Facebook offers users granular control over their privacy settings, allowing them to customize who can see their posts, photos, videos, stories, and more. The platform’s custom privacy tools empower people to tailor visibility for each piece of content they share on the platform.
What are the different options for custom privacy settings?
There are several ways Facebook users can customize their privacy settings:
- Setting privacy for individual posts: When you create a post, you can use the audience selector tool to choose who can view it – friends, friends except acquaintances, specific friend lists you create, only you, customized lists, etc.
- configuring default privacy: In your main privacy settings, you can set a default privacy level for future posts. This acts as a blanket setting that will apply to all your posts moving forward unless you manually change the audience for specific posts.
- Limiting story visibility: You can limit which friends see your Facebook stories. You can make stories visible to everyone, friends, custom friend lists, or only you.
- Adjusting photo privacy: For each album you upload, you can select custom privacy settings – you can make an entire album public, limit it to friends, or narrow it down further to specific friend lists.
- Controlling profile viewing: You can limit who can view your public profile and timeline posts to friends, friends of friends, or only you. This helps prevent unwanted people from accessing your profile.
- Reviewing past posts: Facebook allows you to review all your previous posts and stories and adjust the privacy retrospectively if desired. This allows you to take full control over your older content.
In summary, Facebook grants you total command over your privacy. You can tweak visibility for every single post and photo, set smart defaults, create custom friend lists to share with, and lock down your profile. The settings empower you to share precisely what you want with whom you want.
Why would someone use custom privacy settings?
There are several key reasons people use Facebook’s granular privacy controls:
- Privacy from employers/work contacts: Many people have co-workers, bosses, employees, clients, etc. as Facebook friends. Custom settings let you easily exclude work contacts from seeing certain updates.
- Avoiding oversharing with acquaintances: You may not want distant acquaintances viewing personal posts, so custom lists let you limit their access.
- Showing different sides to different groups: You can share one type of content with close friends and family and different content with acquaintances and colleagues.
- Privacy from family members: Custom lists allow you to exclude specific family members from seeing your posts, like parents, siblings, etc.
- Preventing unwanted interactions: You may wish to limit access from some people like ex-partners to avoid uncomfortable interactions.
- Controlling photo visibility: Custom settings empower you to privately share albums like family photos just with close loved ones.
- Personal preference: Some people just value their privacy and like to limit sharing as much as possible.
In summary, custom Facebook privacy settings empower people to share content more selectively and avoid oversharing. The tools enable you to present different sides of yourself to different audiences.
How do you set custom privacy on Facebook?
Setting custom privacy is easy – just follow these steps:
- Click the arrow on the top right and select “Settings & Privacy”
- Go to the “Privacy Settings” section
- Click “Edit” beside “Who can see your future posts”
- Select your desired default privacy level, like “Friends except” or “Only Me”
- Using the audience selector, choose any friends or lists you want to exclude
- Click “Confirm” to apply the setting
You can also customize privacy for individual posts:
- When writing a post, click the audience selector beside the post button
- Choose your desired privacy setting like “Friends except” or a custom list
- Uncheck any friends/groups you want to exclude from the post
- Click “Post” to share it with your selected audience
To create friend lists:
- Go to your friends list on your profile
- Click “Create List” and name it
- Select friends to add to the list
- Click “Create” and you can now choose this list as the audience for posts
Adjusting privacy is quick and easy – just dive into your settings and customize exactly how you want!
What’s the difference between public, friends, and custom privacy?
Facebook offers three main tiers of privacy settings:
- Public: Anyone on or off Facebook can see your content
- Friends: Only your confirmed friends can see your content
- Custom: You select specific friends, lists, or “friends except” to view your content
For example:
- A public post is visible to all 2.9 billion Facebook users plus anyone online who comes across it.
- A friends-only post is viewable only by your accepted friend connections on Facebook.
- A custom post shared to “Close Friends” is only visible to the subset of friends added to your Close Friends list.
Public is the broadest sharing, friends is more selective, and custom options like lists or “friends except” offer the most granular control. Custom lists let you choose exactly who sees what.
What are the pros and cons of broader sharing versus narrower custom settings?
