4 – Download Complete Photo Collections From Your Friends’ Profiles

If you have a lot of friends on Facebook, you may not have the time to keep up with all of the new family photos they’ve posted – but you are very interested in them and would love to have them stored in your own private photo collection to review later. Well, thanks to a very cool FireFox plug-in called FacePAD, you can do just that. The add-on is awesome, and I would recommend that anyone with the resources to do so should send in a contribution to Arthur Sabintsev for his efforts.
After you install the FacePad plug-in, make sure you select Tools->Add-Ons, and configure the options for FacePad so it has your correct Facebook language. Then, all you have to do is go to your friend’s photo albums, right-click on the title and select “Download Album With FacePAD.”  That’s right, you’re not downloading a single picture – but an entire album.

Once you do, FacePad downloads every single image within that album into the download folder you’ve configured in FireFox. Don’t forget to organize all of those photos using JetPhoto, as recommended earlier by Jeffry.

#5 – Schedule Facebook Status Updates With Sendible

Do you like to keep your Facebook profile active, but you’re coming down with a cold and may be offline for a few days?  Maybe you’re taking a trip and won’t be anywhere near a computer for a week. Or maybe you’ll be playing hooky from work and traveling, but you want your colleagues and boss to think you’re stuck at home sick. Accomplish any of these wishes by using Sendible to schedule your Facebook status updates. This is an application Daniel covered earlier, so check out his article for more details.
But for Facebook specifically, once you sign up with Sendible, just click on Facebook and provide your Facebook login details. Sendible connects directly with your Facebook account. The, under “New Messages” click on “Status Updates“.

On the next page you can schedule out as many updates as you’d like! This service is awesome – and you can distribute scheduled updates to a number of social networks including MySpace, Blogger, Twitter and more.

#6 – Hide Your Online Status From Certain People

Look, don’t feel bad about it. When I first joined Facebook I left my online status wide open. After a couple of weeks of getting inundated with nonstop chat requests, I simply turned off my online status completely. Problem solved. Except, there really were certain people I wouldn’t mind hearing from – is it really fair for a few chatterbox buddies to ruin your chances for communicating with everyone? Well, there is a way for you to selectively block your online status from certain people.

All you have to do is open up your chat icon in the lower right corner of your Facebook display, click on Friend Lists, and create a new list called “BlockList.” Make sure after you create it that it’s configured under “Display these lists in Chat.”

Now, all you have to do is either click “edit” and add the friends you want to block, or if they’re already online, just click their name and drag them under this new list. Once you’ve got everyone there who you want to block from see your online status, hover your mouse over the green dot to the right and click on “Go Offline.” Now, you appear offline to only those certain friends.
Facebook, unlike MySpace, is not really easy to tweak – which is actually a good thing. Gone are the days of those horrid eye-bleeding pages with pink flashing backgrounds and instant music that you can’t turn off. However, the tweaks and plug-ins in the list above offer at least a few ways to customize your Facebook account and usage to suit your life and your personality.
How do you use Facebook? Are there any hacks or add-ons not offered here that you especially like to use? Share them in the comments section below!

ROUNDUP: 5 Must-Know Critical Facebook Privacy Tips

MakeUseOf has published countless articles on Facebook privacy and security settings. Facebook continuously updates and changes privacy settings and options. For this post I have revisited previous stories to collect the best tips and update instructions to reflect current options. If you have lost track, this is your chance to catch up and bring your Facebook privacy settings up to speed.

1. Control The Privacy Settings Of Your Profile

Your profile contains information about yourself, your friends and family, your education and work and much more. Facebook allows you to assign privacy levels to a lot of this profile information. Let me demonstrate how to change the settings for Basic Information.

• Either click this link while logged into Facebook or…
• …click the Edit Profile button in the top right on your Facebook profile.
• Click the little icons to the right of items in your profile to select who can see the respective information.
• Repeat this for all items and sections within your profile.

Tip: Want to test how your profile looks to the public or your friends? Test it using the View As button on your profile. This tip was inspired by Angela’s 2011 post on How To Control Your Privacy With The Facebook Timeline.

2. Organize Your Friends In Lists

Creating lists of friends is the best way to maintain your privacy, if extended family members or work colleagues insist on being friends on Facebook. The ways in which you can leverage lists for selective privacy are explained in the following steps. For now let’s focus on how to set them up.

• Either use this link while logged into Facebook or…
• …click where it says Friends in your Facebook sidebar, while viewing your profile.
• In the list view, click the Friends button next to a name, scroll to the end of the menu and select New List…
• Create as many lists as you need. Note that friends cannot see your lists.
• Then assign your friends to lists.

This point was inspired by an article written by Mahendra in 2009: 10 Solid Tips to Safeguard Your Facebook Privacy.

3. Control How You Allow People To Connect With You

The How You Connect privacy settings let you control who can find your profile, connect with you, post on your wall, or view your public posts. If your Facebook password is the equivalent of your front door, these settings represent your windows and curtains.

• Either follow this link while logged into Facebook or…
• …click the little arrow in the top right of your Facebook profile and click Privacy Settings.
• Click Edit Settings next to How You Connect.
• Open the drop-down menus next to each item and pick the desired group of people. You can select default options or your custom lists.

The screenshot below shows my preferences. Personally, I don’t like it when people post on my wall. Alternatively, you can make wall posts from others visible only to you.

4. Customize Your Privacy Settings

You can set a default privacy setting for all your wall posts. This way you won’t accidentally post something available to the world that was only meant for your friends’ eyes. Here is how you do it:

• Go to your Facebook Privacy Settings.
• Under Control your Default Privacy select Friends or Custom.

For full control over your privacy, select Custom! This option allows you to select specific people or lists, to which your updates will be visible or invisible per default. For increased privacy, be sure to deselect Friends of those tagged.

5. Edit Your Ads Privacy Settings

Ever noticed that Facebook shows you what your friends have liked on other pages? This is called social ads and the chances are that your friends also see the products and services you have liked. The best way to avoid this of course is not to like anything. The second best way is to disabled social ads:

• Click here while logged into Facebook or…
• …go to your Account Settings and select Facebook Ads in the sidebar.
• Click Edit third party ad settings and/or Edit social ads setting.
• Select No one from the drop-down menu and click Save Changes.

For more tips and tricks that will help you protect your Facebook privacy, have a look at these:
What do you do to protect your Facebook privacy? We would love to hear your tips!