With over 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook has become one of the most popular social media platforms for connecting with friends, family, acquaintances, brands, and public figures. On Facebook, you can follow the posts and updates of other users without necessarily being friends with them. This allows you to see their public posts in your News Feed. However, you may be wondering – can your Facebook friends see if you follow or unfollow them? Let’s take a closer look.
Can Facebook friends see if you follow them?
No, Facebook friends cannot see if you specifically follow their profile or start following them. The follow feature on Facebook is private and is not shared with the user being followed. The only way for a Facebook friend to know if you follow them is if you interact with their public posts by liking, commenting, etc. But they will not get a notification that you started following them.
Here are some key points on following Facebook friends privately:
- When you follow someone, it does not send them a notification or request. You can follow any public profile without their consent.
- Your Facebook friend will not get alerted or receive any indication that you started following their public updates in your feed.
- The follow action is invisible. You are simply subscribed to their public posts without actively friending or interacting with the person.
- You can follow Facebook friends, celebrities, public figures, brands, companies, groups, and pages. But they will not know you follow them unless you like, comment or share their posts.
- The only place you can see who you follow is by going to your own profile and News Feed Preferences. No one else can see your follows.
So in summary, no, your Facebook friends cannot tell if you follow them or view their public posts in your feed. The follow feature is completely private and anonymous from their end.
Who can see your Facebook follows?
The only person who can actually see who you follow on Facebook is you. By going into your News Feed Preferences, under the Following section, you can view and manage the full list of profiles, pages, and groups you currently follow.
Facebook does not share your following list with any of your friends or the users you follow. It is kept private as part of your account preferences. You have full control over managing your follows within your News Feed Preferences.
Can Facebook friends see if you unfollow them?
Similar to following, unfollowing someone on Facebook is also private. If you unfollow a Facebook friend, they will not receive a notification or have any indication that you stopped seeing their public posts.
Here are some key things to know about unfollowing on Facebook:
- If you unfollow a friend, their posts simply stop appearing in your News Feed. They will not be alerted to this change.
- You can unfollow people without them knowing to remove their content from your Feed.
- The unfollow action does not delete or remove you as a friend. You remain connected on Facebook.
- You can continue interacting through private channels like Messenger even if you unfollow their public posts.
- If you refollow someone later, they still will not receive any notification that you re-followed them.
In summary, unfollowing is invisible just like following. Your Facebook friends have no indication if you removed them from your News Feed. The unfollow action is private to your account.
Can pages see if you follow or unfollow them?
For public pages with many thousands of followers, they also cannot see which specific people follow or unfollow their Facebook page. However, page admins can view aggregate follower metrics like total follow count, new follows, and unfollows.
But they have no visibility into who specifically follows or unfollows their page. It is anonymous at the individual user level. So you can safely follow or unfollow any public page without them being alerted to it.
Pros of privately following Facebook friends
Here are some benefits of being able to anonymously follow Facebook friends and connections:
- Stay updated – You can keep up with their public posts without friending or interacting with them.
- Less clutter – Only follow friends who post content you want to see regularly.
- No pressure – Follow acquaintances without needing to friend request them.
- Invisible – They won’t know if you follow or unfollow them.
- Flexible – You can change who you follow at any time.
- Manage feed – Customize the content you see from connections.
The private follow feature lets you silently choose whose updates you want to keep up with on your own terms. You don’t have to directly interact with them.
Cons of privately following Facebook friends
However, there are some downsides to the private follow function as well:
- You may miss important life updates if you unfollow someone.
- It can contribute to weakening of relationships if used excessively.
- People may be offended if they find out you unfollowed them.
- Pages rely on followers for growth and metrics. Mass unfollowing impacts them.
- Too much curation of News Feed can trap you in a filter bubble.
- Following strangers or acquaintances can clutter your feed.
- Stalkers can follow someone without their consent.
The invisible nature of follows can be detrimental if used in the wrong way or excessively. There needs to be a balance between managing your feed and maintaining real life connections.
Conclusion
To summarize, Facebook friends are unable to see if you specifically follow or unfollow them. The follow feature is anonymous and private to your account. This gives you control over customizing whose public updates you see while keeping up with friends and connections on your own terms. However, excessive use of follows and unfollows should be avoided to maintain meaningful relationships both online and offline.