Facebook Memories are a great way to look back on past posts and experiences. When you share a Memory, it allows your friends and followers to reminisce with you. However, there may be times when you want to share a Memory more broadly and allow people who are not connected to you on Facebook to view it. Here are some tips on how to make a Facebook Memory that you’ve shared become more publicly available.
Understanding Facebook Memories
Facebook Memories are posts that you’ve shared previously – whether that’s status updates, photos, videos, or life events – that get resurfaced on your Timeline or News Feed. This content gets grouped together by year or around a specific theme or event. When you post regularly, Facebook will use its algorithms to identify Memories that are timely or relevant to resurface and allow you to share again.
By default, Facebook Memories that you share will only be visible to your friends on Facebook. However, you may want to make certain Memories public so that anyone on or off Facebook can view them. This allows you to showcase memorable moments to a wider audience.
Making an Individual Facebook Memory Public
If you want to make a specific Facebook Memory that you’ve shared more publicly accessible, here are the steps:
- Go to your Facebook Memories page, accessible by clicking on the “Memories” link in the left sidebar of your News Feed.
- Locate the individual Memory you want to make public in your Memories feed.
- Click on the three dots above the Memory to access more sharing options.
- Select the option to share the Memory to your Timeline.
- In the share box that pops up, click the audience selector that shows who can currently view the post.
- Change the audience for the post from “Friends” to “Public.”
- Click “Share Now.”
The Memory will now be shared to your Timeline as a new post that anyone on or off Facebook can view, like, and share.
Adjusting Privacy Settings for All Memories
Rather than change the privacy setting for each Memory individually, you can choose to make all of your Memories public by default:
- Go to your Facebook Settings menu.
- Click on the “Privacy” tab in the left sidebar.
- Select “Memories” under the “Your Activity” section.
- Click on the option for “Who can see memories you’ve shared.”
- Change the audience from “Friends” to “Public.”
- Click “Confirm” to apply the change.
Once you confirm the change, any existing or new Memories that you share will automatically become viewable by the “Public” rather than just your Facebook friends.
Things to Consider When Making Memories Public
Here are some things to keep in mind when making your Facebook Memories publicly available:
- Double check that you are comfortable with any photos, videos, or details being made public before sharing a Memory.
- Understand that outside entities may be able to access, download, or reshare your public Memories.
- You can always change a Memory back to being friends-only if you later decide you’re no longer comfortable with public access.
- Sharing Memories publicly allows you to reuse your existing content to showcase your memories to a broader online audience.
- Making all Memories public by default simply changes the sharing preference rather than automatically re-sharing anything already posted.
Using Public Memories to Expand Your Audience
Here are some ways making Memories public can help expand your reach:
- It allows new visitors to your Facebook page to browse your previous memories and get a better sense of your experiences.
- Public Memories can come up in Google and Facebook searches, directing new people to your profile.
- Sharing memorable moments publicly can help build authenticity and connection with audiences that don’t know you yet.
- You may be able to direct people to view your public Memories if you reference past experiences on other websites or profiles.
- Fans, customers, or potential new connections can reminisce on experiences along with you when they have access.
Driving Engagement with Public Memories
Making your most engaging past Memories easy to access publicly can help drive further engagement:
- Ask people to share their own related memories in the comments or on their own timelines.
- Spark conversation by directing audiences back to relevant public Memories when referencing the past.
- Enable anyone to easily like and react to the Memories you share.
- Tag and mention people outside your friends list who may want to reminisce on the memory.
- Pin Memories you’ve made public to the top of your profile to keep them in view.
Using Public Memories for Your Business
Some ways businesses can leverage public Facebook Memories include:
- Sharing memorable company events, product launches, or initiatives.
- Showcasing company culture through public team/employee memories.
- Featuring testimonials and memories from satisfied customers.
- Creating quick video montages of public Memories as ads or social media content.
- Resharing founder memories or founding stories around anniversaries or milestones.
Other Options for Sharing Memories
In addition to making your Memories public on Facebook itself, you also have some other options for increasing their visibility:
- Download and re-upload – You can download any photos or videos from your Memories then upload them natively to another platform like Instagram or YouTube and change the visibility there.
- Cross-post – Use Facebook tools to cross-post Memories to a public Instagram or other account while retaining the original Memory on your Facebook.
- Share preview – Generate a public link to any Memory and share that on external websites or profiles to direct people back.
- Embed – For Memories like public videos, you may be able to embed them on external websites or blogs using a shareable code.
- Share to story – Adding public Memories to your Facebook story allows them to be visible there for 24 hours.
Troubleshooting Tips
If you are having trouble getting your Facebook Memories to be shareable publicly, here are some troubleshooting tips:
Memory Not Showing As Public
- Double check that you changed both the audience for sharing the Memory itself and the overall privacy settings for Memories to “Public.”
- For individual Memories, be sure you clicked the “Share Now” button after changing the audience to Public.
- Refresh your page or timeline and check again – privacy changes can take a moment to take effect.
- Try sharing the Memory again following the steps to select a Public audience.
Can’t Find Share Options
- Click the three dots or arrow button above the Memory to access sharing and privacy options.
- If sharing directly from your Memories page, click the Memory itself to open it fully, then access sharing options.
- Make sure you are the original poster of the Memory – options may be limited if resharing.
Public Link Not Working
- Generate a new public link and try again – some links may expire or change over time.
- Check that you have published the Memory and have not deleted it.
- Try adjusting the audience back to Friends, resharing Publicly, and grabbing a fresh public link.
- Make sure anyone accessing the public link is not logged into a Facebook account that can already see the Memory.
Conclusion
With over 4 billion content shares daily, Facebook Memories represent a valuable way to tap back into your most meaningful social content. While Memories are designed to be a personal nostalgia feature, you may want to make certain memorable moments available more broadly. By adjusting privacy settings, sharing options, and post visibility, you can showcase your favorite Memories with public audiences beyond just your Facebook friends.