It can be frustrating when your Facebook post privacy settings seem to change on their own. You may carefully set a post to be visible to only certain friends or groups, only to later realize it’s viewable by a much wider audience. What gives? Here are some common reasons your Facebook post privacy settings may be changing without you realizing it:
You Have Friends in Multiple Lists or Groups
When you share a Facebook post, you can select custom privacy options to show it only to specific friends lists or groups. However, it’s easy to overlook the fact that your friends may be in multiple lists or groups. So if you share a post with one list, some of those same friends may also be in another list you didn’t intend to share with. The post then ends up being more widely visible than you planned.
For example, say you have a “Close Friends” list and a “Work Friends” list, but Sam is in both of those lists. If you share a post just with your “Close Friends,” Sam will still see it even though he’s also in your “Work Friends” list. To prevent this, you need to be aware of any overlapping membership in the friends lists and groups you use for custom privacy settings.
You Have New Friends Added to Existing Lists or Groups
Another issue arises when you add new friends to existing lists or groups you’ve already used for privacy settings. For example, you create a “Family” group and share some posts just with that group. A few weeks later, you add your new sister-in-law to the “Family” group. Voila, now she can see all those previous posts you shared with that group, even though she wasn’t originally part of it.
To avoid inadvertent post sharing like this, review any lists or groups before adding new friends to them. That way you’ll be aware if any previous posts will become visible to those new members. You can also make it a habit to create brand new lists for any custom privacy settings going forward.
You Have Friends in Hidden Lists You Forgot About
Here’s another scenario that often catches people by surprise. Say you have a hidden list called “Do Not Share” with a handful of friends you never want seeing certain posts. You share a new post, careful to exclude the “Do Not Share” list in the custom privacy selector. Unfortunately, you forgot that a couple of those same friends are also in other visible lists. The post then becomes visible to them, despite your intentions.
To prevent this, always double check your hidden lists to confirm they don’t contain any of the same friends and family also in your visible lists. And remember that hidden lists only work for your custom privacy selections. Posts shared with all friends will still be viewable by those in hidden lists.
You Share Posts With Individual Friends
When you share posts and photos on Facebook, you have the option to manually select individual friends to share with in the privacy selector. However, this can easily lead to friends seeing more posts than you intended over time. For example, say you specifically share a few posts with your co-worker Doug. A while later you share something privately intended only for close family members. But if you forget that Doug was individually selected before, he’ll now see this family post too.
To avoid this, try to avoid sharing posts with individual friends as much as possible. Use lists and groups instead, which will help avoid unintended visibility as you reuse those same lists for future posts.
You Have Extended Family or Friends of Friends Seeing Posts
Two other Facebook post privacy settings can sometimes lead to wider visibility than expected. If you allow extended family members to see your posts, remember that includes relatives you may not know very well. And the friends of friends setting will expose posts to connections well beyond your own added friends.
Review these options in your general privacy settings and customize as needed. For example, you may want to exclude extended family members altogether. Or dial back friends of friends to “friends except acquaintances” or stricter. That way your posts won’t reach as wide and unknown of an audience.
You’re Posting From a Facebook Page You Manage
If you administrate or manage any Facebook pages for a business, brand, organization or as a public figure, posting from those pages will make the post visible to anyone who has liked that page. This is the case no matter what privacy setting you use otherwise for your personal Facebook profile.
Be extra cautious when posting anything from a managed Facebook page. Always double check that you are posting from your personal profile if you want typical friend list privacy. Conversely, posting as your page will broadcast the post publicly to all page followers.
You Have Changed Privacy Settings Since Originally Posting
Finally, don’t forget that editing your privacy settings will only apply for new posts going forward. Anything you’ve shared in the past will remain at whatever visibility you originally chose. So if you had a more open privacy setting before, old posts may still be visible more widely than you desire now after tightening settings.
Unfortunately there is no easy way to retroactively apply new privacy settings to existing posts in bulk. Your only option is to go back and manually edit the visibility one post at a time. Therefore it’s best to be thoughtful about your privacy settings from the very beginning.
Tips to Lock Down Post Privacy Settings
Here are some tips to keep your post privacy under control once and for all:
| Tip | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Review Your Friend Lists Regularly | Check who is in each list and group at least monthly to spot any issues like overlapping membership. |
| Create New Lists for Each Situation | Don’t reuse existing lists. Make brand new ones for each post so there’s no accidental visibility. |
| Use Lists Rather Than Individual Friends | Never select individual friends to share with. Stick to lists and groups only. |
| Hide Sensitive Lists | Use hidden lists for any friends who should never see your posts under any situation. |
| Limit Extended Family and Friends of Friends | Don’t allow wider visibility to these audiences unless absolutely necessary. |
| Check Page/Profile When Posting | Always confirm whether you are posting as your page or personal profile. |
| Review Old Posts | Do a periodic sweep of your previous posts to limit past visibility. |
The Privacy Checkup Tool
Facebook actually offers a handy Privacy Checkup tool to help identify any vulnerabilities in your settings. Run through this periodically to audit your profile and posts. It gives advice on how to adjust options for greater control.
Some key areas the Privacy Checkup addresses include:
- Who can see your posts?
- Who can contact you?
- How can you prevent unwanted interactions?
- How can you keep from being found in searches?
Spending a few minutes in Privacy Checkup can closeloopholes you may have overlooked. The detailed explanations help you understand exactly how each setting impacts visibility and privacy.
Conclusion
Facebook’s complex privacy options can sometimes lead to posts becoming less private than intended. Friend list overlap, added connections, forgotten individual shares, extended visibility settings and outdated posts can all contribute to this issue.
Carefully check your friends lists, avoid individual sharing, create fresh lists per post, limit extended access and run regular privacy checkups. Staying diligent with these habits will help ensure your Facebook posts only reach your desired audiences.