Why would someone lock their profile on Facebook?

There are a few key reasons why someone may choose to lock or restrict access to their Facebook profile:

Privacy

One of the main reasons people lock down their Facebook profile is for privacy. By locking your profile, you control who can see your posts, photos, friends list and other information. This allows you to protect personal details from being seen by unintended audiences like coworkers, distant acquaintances, companies/brands and more.

Locking down privacy settings is especially important for people who use Facebook professionally and want to control their online presence. For example, someone may not want coworkers seeing private posts and information not intended for a work context. Teachers and other professionals who work with minors also commonly lock profiles to maintain boundaries.

Security

Locking your Facebook profile enhances security in a few key ways:

– It prevents strangers and malicious actors from accessing your information and using it in unwanted ways. This could include identity theft, cyberstalking, blackmail and other criminal activities.

– It helps prevent hacking of your account. Public profiles are easier targets for hackers trying to break into accounts. Private profiles have extra layers of security.

– It limits the ability for third party apps and services to scrape your data without consent. Open profiles are easily accessible to app developers, advertisers, data brokers and other tech companies. Locking it down forces them to get your approval first.

Reducing unwanted contact

A private profile also reduces random friend requests, messages and contact from people you don’t know. This allows you to avoid unwanted communication and harassment from strangers online.

Focus audience for posts

Locking your profile lets you target who sees your posts and content. This allows you to focus on sharing updates and moments specifically with your close friends and family rather than a wide public audience.

How to lock your Facebook profile

Facebook provides robust privacy settings to restrict access to your profile. Here are the steps to lock down your Facebook profile:

1. Click on the arrow in the top right and go to “Settings”.
2. Click on “Privacy” in the left menu.
3. Go to “Who can see my stuff?” and click “Edit” next to “Who can see your future posts?”.
4. Change the audience for future posts from “Public” to “Friends” or a “Custom” group of people.
5. Scroll down further to “Limit Past Posts” and click “Limit Old Posts” to restrict previous posts.
6. Go through each section like About, Featured Photos, Friends, etc. and limit visibility to “Friends” or stricter.
7. On the Privacy Shortcuts menu on the left, choose “Only Me” for any sections you want completely private.
8. Click “Review all your settings” at the bottom and make sure access is limited for all sections.
9. Toggle “Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile?” to “No” under Public Posts.

Following these steps will lock down your profile so only approved friends can see your content.

What stays public when you lock your profile?

When you limit profile visibility, a few parts of your profile remain public:

• Your name and profile photo stay visible. Friends of friends can search your name to find and send you a friend request.
• People can still send you friend requests or messages, even if they can’t view your full profile.
• Your privacy settings, username, user ID, age range and gender remain public.
• Pages and groups you manage as an admin will still be visible.
• You can still be @ mentioned in posts and comments by friends.

So parts of your profile remain searchable even with privacy settings maxed out. But the most sensitive personal details like posts, photos, interests, and friends list can be locked down.

Limiting past posts visibility

By default, Facebook maintains visibility of all your past posts. So even if you lock down your profile, old posts remain public.

To limit access to previous posts:

1. Go to “Limit Past Posts” under the Privacy settings.
2. Click “Limit Old Posts” and choose a date cutoff.
3. Select the friends you want to see old posts.
4. Click “Limit Old Posts” again to confirm.

This will remove visibility of posts before that date for non-approved users.

Exceptions

A few special cases allow someone to view your profile even if you limit visibility:

• If someone is tagged by you in a post or photo, they can still view and interact with that content.
• Admins of groups you are in can see your posts and activity within those groups.
• Facebook may expose profile info to third parties like law enforcement if compelled by legal processes.
• Bugs and loopholes in Facebook’s systems can sometimes expose locked down information.

So there are edge cases where locked profile content can be visible. But overall the privacy settings are effective.

Who can’t see your profile after locking it?

Here are some of the people that would be restricted after locking down your Facebook profile:

• Friends of friends (unless allowed on a custom list)
• Coworkers, classmates, acquaintances (unless connected as friends)
• Employers or potential employers
• Ex-partners, ex-friends and their connections
• Strangers and anyone not on your friends list
• Brands, companies, advertisers, marketers
• Third party apps and services
• Search engines like Google

So locking the profile gives you control to block access from people you don’t want nosing around your personal information.

Pros of locking your profile

Here are some advantages that locking down Facebook profile access provides:

• Increased privacy and control over your information
• Ability to block specific people or groups from seeing your content
• Reduced risk of identity theft, stalking, harassment, or other malicious activity
• Peace of mind knowing your details are not searchable and public
• Freedom to post content just for your eyes or closer connections
• Less random unsolicited contact and friend requests
• Reduced clutter since you only see updates from closer connections

For many people, the privacy and security benefits make locking profiles worthwhile. It depends on your comfort level with sharing personal details publicly online.

Cons of locking your profile

There are also a few drawbacks or risks to consider about limiting profile visibility:

• It can isolate you from acquaintance connections and reduce networking.
• Friends may interact with your content less if it’s not public.
• It may seem suspicious if coworkers, clients, or business connections can’t find you.
• You need to be more active about finding and adding new connections.
• It may complicate coordinating plans and events if connections can’t find your profile.
• Some people expect Facebook profiles to be public and get offended if blocked.
• You could miss out on some friend requests from legitimate people.

For some, the risks of limiting discoverability and connections outweigh the benefits of added privacy. Evaluate your own priorities.

Tips for locking your profile

If you do decide to lock down your profile, here are some tips:

• Add close friends and family to a “Safe” list so they can still see posts.
• Review old posts and remove anything you don’t want public before limiting past post visibility.
• Let close connections know you are locking your profile so they are not surprised.
• Remind friends not to tag you in public posts without permission.
• Search yourself periodically to see what remains visible.
• Adjust settings if you find unwanted information remains public.
• Link your other social media accounts in your bio so people can find you elsewhere.

Should businesses lock their Facebook profiles?

For companies and professionals, there are a few factors to consider about locking Facebook profiles:

• Public pages better for brands who want discoverability and reach.
• But company leaders may want private profiles that can’t be targeted.
• Client-facing employees often need public profiles that instill trust.
• Internal employees can usually lock down profiles without issue.
• Make sure key stakeholders know not to tag private profiles in public content.
• List alternative contact methods in private profile bios.

Evaluate business needs, client expectations, company culture, and employee comfort when deciding on profile visibility.

Conclusion

Locking down your Facebook profile provides major benefits around privacy, security, and controlling your audience. But it also involves some trade-offs like reduced connections and engagements. Evaluate your own preferences and priorities. You can always adjust visibility settings later on. Use Facebook’s robust privacy tools to find the right balance for your situation.