Facebook Events allow users to create and manage events, invite friends, and coordinate events with Groups. When responding to a Facebook Event invite, users have the option to choose a privacy setting for their response. By default, event responses are public, meaning anyone who can see the event can also see who responded and how they responded. However, users can change the privacy of their event response in their response settings.
Overview of Facebook Events
Facebook Events enable users to create events, invite friends, coordinate with Groups, and manage RSVPs. Key features include:
- Create an event by setting a title, time, location, host(s), and other details.
- Invite friends by searching for and selecting names or email addresses.
- Set a Group as the event host to collaborate with that Group’s members.
- Customize event photos, videos, descriptions, and discussion posts.
- Manage RSVPs by seeing who’s going, interested, or declined.
- Share events on Facebook timelines, in Groups, or through shares, ads, or promoted posts.
- Integrate with Facebook Pay to sell event tickets and collect payments.
Facebook Events make it easy to bring people together for parties, conferences, fundraisers, and other occasions. Admins have robust tools to organize details and connect with attendees.
Responding to Facebook Event Invites
When a Facebook user is invited to an event, they will receive a notification and see the event invite on their Facebook timeline or in the Events section of the Facebook menu. From there, they can tap or click on the event invite to view event details set by the host.
To respond to the event invite, the user clicks on one of the options:
- Going: Confirms you plan to attend the event.
- Interested: Expresses interest but doesn’t confirm attendance.
- Can’t Go: Declines the event invitation.
The user’s response will be visible to the event host and to any other event guests. By default, the response is public.
Changing the Privacy of an Event Response
If you want to respond to a Facebook event but don’t want your response to be public, you can change the privacy setting for your response in your response settings:
Via Desktop
1. Click on the event on your Facebook timeline or in the Events section of the left menu.
2. In the Event page, click on the Down arrow next to your response (Going, Interested, or Can’t Go).
3. Select “Change Response Privacy” from the dropdown menu.
4. In the Change Response Privacy window, use the dropdown menu to change it to Friends, Only Me, or a Custom privacy setting.
5. Click “Confirm” to apply the new privacy setting.
Via Mobile App
1. Tap the event in your notifications or find it under Events in the menu.
2. Tap your response (Going, Interested, Can’t Go).
3. Tap the 3-dot More Options icon next to your response.
4. Tap Change Response Privacy.
5. Select a new privacy setting from the menu: Friends, Only Me, or Custom.
6. Tap Save to confirm the new setting.
So in summary, you can easily control who can see your response to any Facebook event by adjusting the privacy settings on your RSVP response. The steps above work both on the Facebook website and in the Facebook mobile app.
Private, Public, and Custom Response Privacy
When changing the privacy of your Facebook event response, you have three main options:
Public
A public setting means anyone who can see the event can also see your response. This is the default setting when you respond to an event. Public responses help the host gauge interest and turnout.
Friends
The friends setting limits your response visibility to your friends on Facebook. Friends of friends won’t be able to see that you responded. Good for when you want to respond but only share it with your close connections.
Only Me (Private)
A private or only me setting means that only you can see your event response. No one else, not even the event host, will know that you responded. Best for when you want to keep your response completely private but still need to respond to the invite notification.
Custom
The custom privacy option allows you to customize visibility exactly how you want. You can limit viewing to specific friend lists, friends except acquaintances, only 1 friend, and more. Helpful for granular control.
Considerations When Changing Response Privacy
Here are some things to keep in mind when adjusting the privacy settings on your event responses:
Hosts May Still See Totals
If you make your response private, the event host or admin won’t see your specific response anymore. However, they will still see the total number of people responding for each option (Going, Interested, Can’t Go). So your private response still contributes to those overall tallies that organizers see.
Others Can Change Privacy Too
Just as you can change your own event response privacy, so can other guests who have responded. Don’t assume that all the responses you see from others are set to public. Someone showing as “Going” may have also customized their privacy beyond the defaults.