There are tradeoffs to consider when posting broadly compared to using narrow custom settings:
Pros of broader sharing:
- Reach wider audiences
- Increase exposure and engagement
- Enable serendipitous connections
- Share your life moments with more people
Cons of broader sharing:
- Less privacy and control
- More prone to unintended oversharing
- Some content better suited for smaller audiences
- Can create issues with employers, family, etc. seeing posts
Pros of narrower custom settings:
- Enhanced privacy and control
- Limit exposure to certain contacts
- Share different sides of yourself with different groups
- Reduce risks of oversharing or unintended audiences
Cons of narrower custom settings:
- Reduced reach and visibility for your content
- Smaller potential for engagement and reactions
- More work to actively select audience for each post
- Limits serendipitous sharing with broader connections
There are good reasons for both broader and narrower sharing approaches on Facebook. The ideal strategy depends on your priorities and the nature of each post’s content.
What are some best practices for custom privacy settings?
Some best practices for managing privacy with Facebook’s custom controls include:
- Set your default to “Friends except” to start narrow and widen as desired
- Regularly review and update past post visibility
- Create lists like “Close Friends,” “Family,” “Work,” etc.
- Exclude specific friends/groups from viewing stories as needed
- Use privacy checkup tool to audit settings
- Be selective in Profile viewing settings
- Turn off location services when unneeded
- Avoid overposting personal content broadly
- Customize album privacy based on content
- Remember public posts have no takebacks
The key is taking the time to thoroughly configure your settings and review them periodically. Facebook’s robust custom tools enable you to dial in privacy, but you have to actively use them.
Can you change the privacy on old Facebook posts?
Yes, Facebook conveniently lets you revisit the privacy settings of your existing posts and stories at any time. To update past post privacy:
- Go to your profile and click “View As” in the left menu
- Select “Only Me” to see your posts as they appear to you
- Find the post you want to edit. Click the three dots on it.
- Select “Edit privacy” or “Edit audience”
- Choose your new desired privacy setting for the post
- Click “Confirm” to apply the new visibility
Your existing posts and stories aren’t set permanently. You can come back and restrict visibility on older items to dial in privacy retroactively.
Can you see if someone has you on a restricted list?
No, if someone places you on a restricted “Friends except” list, there is no way for you to definitively tell from your end. However, there are some signs that may indicate you are on a selective sharing list:
- The person frequently posts updates that do not appear in your feed
- You no longer see their stories in your story tray
- Your comments start disappearing from their posts
- You stop receiving notifications when they are tagged in posts
If you notice one or more of these signs, the person may have added you to a restricted list or excluded you from seeing certain content. There is no foolproof way to confirm it, but those are some telltale signals.
Is it better to unfriend or restrict someone?
If you wish to limit someone’s access to your profile, there are two options – unfriend them, or place them on a restricted list:
| Unfriend | Restrict | |
|---|---|---|
| Impact on them | They realize you unfriended them | It happens behind the scenes invisibly |
| Your access to them | You lose access to their profile | You still access their public content |
| Mutual friends | May notice and raise questions | Goes unnoticed by mutual connections |
| Ease of reverting | You both have to re-add each other | You can simply remove them from the list |
In most cases, discretely restricting someone provides advantages over unfriending them entirely. It limits their access quietly without severing ties or losing your own access.
Can restricting someone on Facebook hurt your relationship with them?
Restricting someone on Facebook can potentially damage your real-life relationship with them if handled poorly. Some risks include:
- The person may notice and feel hurt you excluded them
- They may confront you and demand an explanation
- It can breed resentment, suspicion or distrust between you
- Mutual friends may get involved if they notice it
- The person may retaliate by restricting you in return
However, in many cases restricting is ultimately harmless if done discreetly. To avoid fallout:
- Exercise the feature judiciously – don’t overuse it
- Exclude people from limited posts rather than all content
- Keep open communication in the real world
- If asked, have an explanation ready about limiting work contacts
- Remain thoughtful and civil toward them offline
Restricting on Facebook can be an effective strategy if used carefully and tactfully. Clear in-person communication is key.
Conclusion
Facebook’s powerful custom privacy tools enable you to dial in exactly who sees your content. You can easily restrict visibility by friend, list, post, photo album, story, and more. Custom settings empower you to share selectively while maintaining privacy.
Leveraging these options helps avoid oversharing, presents different sides of yourself to different groups, and limits visibility from those you wish to exclude. However, broader sharing also has benefits for reach and engagement.
Use Facebook’s granular controls to find the right privacy balance for your needs. Set smart defaults, review old posts regularly, create selective lists, and customize often as your circumstances evolve.
Facebook grants you full command over your privacy experience. Use custom settings thoughtfully to craft exactly what you share and who gets to view your social life.