I'm out from lurking.
How do you use them effectively, as a general rule?

Facebook is NOT an online dating site. Meeting girls online sucks. You get lames and pigs. What you can do if you want to use facebook to provide you with some "extra" is add girls from your area that are HOT. Strippers, dancers, whatever... Post interesting shit and like and comment on their posts (they will usually add anyone because they are looking to create a following for themselves) By having girls liking and commenting on your posts, this will provide you with social proof that you are indeed someone who is preselected by women. I would not expect to sit there and pull girls off Facebook if I were you though. Girls think its creepy. Get the fuck out of your house and meet girls.

Texting is something that every guy does. When you get a girls number, FUCKING CALL HER. Don't fall into the category that every other guy does, and be someone who can't work up the balls to call her. Texting only will get you in trouble. It is too hard for someone who doesn't understand emotions and values to text effectively without fucking things up. There is no "unsend" button and it doesn't give you the chance to redeem yourself if you say something that she doesn't take the right way.