With over 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook has become the most popular social media platform for connecting with friends, family, coworkers, and more. However, the prevalence of Facebook also makes it easy for people to stalk your profile without your knowledge.
You may have noticed some suspicious activity on your Facebook account lately – random friend requests, comments on old posts, or your profile views spiking for no apparent reason. This likely indicates that someone is stalking you on Facebook.
While Facebook stalking may seem harmless, it can make you feel uncomfortable knowing that someone is watching your activity so closely. The good news is there are ways to find out who is stalking you on Facebook and limit their access to your profile.
Check Your Facebook Profile Visitors
The easiest way to see who’s viewing your Facebook profile is to check your list of profile visitors. Here’s how:
- Go to your Facebook profile
- Click on the globe icon under your cover photo (on desktop) or the 3-line menu icon (on mobile)
- Select “View As” from the dropdown menu
- You’ll see a list of people who have visited your profile recently
This shows you the most recent people who have landed on your profile. Keep in mind that this doesn’t necessarily mean they’re stalking you – it could just be an accidental visit. But if you notice certain people visiting your profile repeatedly, that’s a red flag for Facebook stalking.
See Who Views Your Posts
Stalkers will not only look at your profile, but also closely watch the posts you share. Facebook has a feature that lets you view post viewers, although it’s not completely comprehensive.
To check it out:
- Go to any post on your profile
- Click on the audience selector (it will say Public, Friends, etc)
- Choose “People You Can See Post” or “Friends Except Acquaintances”
This shows you a list of people who have viewed that specific post. Again, strange profiles repeatedly showing up on your post viewers indicates Facebook stalking.
Look for People Interacting With All Your Content
The most obvious sign of a Facebook stalker is when someone is constantly interacting with your posts, whether it’s liking, commenting, or sharing them. They want to make sure you know they’re watching everything you do.
To identify these over-eager interactors:
- Go through your recent posts one by one
- Make note of any profiles consistently interacting with all of them
You can also click on any post and choose the interaction viewer options (“Liked by”, “Commented by”, “Shared by”) to see names. Frequent flyers who pop up on all your posts are most likely Facebook stalking you.
Check Your Facebook Search History
If someone is going beyond just following your public posts and actually searching for you on Facebook, this activity will show up in your search history.
To access it:
- Click the down arrow at the top right of Facebook
- Select “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings”
- Go to “Your Facebook Information” > “View All”
- Click “Search History”
You’ll see a list of times your name was searched on Facebook as well as who performed the searches. This is a clear sign of Facebook stalking if it’s repeated searches from the same person.
Check Notification Emails from Facebook
Every time someone interacts with your Facebook profile or content, you receive a notification email. These can provide clues to who might be stalking you.
Look through your recent Facebook notification emails for any suspicious signs like:
- Friend requests from random people you don’t know
- Repeated likes, comments, or shares from the same person
- Follow requests or messages from strangers
Make note of any profiles doing these repeated activities without explanation, as they could be Facebook stalkers.
Use Facebook Activity Log
Facebook’s activity log provides a comprehensive report of every interaction you’ve had on the platform. This makes it easy to identify any unusual activity that could point to a Facebook stalker.
To access your log:
- Click the down arrow at top right
- Select “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings”
- Click “Your Facebook Information” on the left sidebar
- Select “View Your Information” > “Access Your Information”
- Click “Download” next to “Activity Log”
Scan through your entire log and highlight instances like unexplained profile views, frequent searches by the same person, and spam likes/comments on your posts.
See Who Views Your Facebook Stories
The Facebook Stories feature shows you exactly who has viewed each story you share. Stories disappear after 24 hours, so check them daily to catch potential stalkers in action.
To see your story viewers:
- Go to your profile and tap on Stories at the top
- Tap on the story you want to check
- Swipe up on the story viewer list at the bottom
Take note if there are one or two people consistently watching every single story you post. Those profiles should be suspect for Facebook stalking.
Review Tags and Mentions
When someone tags or mentions you on Facebook, it creates a direct connection to your profile. Stalkers can exploit this to keep tabs on you.
To inspect suspicious tags/mentions:
- Click the down arrow at top right
- Select “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings”
- Click “Notifications” on the left sidebar
- View your recent notifications for odd tags/mentions
Frequent tags from random strangers are a giveaway. You can also search your name on Facebook to surface posts you’re tagged in.
Install Monitoring App or Browser Extension
Manually checking all these areas for signs of Facebook stalkers takes time and effort. For a faster solution, use a monitoring app or browser extension.
Options like Social Insider and Mentionmapp alert you to any interactions with your Facebook profile as they happen. Other extensions like ClickAlert notify you when specific people view your profile or posts.
These tools instantly flag suspicious activity so you can identify and stop Facebook stalkers more easily.
Adjust Facebook Privacy Settings
Once you uncover who’s stalking you on Facebook, limit their access by adjusting your privacy settings:
- Profile privacy – Restrict visibility of your posts, photos, information, and more specifically to Friends, Friends Except Acquaintances, or smaller friend lists
- Story privacy – Customize your story audience instead of keeping it public
- Tags/mentions – Change settings to review tags people add with you before they appear on Facebook
- Activity status – Disable the ability for others to see when you’re active or typing a comment
You can also block stalkers entirely so they can’t access your profile or search for you on Facebook.
Limit Past Posts and Photos
Even if you amp up your main privacy settings, a Facebook stalker could still access years of old posts, photos, check-ins, and other content on your profile.
To remove this potential stalking material:
- Go to your profile and click on the three dots beside Posts
- Select “Limit Past Posts” and choose a time period or custom dates
- Go to Photos and click the three dots to “Limit Older Photos”
This hides content older than the timeframe you choose, removing a bulk of info from potential stalkers.
Conclusion
Having a Facebook stalker can be unsettling, but there are ways to identify who is creeping on you and take action.
Regularly check your profile views, post viewers, notifications, activity log, tags, stories, and search history for odd behavior. Use monitoring apps to stay on top of new activity as it happens. Then dial back your privacy settings and limit past posts to restrict a stalker’s access.
Stay vigilant and don’t hesitate to block or report persistent Facebook stalkers. With the right tools and awareness, you can feel secure on social media again.
| Section | Tactics to identify stalkers |
|---|---|
| Check Profile Visitors | – View list of recent visitors to your profile |
| See Who Views Your Posts | – Check individual post viewers |
| Look for Frequent Interactors | – Note profiles constantly liking, commenting on, sharing posts |
| Check Search History | – Look for repeated searches of your name |
| Review Notification Emails | – Watch for suspicious friend requests, interactions |
| Check Activity Log | – Scan for unexplained profile views, searches, etc |
| See Who Views Stories | – Track viewers of daily Facebook stories |
| Inspect Tags and Mentions | – Monitor notifications for odd tags/mentions |
| Use Monitoring Tools | – Get real-time alerts from browser extensions and apps |