Managing the privacy settings for your Facebook page is important to control who can see and interact with your content. The “Followers” setting allows you to limit who can follow your page and see your public updates in their News Feed. Here are some quick answers about changing who can follow your Facebook page:
What does the Followers setting do?
The Followers setting controls who is able to follow your Facebook page and view your public page posts in their News Feed. By default, any Facebook user is able to follow your page. But you can restrict followers to just people and Pages you’ve approved or only people who like your page.
Where is the Followers setting?
To access the Followers setting on your Facebook page:
- Go to your Page and click “Settings” at the bottom of your Page’s cover photo.
- On the left sidebar, click “Followers”
- You will see the “Followers” settings. The default is set to “Any Facebook user can follow your Page.”
How do I limit who can follow my Page?
You have three options for the Followers setting:
- Any Facebook user can follow your Page – This allows anyone on Facebook to see your public Page posts in their News Feed and follow your Page. This is the default setting.
- Only people you approve can follow your Page – This restricts followers to only people and Pages that you manually approve. When people request to follow your Page, it will be pending until you approve them. This gives you the most control over followers.
- Only people who like your Page can follow it – This setting means only people who have actively liked your Page can follow it. This prevents random users from being able to follow your page.
To change the setting, simply click on one of the three options and click “Confirm” to save your changes.
Should I limit who can follow my Page?
Here are some things to consider when deciding whether to limit who can follow your Facebook Page:
- If you want your content to reach as many people as possible, keep the default “anyone” setting.
- If you want more control over who sees your posts, limit to “people you approve.”
- If you only want to reach engaged followers, restrict to “people who like your Page.”
- The more you limit followers, the less reach your public content may have.
- Pages focused on public engagement typically keep the default setting.
- Business Pages selling products or services may want to limit followers.
How do I approve follower requests?
If you limit followers to “Only people you approve,” here is how you can approve or deny follow requests:
- Go to your Page and click “Settings” at the bottom of the cover photo
- Click “Followers” on the left sidebar
- You will see a list of pending follow requests. Click “View Requests” to see the full list.
- For each request, click “Confirm” to approve the request or “Delete Request” to deny it.
- You can also select multiple requests and click “Confirm All” or “Delete All.”
Approving high-quality followers can help increase engagement on your Facebook page. But be cautious of approving spam or bot accounts that may not interact with your content.
Can I auto-approve followers?
There is no built-in way to automatically approve Page follow requests. You have to manually confirm each request.
However, some third-party apps like Social Race claim to offer auto-approval of Facebook followers. But keep in mind:
- Facebook does not recommend or endorse these types of apps.
- Auto-approving followers increases risk of spam/bot accounts.
- Auto-approval goes against Facebook’s terms of service.
Manually reviewing followers is best to maintain control over your audience.
Can I see who follows my Page?
Unfortunately there is no way to see a complete list of everyone who is following your Facebook Page through the interface.
However, there are some third-party tools and Facebook apps that claim to show you a list of your Page followers such as Social Race and Power BI Tool. But again, Facebook does not endorse these types of apps and they go against Facebook’s terms.
Can I interact with my followers?
Here are a few ways you can engage with the people following your Facebook Page:
- Reply to comments and messages from followers
- Send News Feed updates to reach followers
- Go Live and interact with followers in real time
- Create polls and ask questions to engage followers
- Join or create Facebook Groups for more interaction
- Analyze your follower demographics for insights
Engaging your followers helps keep them interested in your Page and its content. Responding to followers shows that you care about them.
Can I re-send new follower notifications?
When someone new follows your Page, both you and the new follower will receive a notification. However, there is no way to re-send or re-generate this notification manually.
The notification is automatically sent by Facebook upon a new user following your Page. If you did not receive the notification earlier, there is no way to get it sent again for existing followers.
The only option would be to have an existing follower unfollow and then follow your Page again. But this would be tedious and is not recommended.
Can I automatically send messages to new followers?
While you cannot re-send follower notifications, you can set up an automatic message to be sent to new followers. Here are a couple ways to do this:
- Use a third-party social media marketing platform like Hootsuite, Buffer or Sprout Social to automatically send new follower messages.
- Use Facebook Offers to send new followers a coupon or promotional offer.
- Use a Facebook chatbot app to auto-message users when they follow your Page.
- Create an email mailing list and find Facebook apps to sync email sign-ups when users follow.
Automated messages should add value for followers while introducing them to your Page. Make sure messages are relevant and not spammy.
Can I see analytics on my followers?
Yes, Facebook provides analytics and demographic data on the followers of your Facebook Page. Here’s how to find it:
- Go to your Facebook Page.
- Click “Insights” in the top menu bar.
- Click on the “Followers” section.
This will show you metrics like:
- Total followers and net change over time
- Follower sources (organic, paid, viral)
- Follower locations
- Follower age, gender and language
Analyzing this info can help you learn more about your audience to create better content. You may spot new locations or demographics to target in marketing.
Can I export a list of my followers?
Unfortunately, there is no way to export or download a complete list of users who follow your Facebook Page through the interface.
Facebook does not allow exporting follower lists in order to protect user privacy and security. Some third-party apps claim to export followers, but this goes against Facebook’s terms of service.
The only official way to see information on current followers is through Facebook Insights analytics. You can view follower demographics and locations there. But you cannot download the raw list of follower profiles and names.
Conclusion
Controlling the privacy settings for who can follow your Facebook Page is important to engage the right audience for your content and business goals.
Analyze your current followers and content strategy to decide if you should keep an open following policy or restrict it.
Tools like Insights can help you understand your followers to optimize both who you allow to follow your Page and the content you share with them.
Focus on creating high quality content that resonates with current followers. Interact and respond to build relationships even if the overall following list is closed or limited.
Finding ways to provide value for your target audience will continue to grow your Facebook Page’s reach and engagement over time.