If you’ve tried to share a post on a Facebook event and found that the option was unavailable, you’re not alone. Facebook’s settings around event posts can be a bit confusing, so let’s break down exactly what’s going on and why you may not be able to share posts in certain event spaces.
The Basics of Sharing and Privacy
On Facebook, there are a few key factors that control whether you can share a post to a particular place:
- Your privacy settings
- The privacy settings of the post itself
- The privacy settings of the place you want to share it
So if you want to share a post to an event, all three of these elements need to line up and allow access. If any one of these things is more locked down than the others, it will prevent you from being able to share the post.
Post Privacy Settings
When you go to share a post, the default setting is to share it publicly – with all your friends and the wider public on Facebook who can see your profile. This will allow you to share the post to any public groups or events.
However, if you or a friend have posted something more privately, like just to certain friends, to yourself only, or entirely hidden from the timeline, you won’t be able to share it more widely to a group or event. This is to respect the original privacy settings of the post.
Changing Post Privacy
If you want to share a more private post to an event, you need to edit the privacy on the original post and change it to be shared publicly or with a large group of friends rather than a limited group. You can do this by clicking on the three dots in the top right corner of the post and selecting “Edit privacy.”
Event Privacy Settings
Events themselves also have privacy settings that control who can see the event and its content. There are three main options:
- Public – anyone can see the event and its posts
- Private – only people invited to the event can see the event and its posts
- Group – only members of a specific group can access the event and its posts
If the event is set to private or restricted to a group, you’ll only be able to share posts to it if you’ve been invited or are in the authorized group. If the event is public, anyone should be able to share posts to it.
Changing Event Privacy
If the event privacy is more restricted than you’d like, you need to get the organizers to change the access for the event. As an attendee, you can’t change these settings yourself unless you are also marked as a host/organizer of the event.
The event organizers can edit the privacy settings by going to the About section for the event, clicking Edit Event, and adjusting the privacy settings there.
Your Personal Privacy Settings
Finally, your own personal privacy settings can impact your ability to share to events. Your general privacy settings control things like who can see your posts, who can look you up, and who can see your friends list.
If you have your privacy locked down, it’s possible that an event you want to share posts to is more public than your personal profile. This mismatch can prevent you from being able to share a post.
For example, if you have your posts set to be visible to friends only, but the event is public, Facebook will stop you from sharing your friend-only post to the public event.
Adjusting Your Privacy Settings
If your personal privacy settings are very locked down, you may want to ease up on your sharing and visibility preferences in order to more freely share posts and engage with public events:
- Make your posts public whenever possible
- Allow public visibility for your profile and friends list
- Enable public link sharing abilities
Keep in mind the risks of opening up your privacy settings – unknown people may be able to see more information about you. But it will enable better connections and engagement with public events and groups.
Troubleshooting Tips
If you’re still struggling to share posts to a particular event, run through this checklist to identify potential issues:
- Is the event public or restricted to only certain members?
- Is the original post limited to just friends, yourself, or hidden from timeline?
- Are your personal privacy settings very restrictive?
- Have you left or been removed from the guest list of the event?
- Are there any restrictions from the group associated with the event?
Taking the time to check each of these factors can help you pinpoint why you may be unable to share posts to the event in question.
Ways to Share Content to an Event
If you’ve worked through the troubleshooting tips and still can’t publicly share posts, here are a couple alternative ways to share content to an event:
Share Privately via Message
You can often directly message the posts you want to share to either individual attendees or to the event organizers. While not public, it at least lets a few people see the content you want to bring to the group.
Screenshot Images to Share
If the roadblock is being unable to share the original post itself, you can still screenshot images or quotes to then share publicly to the event. This creates a derivative that you can post even if the original is inaccessible.
Download and Repost
Similarly, you may be able to download videos or images from a post and then upload them yourself to share with the event. This duplicates the media through your own account, bypassing restrictions on the original post.
Share a Link
For sharing posts that contain important articles, news, or information relevant to the event, you can post a public link instead of sharing the original post directly. This allows people to still access the content through your post.
Why Facebook Restricts Event Sharing
While Facebook’s rules around event post sharing can be frustrating at times, the privacy restrictions are in place to protect users:
- Lets original posters control where their content is shared
- Prevents private events from being exposed to the public
- Allows users to limit their visibility and engagement
Overall the goal is to maintain privacy and give users control. But with some tweaking to profiles and post settings, you should be able to share content more freely.
Conclusion
Sharing posts to Facebook events involves aligning the privacy settings of your profile, the original post, and the destination event. If any of these three elements is more locked down than the others, it can block you from sharing a post.
Troubleshoot by checking the event guest list, accessibility, and group settings along with your own privacy configurations. Navigate the situation by messaging privately, screenshotting, reposting media, or sharing links. While Facebook’s rules aim to protect privacy, a few adjustments can open up more possibilities for sharing relevant content within event spaces.