Facebook has over 2 billion monthly active users, making it one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. With so many people using Facebook, questions about privacy and security often come up. One common question is: can someone follow you or view your profile on Facebook without you knowing?
What does it mean to “follow” someone on Facebook?
Unlike other social networks like Twitter or Instagram, there is no official “Follow” feature on Facebook. However, there are a couple of ways that people can subscribe to your profile and keep up with your activity:
- Becoming your Facebook friend – This allows them to see your posts in their News Feed.
- Liking or following your public updates – Even if someone is not your friend, they can like your public Page or follow your public updates you’ve shared.
- Subscribing to you – Users can “subscribe” to you to get notified about your public posts without having to friend or follow you.
So in that sense, people can “follow” you and your activity on Facebook without necessarily friending you on the platform.
Can someone follow you or view your profile without you knowing?
Whether someone can secretly follow you on Facebook depends on your privacy settings:
Friends
If someone sends you a friend request, you will be notified and have the option to accept or ignore the request. They will not be able to see any of your posts in their News Feed until you confirm them as a friend.
Public information
If your profile and posts are fully public, anyone can view and follow your activity without you knowing. Strangers can like your public Page and subscribe to public updates from your profile.
Private and limited profile settings
If you have stricter privacy settings, such as limiting profile viewing to Friends only, then most of your activity and information will be hidden from people who are not connected to you as friends. However, some limited information like your name, profile photo and cover photo remain public.
How to tell if someone is following you secretly
Wondering if someone is lurking on your profile without your knowledge? Here are some signs:
Friend requests from strangers
Pay attention to friend requests from people you do not know. While they may have found you from mutual friends, it could also be someone who has been viewing your profile without your knowing.
Being added to Lists
Facebook’s Lists feature lets users organize friends into different groups. However, even non-friends can add you to a List, which could be someone secretly following you.
Notifications you are tagged
If you get tags from strangers in photos, posts or comments, they likely found you by lurking on your profile or posts first.
Page follower notifications
As mentioned above, anyone can like your public Page on Facebook. If suddenly you are getting an influx of new Page likes from accounts you are unfamiliar with, it could be a sign of secretly being followed.
Mutual friend suggestions
Facebook’s algorithms try to detect connections between different users. If you notice friend recommendations for strangers who all appear to have recently viewed or followed you, they are likely trying to follow you incognito.
How to see who is secretly following you
Facebook does not have a direct way to see who is secretly following you, but there are some steps you can take to monitor lurkers and followers:
View your Follower list
You can see a list of everyone following your public updates by going to your profile, clicking “More” under your intro section and selecting “Followers.” This will show you any followers you don’t recognize.
Check Notification history
Your notifications can provide clues into who is interacting with your profile. Look for activity from accounts you do not know to identify potential lurkers.
See Page follower demographics
From your Facebook Page, go to “Insights” > “Followers” to analyze the demographics of your Page followers. Look for any unusual spikes or patterns to see if unknown people have been following your Page.
View List mentions
You can find which Lists you are mentioned on by going to your profile and clicking “Lists” under the bio section. See if you have been added to any strange Lists recently.
Check tags
Regularly check posts or photos you are tagged in by people you do not know. Click on the tags to investigate those accounts.
Look at mutual friend recommendations
When you get friend recommendations for strangers, click through to see what friends or interests you may have in common. This can provide clues if someone is lurking on you.
Limit what potential ‘followers’ can see
If you are concerned about people secretly seeing your profile and posts, here are some steps to increase privacy:
- Adjust post audience settings – Change default post visibility from “Public” to “Friends” only.
- Review friend list – Remove any unknown connections.
- Leave public Groups/Pages – Leaving large public communities can limit what strangers can access.
- Disable public follower lists – Turn off the ability for people to follow your public updates.
- Block suspicious accounts – Proactively block any accounts that seem to be lurking without reason.
Conclusion
While Facebook does not have a native “Follow” feature, it is possible for people to monitor your public activity without your knowledge or consent. However, by leveraging privacy settings and being alert to signs of unwanted followers, you can take steps to limit unwanted attention and lurkers.