Facebook’s Hidden Message Box

We’re quite sure that everyone knows how to send and receive messages on Facebook. Did you know that your Facebook account has two inboxes? We didn’t until yesterday. Here’s the scoop on Facebook’s hidden message box.

When you receive a message from a Facebook friend, you get a notification and you can click the message icon on the top row of any Facebook page to read it. When you reply or comment on something on a stranger’s page, sometimes you get messages from complete strangers. Where do those messages go? It turns out that Facebook, just like any other email service, plunks those messages into your Facebook junk mail folder. Say what? A Facebook junk mail folder? You read that right. Here’s how to find it.

1. Start by checking your regular inbox, the one that’s actually called Inbox:

Photo of Facebook Hidden Inbox   1
Click on the message icon at the top of any Facebook Page.

 

2. Move your mouse just a bit to the right of the word Inbox and click on Other. Yes, it looks like it’s hidden but it’s not:

Photo of Facebook Hidden Inbox   2
Click Other to access your hidden inbox.

 

3. If you haven’t accessed this area of Facebook before, here is the warning message that you will see:

Photo of Facebook Hidden Inbox   3
This explains everything!

 

Now, you may have some messages here or you might not. It depends on how active you are on Facebook. One of our accounts had over 30 messages, another account had only 6. The interesting this is that some messages are complete spam but some were from real Facebook users who had either replied to a comment we made and wanted more info or who were offering us more information on something we had asked in a comment.

WARNING! Please remember this: Once you send a message to a stranger or respond to a message that a stranger sent to you, your whole profile opens up to them, just as if they aren’t a stranger anymore. Read that again. When you get a message in this ‘junk’ box, sometimes that message is a phishing expedition, an attempt to see more of your profile than you would normally allow a stranger to see. Who would do this? Spammers for sure but stalkers send messages on Facebook, too. Don’t let your guard down. Be careful when you send a message or reply to a message from someone you don’t know, someone who is not a Facebook friend.

While you’re at it, why not Like our Facebook page? Here’s the link: Computers Made Simple on Facebook

As always, thanks for reading!

 

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