This is a common question for Facebook users when it comes to privacy settings and controlling who can see your posts. The short answer is – it depends on your privacy settings. When someone posts on your Facebook timeline, it does not automatically mean that post will be seen by all of your friends or followers.
Facebook’s Default Privacy Settings
Facebook’s default privacy setting for posts on your timeline is that they are public. This means anyone who can see your profile can also see posts that other people make on your timeline. The only exceptions would be if you have specifically blocked someone.
So with the default public setting, when someone makes a post on your timeline, all of your friends as well as anyone else who can normally see your profile would be able to see that post in their News Feed or by visiting your profile.
Customizing Your Privacy Settings
The good news is you can customize your Facebook privacy settings so you can control who sees posts on your timeline. This gives you options on limiting the audience. For example, you may want posts from your timeline to only be visible to your friends, not the general public.
To adjust who can see posts on your timeline:
- Click on the arrow in the top right corner and select “Settings”.
- Click on “Privacy” in the left sidebar.
- Go to the section “Who can see what others post on your timeline?”
- Use the drop down menu to select who you want to be able to see posts that others make on your timeline. Your options include:
- Public – Anyone who can see your profile can see posts on your timeline.
- Friends – Only your friends can see posts on your timeline.
- Friends except… – Friends except for specific people you exclude.
- Specific friends – Only people you select as an approved audience can see posts.
These allow you to find the right balance between privacy and sharing. You may want close friends and family to see everything, but limit acquaintance type friends. Or you may want to only share timeline posts with your closest inner circle.
Limiting Who Can Post on Your Timeline
In addition to controlling who can see posts from others on your timeline, you can also control who is allowed to make posts on your timeline in the first place.
To edit who can post on your timeline:
- Go to your Privacy Settings.
- Go to section “Who can post on your timeline?”
- Choose from the options:
- Public – Anyone can post.
- Friends – Only friends can post.
- Specific people – Only people you select.
Limiting who can post on your timeline provides an extra layer of control over what appears there. You may be comfortable with friends posting, but not acquaintances for example.
Reviewing Posts Before They Appear on Your Timeline
Facebook also gives you the ability to review posts from others before they are published to your timeline. This allows you to have final say over what gets posted.
To enable this option:
- Go to Privacy Settings.
- Go to “Reviews” section
- Choose option “Review posts that friends tag you in before they appear on your timeline?”
- Save changes
Once enabled, when someone tags you in a post on your timeline, it will be pending until you approve it. You’ll get a notification that you have a post pending for review. You can then choose to approve it so it publishes, delete it so that it is discarded, or just leave it pending if you want to decide later.
Limiting the Audience for Old Posts
All of the above privacy settings apply to new posts moving forward. However, what about old posts made in the past under more open privacy settings?
You can also change the privacy of older posts on your timeline in bulk. This allows you to retroactively apply more restrictive settings if needed.
To do this:
- Go to your Facebook Activity Log which shows all of your past posts.
- Use the date and/or search filters to narrow down posts.
- Select the posts you want to change privacy for.
- Click on the gear icon to open privacy editing options.
- Choose who you want to be able to see the selected posts.
This allows you to essentially rewrite the privacy of old posts years or months later if needed. You can make old posts that were public only visible to friends for example.
Conclusion
While Facebook’s default settings make your timeline posts public, you have many options to limit audience exposure and tailor it as needed. Take advantage of settings like audience selectors, review tools, and bulk privacy editing to control who sees current and past timeline posts.
The options give you flexibility, but do require some proactive effort to configure properly and keep them up to date. Check your Facebook privacy settings regularly to make sure your preferences and comfort levels haven’t changed.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Who can see what others post on your timeline? | Controls who can see posts other people make on your timeline |
| Who can post on your timeline? | Controls who is allowed to post on your timeline |
| Review posts friends tag you in | Requires you to approve posts you are tagged in before they appear |
| Limit past posts | Applies updated privacy settings to old posts |
Between these options, you have full control over what posts end up on your timeline, who can see them now, and who could see them in the past. Use these settings wisely based on your preferences and comfort level.
While Facebook’s default settings make your timeline posts public, you have many options to limit audience exposure and tailor it as needed. Take advantage of settings like audience selectors, review tools, and bulk privacy editing to control who sees current and past timeline posts.
The options give you flexibility, but do require some proactive effort to configure properly and keep them up to date. Check your Facebook privacy settings regularly to make sure your preferences and comfort levels haven’t changed.
While Facebook’s default settings make your timeline posts public, you have many options to limit audience exposure and tailor it as needed. Take advantage of settings like audience selectors, review tools, and bulk privacy editing to control who sees current and past timeline posts.
The options give you flexibility, but do require some proactive effort to configure properly and keep them up to date. Check your Facebook privacy settings regularly to make sure your preferences and comfort levels haven’t changed.
While Facebook’s default settings make your timeline posts public, you have many options to limit audience exposure and tailor it as needed. Take advantage of settings like audience selectors, review tools, and bulk privacy editing to control who sees current and past timeline posts.
The options give you flexibility, but do require some proactive effort to configure properly and keep them up to date. Check your Facebook privacy settings regularly to make sure your preferences and comfort levels haven’t changed.
While Facebook’s default settings make your timeline posts public, you have many options to limit audience exposure and tailor it as needed. Take advantage of settings like audience selectors, review tools, and bulk privacy editing to control who sees current and past timeline posts.
The options give you flexibility, but do require some proactive effort to configure properly and keep them up to date. Check your Facebook privacy settings regularly to make sure your preferences and comfort levels haven’t changed.