Facebook allows users to control the privacy settings for their profile and posts. By default, Facebook sets profiles and posts to be viewable by Friends only. However, users can change these settings to make their profile and posts public.
Making Your Facebook Profile Public
To make your Facebook profile public, so anyone can see it:
- Click on the down arrow in the top right corner and select “Settings” from the drop-down menu.
- On the left side of the page, click “Privacy”.
- Under “Who can see your future posts?”, click “Edit” and change the audience to “Public”.
- Under “Who can see your friends list?”, click “Edit” and change the audience to “Public”.
- Under “Who can look you up using the email address or phone number you provided?”, click “Edit” and change the audience to “Everyone”.
Once you’ve made these changes, your profile will be visible to anyone on or off Facebook. People will be able to see your profile photo, cover photo, about info, friends list and any future posts you share without being your Facebook friend.
Making Individual Facebook Posts Public
If you want to make just certain posts public while keeping your profile private, you can adjust post privacy settings:
- While writing a post, click on the audience selector underneath where it says “Share with: Friends”
- Change the audience for that post to “Public”.
- Click “Post” to share it publicly.
When you post something publicly on Facebook, anyone including people off of Facebook will be able to see that post. You can make posts public without making your whole profile public.
How Viewing Public Information Works
When profiles and posts are public, anyone can see them even if they are not your Facebook friend. Public information can be accessed in several ways:
- Public profiles and posts will appear in searches on Facebook.
- Public posts may show up on the News Feed sidebar suggested posts.
- Profile and cover photos are visible to public viewers.
- Shared links, videos and check-ins are viewable by the public.
- Friends lists on public profiles can be browsed.
Essentially all the information you share publicly can be seen and accessed by people viewing your profile even if they are not connected to you as friends on Facebook.
Public Profile Visibility on Search Engines
Public Facebook information may also show up on public search engines like Google and Bing. When your profile is public, search engines can index and cache that data. Public posts and bios may appear in search results outside of Facebook.
To minimize search engine visibility, you can adjust your profile privacy settings to Friends instead of Public. You can also use Facebook’s “About Public Search Listings” setting to control how much of your public info appears in search engine results. This prevents your public content from being as widely discoverable and shared outside of Facebook.
About Public Search Listings Settings
To manage how much of your public profile is available to search engines:
- Go to your Facebook Settings
- Click “Privacy”
- Go to “How people can find and contact you”
- Click “Edit” next to “About public search listings”
- Select your preferred setting:
- Enabled – Your public profile info can appear on search engines like Google
- Disabled – Public info does not show up on public search listings
Disabling public search visibility provides more control over public access to your profile content only within Facebook’s platform. You still retain public visibility for people directly searching Facebook.
Factors to Consider When Going Public
Here are some things to keep in mind before making your Facebook profile and posts public:
- Public settings make your profile viewable to anyone – even strangers, acquaintances, coworkers.
- There is no control over how public information gets shared or used by others.
- Embarrassing and inappropriate posts will be visible. Use discretion when posting.
- With visibility on public search engines, it may impact current/future employment if undesirable content appears.
- Public sharing increases risk of identity theft if sharing too many personal details.
While going public allows you to share your Facebook presence widely, it does come with privacy and security risks to weigh carefully.
Tips for Adjusting to Public Settings
If you do decide to make your profile public, here are some tips to manage the experience:
- Review all past posts and delete any you don’t want public visibility for.
- Go through your photos/videos and adjust tag settings or remove undesirable pics.
- Consider tweaking identifying info like birthday, address, employer if uncomfortable sharing publicly.
- Be selective when accepting friend requests from strangers who can see your friends list.
- Use post privacy settings to share personal life updates only with friends.
- Disable public search visibility if prefer Facebook-only public access.
Being strategic about what personal info you share and how you engage with strangers can help optimize public use of Facebook responsibly.
Pros of a Public Profile
There are also advantages to using Facebook’s public settings. Some pros include:
- Increased discoverability for businesses, brands, artists, bloggers who want public outreach.
- The ability to connect with new people and grow your audience.
- Showcasing your work, talents, and interests to the world.
- Engaging fans and followers in your niche who don’t need direct friend access.
- Driving traffic to websites, online shops, portfolio sites, and blogs.
Public access enables creative professionals, thought leaders, businesses and public figures to distribute content widely and interact with their audience at scale.
| Category | Public Profile Benefits |
|---|---|
| Personal Branding | Highlight achievements, interests and personality to new audiences |
| Business / Freelancing | Market services, products and brand to prospective customers |
| Artists | Showcase talent and creations to fans and industry contacts |
| Bloggers / Influencers | Drive traffic to blog and monetize content through public reach |
Public access helps amplify reach for career, business, creative and thought leadership goals on Facebook’s high traffic platform.
Facebook Public Profile Best Practices
Optimizing your Facebook profile for public visibility enables you to strategically showcase your brand. Some tips include:
- Craft an informative yet shareable “About” section.
- Choose an engaging cover photo and profile picture.
- Show off achievements, interests and talents in the bio.
- Highlight work samples, demos, and portfolio projects.
- Link to your website, blog and other online platforms.
- Share updates audiences will find valuable.
- Engage followers by responding to comments and messages.
- Cross-promote new content across your other social media accounts.
A strong public presence on Facebook can support a wide range of personal branding, business and professional goals when optimized effectively.
Facebook Privacy Considerations
Balancing open public access with privacy is an important consideration on Facebook. Key privacy tips include:
- Adjust post audience settings for personal life sharing.
- Limit visibility of personal details like address, family info, etc.
- Review friends lists and remove contacts you don’t want public.
- Disable background location sharing.
- Set tagging approval requirements.
- Don’t accept friend requests from strangers if uncomfortable.
- Use blocking and reporting tools against harassment.
Take advantage of Facebook’s available privacy controls to protect personal information as needed while still benefiting from public reach.
Is a Public Facebook Profile Right for You?
Deciding whether to go public depends on your specific goals and comfort with sharing information openly.
For personal profiles, keep privacy protections in place for personal content unless you are comfortable with complete openness.
For professional and business users, public settings allow you to maximize audience reach which can significantly grow your brand presence.
Finding the right balance based on your priorities and the type of content you want to share allows you to strategically leverage public access opportunities on Facebook.
Conclusion
Facebook’s customizable privacy settings empower you to choose how much you want to share publicly. While public access increases reach, it also requires being mindful of what details you feel comfortable openly posting.
Profiles and pages focused on professional showcasing and audience development see significant benefits from public visibility. For personal use, you may prefer keeping some content just for friends only.
Optimizing privacy, personal preferences and your goals for how you want to interact with Facebook users gives you full control over your preferred public visibility settings.