Chapter 8. Using the Social Features of Your NOOK Color

As I’m sure you know, Facebook and Twitter are big deals these days—everyone is sharing everything. The NOOK Color makes this sharing even easier. You can share your reading status, share quotes, and rate and recommend books. You can share to specific contacts, on BN.com, Facebook, and Twitter. Because many of these options overlap and at the same time are scattered across the interface, this chapter focuses on Facebook sharing and the NOOK Friends app.

You can access the Facebook social features by pressing and holding a cover image and tapping Recommend, tapping Recommend It on the View Details screen, tapping Share from the Reading Tools toolbar, or tapping Share from the Text Selection toolbar. Now deal with each of these contexts in turn.

Using Recommend from the Cover Menu or View Details Screen

Pressing and holding a cover either on the Home screen or in the Library displays a menu. Tap Recommend to see your recommend options (see Figure 8.1). Tap Facebook to see the Facebook Recommendation screen (see Figure 8.2)—if you are not currently connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot, the Network Setting screen appears for you to connect to one. Alternatively, you can press and hold a cover, tap View Details, and then tap Recommend It.

Figure 8.1 Where do you want to recommend this NOOK Book?

Figure 8.2 Use this screen to post a recommendation to your wall.

To post to your Facebook wall:

1. Tap Post to My Wall.

2. Type your message that will appear. As you type, you see the number of available characters (max of 420) go down, giving you an indication of how much space you have left.

3. Tap Post. Your NOOK Color sends the recommendation to your wall.

If you want to post to a friend’s wall, tap Post to a Friend’s Wall (see Figure 8.3) and then tap Select Friend. You can search for a name. To select a friend, tap the button on the right of the name. You can select however many friends you want. Tap Done. Type your message and then tap Post. Your NOOK Color sends the recommendation to your friend’s or friends’ walls.

Figure 8.3 Use this screen to post a recommendation to a friend’s wall.

Using Share from the Reading Tools Toolbar

While reading a NOOK Book or newspaper, you can tap the Share button on the Reading Tools toolbar. You have three options: Recommend, Rate and Review, and Post Reading Status (see Figure 8.4).

• Recommend: This functions exactly as the previous section, “Using Recommend from the Cover Menu or View Details Screen,” functions.

• Rate and Review: Tapping this allows you to rate and review the book on BN.com, which appears on the B&N book’s specific web page. You must provide both a rating and either a headline or review before you can post. After you tap Post, the information is sent to BN.com.

• Post Reading Status: This option enables you to post how far along you are in reading this NOOK Book to Facebook. A brief headline indicating how far you are into the NOOK Book and its title is followed by the synopsis of the NOOK Book as found on BN.com.

After tapping Share and tapping Post Reading Status, tap the check box for Facebook or Twitter (or both) and then tap Post. The update is sent.

• Like This on Facebook: This option enables you to post to your Facebook wall that you like this book. Tap this link, and your NOOK Color makes the connection that you like that NOOK Book.

Figure 8.4 Tap the Share button to access the social features for NOOK Books.

Figure 8.5 Rating and reviewing a NOOK Book posts that rating and review on BN.com.

Figure 8.6 Sharing the reading status posts how far you are into that NOOK Book on Facebook and Twitter.

Using Share from the Text Selection Toolbar

Use this share function when you have a quote you want others to see:

1. Press and hold the word you want to start the quote.

2. When the Text Selection toolbar appears, finish highlighting the quote by dragging the ending blue bar to where you want.

3. Tap Share.

4. Tap Facebook (see Figure 8.7).

Figure 8.7 Sharing a quote.

5. Tap either Post to My Wall or Post to a Friend’s Wall.

For Post to My Wall, type a message and tap Post.

For Post to a Friend’s Wall, tap Select Friend. Select your friend or friends. Type your message. Tap Post.

The appropriate wall or walls are updated.

Using the Flag Reading Tools Bar

Remember the flag on the Reading Tools bar in the reading screen (that flag off to the right of the scroll bar). When you finish reading a NOOK Book, tap it to get access to more social functions. When you tap the flag, the We Hope You Enjoyed It screen appears (see Figure 8.8). You can rate and review it for BN.com, lend it to a friend (if it is a LendMe book), or recommend it to friends via your Contacts, Facebook, or Twitter.

Figure 8.8 What the Flag offers.

Also, if you click one of the covers in the Customers Who Bought This Also Bought section, the NOOK Store™ version Details screen appears so that you can buy your next NOOK Book, download a sample, or add it to your wishlist.

So What About Twitter and Contacts?

NOOK Color’s support for Twitter and Contacts functions identically to Facebook, except that you share with specific contacts via email or your Twitter feed (see Figure 8.9). Twitter has a more limited character count, however.

Figure 8.9 Sharing a recommendation via Twitter.

Using the NOOK Friends App

NOOK Friends is, to quote B&N, “the place for people who love to share their love for reading!” Here, you can connect with friends to lend and borrow books, see what your friends have been doing, and other things.

You access the NOOK Friends app by tapping Apps from the Quick Nav Bar. Then tap NOOK Friends. You are already set up with an account. The NOOK Friends screen is divided into Friends’ Activities, NOOK Friends, LendMe, and About Me.

Friends’ Activities displays what your friends have been reading, what they recommend, how far along they are in a book, and so on.

NOOK Friends displays the friends you have, any requests to become a NOOK Friend, and requests for NOOK Friends you have sent. If you tap the name of one of your friends, you see a screen that shows which of that person’s books are available to borrow. Tap Requests when someone requests to be your NOOK Friend, which you can accept or decline. Tap Sent to see which NOOK Friends requests you have sent.

To send a request to become a NOOK Friend, tap the Plus button. The Add NOOK Friends screen appears (see Figure 8.10).

Figure 8.10 The Add NOOK Friends screen.

All Contacts displays to show all your contacts. Tap Invite to invite that contact, and she is sent an email and can see the request on her NOOK Color. Tap Suggested to see a filtered list of your contact that B&N knows already has a B&N account. You can also add a new contact by tapping Add New. Enter the person’s first and last names and the email address. Leave the Invite as NOOK Friend check box marked to send that contact a request to become a NOOK Friend. Tap Save to send the request and save the contact.

Tap About Me to see information about you (see Figure 8.11).

Figure 8.11 The NOOK Friends About Me screen.

This screen shows you the number of your NOOK Friends, NOOK Books owned, and NOOK Books recommended. You also see a list of your recent activity (and what your NOOK Friends see in their Friends’ Activities screen).

The LendMe features are covered in Chapter 4’s section, “Lending Using the NOOK Friends App.”