Liking pages on Facebook makes it easy to follow updates from brands, businesses, celebrities, and other entities you’re interested in. However, there may be times when you want to like a page without broadcasting it to all of your friends and followers. Here are some tips for liking Facebook pages more privately.
Make Your Likes Private
The simplest way to like a page privately is to make your page likes hidden from your timeline. Here’s how:
- Go to your profile page and click on the About section
- Scroll down and click on the little globe icon next to Likes
- This will toggle your page likes to either public or private
- Make sure the setting is on private if you want to hide your page likes
With this setting enabled, only you can see the full list of pages you’ve liked. They won’t show up on your profile for other people to see.
Use a Fake Account
Another option is to like pages using a separate Facebook account just for this purpose. Here’s how to set it up:
- Create a new Facebook account either on desktop or through the mobile app
- Don’t use any real personal details – make up a fake name and birthday
- Don’t add any friends or follow any profiles
- Once the account is created, go ahead and like any pages you want privately
- Be sure not to interact with those pages at all using your real account
The downside to this method is having to switch between accounts to see updates from those pages. But it does allow you to keep those likes completely separate from your real profile.
Use a Browser’s Private Browsing Mode
Most major web browsers have a private or incognito browsing mode. This allows you to browse the web without any activity being saved in your browser history or cookies. You can use this to like Facebook pages in a way that won’t be linked to your account.
Here’s how:
- Open a private/incognito window in your browser
- Go to Facebook and log into your account
- Search for and like any pages you want privately
- When done, close the private window completely
As long as you only like pages while in a private window, those likes will not be visible to anyone else. Just remember to fully close out of the window when you’re finished so your activity isn’t saved.
Restrict the Audience for Your Likes
If you want your Facebook friends to see that you’ve liked certain pages, but not others, you can also restrict the audience. Here’s how to do it:
- Go to your profile and click on Friends in the left sidebar
- Select the Custom option near the top
- Type in the names or friend lists you want to hide your page likes from
- Click Done and your page likes will only be visible to friends not on this list
This takes a bit more effort since you’ll have to manage custom friend lists. But it gives you granular control over who can and can’t see your page likes.
Use Facebook’s Activity Log
Facebook keeps track of every interaction you make on the platform via your Activity Log. This includes any pages you’ve recently liked. You can use this to your advantage by liking pages, then deleting the evidence from your log.
To do this:
- Like a page you want to keep private
- Go to your Activity Log and find the entry for liking that page
- Click on the X icon on that entry to delete it
It will now disappear from your log as if you never liked it. The like itself will still be registered with Facebook privately. But this prevents others from viewing it in your logs.
Avoid Interacting Publicly
Even if you unlike a page later, any past interactions you’ve had with that page remain public. This includes:
- Commenting on posts
- Sharing posts
- Checking into locations
- Tagging the page in photos
To keep your association with a page completely private, avoid interacting with it publicly using your real account at all. Don’t give any public signals that could reveal you like that page.
Use Facebook’s Private Bookmarks
In mid-2020, Facebook introduced a new bookmarking feature for saving content to read later. Anything you bookmark is private and not shared with anyone else.
You can use this to bookmark interesting posts and updates from pages you want to discretely follow:
- While viewing a post from a page, click the bookmark icon in the top right
- This saves it to your private bookmarks where only you can view them
- You can also bookmark entire pages to reference them privately
Bookmarking doesn’t publicly show that you follow or like a page. But it allows you to reference content from those pages privately.
Leverage Facebook Lists
Facebook introduced lists in 2013 to help users organize their friends and followers. But you can also use lists to privately group pages you like.
To do this:
- Go to the Lists section of your profile and create a new list
- Give the list a vague name unrelated to its purpose
- Use the Add People button to add pages you want to privately track to this list
- You can now view updates from these pages all in one place without liking them
Again, this takes more effort than just liking pages normally. But it allows you to follow pages quasi-privately and keep that activity hidden from friends.
Use Third-Party Tools
There are a few third-party apps and browser extensions that make it easier to privately interact with Facebook pages:
- PageSecret – Browser extension that hides your page likes from your profile and activity log.
- Social Book Post Manager – App that saves posts from pages for you to read privately.
- PrivateKit – Groups pages into topics and allows you to anonymously follow them.
Research any third-party tools thoroughly, as some may have privacy downsides. But they provide other options for liking pages privately outside of Facebook’s native tools.
Fully Understanding the Privacy Risks
While these tips can help limit public visibility, liking pages on Facebook always carries some privacy risks. Keep the following in mind:
- Facebook owns all data related to your likes and can still use it internally
- Any pages you like receive more data on users who like them
- Friends may still be recommended pages you secretly like and make the connection
- Pages you’ve liked may recognize you if you sign up for their site or mailing list
- Browsing history, cookies, and metadata could reveal your likes to advertisers
- Government agencies and court orders could potentially access your private like data from Facebook
Truly keeping your Facebook likes 100% private requires avoiding the platform altogether. These tips reduce discoverability by others, but can’t guarantee total secrecy. Be thoughtful about pages linked back to your real identity.
Pros and Cons of Liking Pages Privately
Here are some considerations to keep in mind when deciding whether to like pages privately on Facebook:
Pros
- Prevents friends/family from judging you based on your likes
- Avoids recommendations for similar pages you may not want publicly visible
- Can reduce chances of being targeted by advertisers based on likes
- Lets you show genuine support for pages representing minority opinions or identities
Cons
- Limits engagement with pages as you won’t want to interact publicly
- Reduces exposure for pages you want to support and promote
- Provides a false representation of your interests on your profile
- Contributes to filter bubbles by hiding opposing views you interact with
There are valid reasons on both sides. Evaluate your own priorities, values, and level of comfort with sharing different types of likes publicly.
Other Social Media Privacy Tips
Liking pages privately applies beyond just Facebook. Here are some general social media privacy tips:
- Periodically review and adjust privacy settings on all accounts
- Be wary of logging into other sites with social media accounts
- Exercise caution when tagging locations, friends, brands, etc.
- Consider using a pseudonymous account just for more sensitive interactions
- Limit sharing of controversial opinions and information
- Browse anonymously in private/incognito mode when possible
Social media privacy requires vigilance, constantly evaluating what you share and whom you share it with. Private page likes are just one piece of limiting your broader digital footprint.
Conclusion
Liking Facebook pages privately takes a bit more effort than just hitting the standard “Like” button. But using some of the methods above allows you to follow public pages discreetly. Evaluate whether keeping your likes invisible is important enough to justify the extra steps. Masking your activities from friends isn’t always necessary, but it’s an option for those who want maximum control over their privacy.