HOWTO: Join a network on facebook.

Are you plagued by the (no network) gremlin?  Don’t let it get to you any longer!  You, too, can join networks on Facebook!  Just listen to this real feedback supplied on my wall.

I joined [a Geographical] network and found a neighborhood friend from my hometown that I hadn’t seen since 1972. Thanks for the suggestion!

Wow!  Don’t you want to be in a network, too?!  Just follow these 3 easy steps!

1) After logging into facebook, click on My Account on the left.

2) Click on the Networks tab along the top.

3) Join a network!  You have three types of networks to choose from:

College

You must have a valid college (or graduate school) email address that is also validated by facebook.  If you have already graduated, most schools will supply an alumni email address for you.  Usually you just need to email alumni at your-school-initials.edu and say “I gave you lots of money!  Give me an email address!”  That’s a tough set of logic to argue against. You can join multiple networks, but you need an email address (that you have access to) for each network.
Work

Similar to the college network, you need to have a work email that you still have access to.  It also needs to be validated with facebook.  I had to shoot an email to facebook’s support line requesting that they validated my workplace, but after doing so, between 22 and 35 people have joined (I see conflicting numbers, I think facebook has a bug when it comes to counting network membership).  You can belong to multiple work networks, but you need to be able to check an email facebook sends to confirm each network.  Unlike Alumni associations, workplaces will probably not grant you an email address retroactively.

Geographical 

This is different from other networks;  ANYONE can belong to a geography, but you may only belong to one. There are no email addresses required.