Don’t Forget About Photo Privacy
The event response itself isn’t the only thing to consider. If the host has enabled photo and video uploads, anyone with permission could potentially see photos you upload to the event, depending on the audience setting the host chose. So keep that in mind as well.
You May Still Get Notifications
Making your response private doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t receive any further notifications about that event moving forward. You could still get updates as the date approaches, notifications about new content from the host, and more. Adjust your overall notification settings to further customize.
Differs from Likes and Comments
Likes and comments have their own privacy controls separate from your RSVP response. Be aware that liking and commenting on the public event may still be seen broadly, even if you hide your Going/Interested/Can’t Go response. Adjust those preferences separately.
Pros and Cons of Private Event Responses
Changing your event RSVP to a more private setting has both advantages and disadvantages to consider:
Pros
- Lets you respond without publicly sharing details about how you spend your time.
- Allows you to be truthful about your availability without risking social or professional reputation.
- Prevents creating misconceptions, like others thinking you’ll be attending an event you privately declined.
- Avoids having lots of public event responses cluttering up your timeline and profile.
Cons
- May be seen as antisocial if friends can’t see your response.
- Makes it harder for hosts to plan if they don’t know who is actually coming.
- Contributes to hosts paying for unused capacity if your private “No” still counts to the guest total.
- Can lead to follow-up communication from hosts still thinking you’re attending.
There are good reasons for both public and private responses depending on the circumstance. Evaluate the pros and cons as you decide how visible to make your RSVP.
Troubleshooting Problems Changing Event Privacy
In most cases, you should be able to easily adjust the privacy of your Facebook event response. But here are some troubleshooting tips if changing the privacy doesn’t seem to work:
Refresh the Page
After changing the response privacy, refresh the page. Privacy settings don’t always update instantly. Refreshing will ensure you see an accurate status.
Check Your Settings Again
Go back and re-check the privacy setting you selected for your response. Make sure you actually clicked “Save” or “Confirm” when adjusting the privacy. It’s easy to miss that final step.
Make Sure You’re the Respondent
Be sure you are adjusting the privacy on your own response, not someone else’s. You can only change the privacy for your own Going/Interested/Can’t Go status, not other people’s.
Check if the Event Ended
You may not be able to change the privacy after the conclusion of the event. Hosts can disable the ability to change responses after their event date passes.
Consider the Host’s Settings
Some hosts may disable the ability to make your response private at all. Double check the event settings created by the host. If they disabled private responses, all guests will be forced to public.
Contact the Host or Facebook
If you still have issues with changing response privacy settings, consider contacting the event host directly or reaching out to Facebook support for additional help troubleshooting problems.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to some commonly asked questions about changing Facebook event response privacy:
Can hosts see who made their response private?
No. Making your response private means that the host can no longer see your specific response, only the total number of respondents in each category.
Does a private response still show up in my profile?
No, a private response will not be shown publicly on your timeline or profile. Only you can see it.
If my response is private, will the event still appear on my calendar?
Yes, the event will still sync with your calendar for your own scheduling. The privacy controls what others see, not what displays on your own calendar.
Can I change the privacy back to public later?
Yes, you can freely change the privacy setting as often as you like by repeating the steps above. Switch between public, friends, only me, or custom as needed.
If I’m Interested, can I make that private while still showing I’m Going publicly?
No, the privacy setting applies to your overall response. You can’t mix and match public and private for multiple responses. Pick one privacy level.
Is there a privacy setting that only hides it from my boss or coworkers?
Not exactly, but you can use a custom privacy setting to exclude specific friends like coworkers while allowing others to see it.
Conclusion
Facebook Events enable creating, coordinating, and promoting events to the Facebook community. Responding to an event invite is simple, but controlling the visibility of your response takes a bit more work. By navigating to your event response settings on desktop or mobile, you can change the privacy from the public default to friends, only me, or a custom setting. This helps prevent oversharing while still letting you communicate your response to the host. Consider both the advantages and disadvantages of private event responses as you decide what works best for your situation.