Connecting Your Social Media in Windows 8.1
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Surely you've noticed—social media makes it incredibly easy for us to stay in touch with family and friends near and far. Thanks to the advent of the "status update," we can learn that our cousin left for Mexico this morning, a friend got a promotion, the twins were finally born, and Uncle Dan bought a new car—all before breakfast!
Microsoft knows that social media has become a big part of our lives, and Windows 8.1 now makes it easy for you to connect your favorite social media apps and view all the latest news in one handy Windows 8.1 app.
The People app gathers up all the information about contacts in the social media accounts you've linked, so you can see at a glance what's new in all your favorite peoples' lives.
This article shows you how to connect your social media accounts to Windows 8.1 so you can stay in touch with those you care about most.
Introducing the People App
The Windows 8.1 People app is the app you'll use to catch up on all the latest news from your friends and family. The app brings together all your contacts from your various social media accounts and displays them all in one handy alphabetical list.
You can scan through the list of contacts and read the status updates, or tap or click a contact to make direct contact. You can also use the People app to update your own status update and change your social media profile information.
You'll find the People app on the Windows 8.1 Start screen. It may resemble a montage of pictures from the social media accounts of your friends and family.
To launch the People app, simply click or tap the app tile (see Figure 1).
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Figure 1 The People app displays a montage of social media images in the app tile
The first page of the People app brings together your top contacts, as well as any information about recent notifications you've received (for example, somebody may have liked your recent photo). You can view or change your own profile Information by clicking or tapping Me on the left side of the screen.
You can also swipe up or down from the edge of the screen to display additional options for the People app. Clicking Home displays the Home page of the People app, clicking Me takes you to your profile (and shows you your recent posts), choosing What's New displays all updates from your connected social media accounts, and clicking All Contacts displays all your combined contacts in one view (see Figure 2).
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Figure 2 Swipe up or down at the edge of the screen to display options for the People app
Connecting Your Social Media Accounts
The People app makes it easy for you to connect your favorite social media accounts: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Skype, and more. You can also connect your email accounts so you always have access to the latest information in this fast-changing social world.
In the People app, you can see which accounts you're connected to in the lower-right corner of the app window. To update your connections or add another social media account, tap or click the three dots in the lower-left corner of the People app screen (see Figure 3).
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Figure 3 Click the three dots to the right of the Connected To link to display choices for connecting social media accounts
The Accounts pane opens, listing all social media accounts you have that are currently connected to Windows 8.1. Click or tap the Add An Account link at the bottom of the pane (see Figure 4).
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Figure 4 Click or tap Add an Account to connect a new social media account to Windows 8.1
The Add an Account pane lists the social media accounts you can add. Click the account you want to connect to Windows 8.1. If prompted, enter your email address or user name and password. Click or tap Connect. Windows 8.1 connects the social media account you selected.
You'll now be able to see all the status updates, tweets, and more from connected accounts by clicking What's New in the People app options and scrolling or swiping to the right. You can also respond to posts and tweets from within the People app.
Simply click or tap the post you want to respond to and then click Like, or respond to the post with a comment or tweet (see Figure 5).
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Figure 5 If your PC is connected to a domain, Family Safety might not be available. Check with your system administrator
Final Thoughts
Windows 8.1 makes it easy for you to keep up with friends and family through your favorite social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more. Once you add the accounts, you can keep up with all the updates by choosing What's New in the People app and then liking, tweeting, and responding to whatever interests you in the ongoing stream of social media.