Facebook Question---Is there anyway to block people from seeing your friends list?
That’s probably a ridiculous question. I got pressured from a close friend to join Facebook——which I just resisted for ages. I finally caved. I am a relatively private person. Okay…I’m very private. Fluther is the only place I really post and I like the fact that it is a very nice community…I think of Fluther as a community not an overdeveloped suburb with random drive-by shootings.
I am friends with the people I want to be friends with——that is, I am in contact with most people that I want to be in contact with at this point in my life. I have trouble making time for people I really love…so the idea of contacting Trudy Schmooty or Rock Tendonitis from Junior High is not appealing to me. I figured, “Hey, my name is common enough…they will never find me, anyway. And if they do, and I don’t accept their friend thing-y, they might just think it isn’t me…whew.”
Well, not really…if they can see my friends, it won’t take rocket science to figure out that it is, indeed, yours truly. In which case, it’s high school all over again…“I friended her…and she never responded….what a snob.” Uh, no…it’s just that I now have moved on with my life…which is why I headed as far away as possible from Porcupine Gulch as soon as I graduated. When I go home, it’s as if time stops——people cannot believe that perhaps you might, just might, be a totally different human being than the former Queen of the Pork Belly Ball.
I probably sound awful to people who live by Facebook…but is there any way to block everyone in cyberspace from seeing who your handful of real and living and walking and talking good friends are?
P.S. I’m vegetarian and would never eat pork much less their bellies…and yes, the names of people and places have been changed to protect the innocent or absurd.
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9 Answers
Go to your facebook profile (not the main page), and go down to where your friends list is. In the top right hand corner of that box, you will see a pencil. Click on that pencil and you will be able to control who sees your friends.
Note that you can’t hide your friends list from people that are already your friends. You can only hide it from people who are not your friend on facebook.
I can’t help you as I am terrible with understanding how to control facebook- but I wanted to say you shouldn’t feel bad about anything in your question. Protecting your privacy is your right completely and we all need to start taking steps to interact online however we would like to interact.
Thanks Bucky and Rovdog…...!
I don’t have a pencil…there is no pencil next to my friends list. I don’t mind if my friends see my other friends…it’s strangers, really. Whatever that means in today’s terms.
I think @buckyboy28 answered the question. Privacy is the main reason I haven’t joined Facebook, too, that and the idea of getting back in touch with everyone from my high school somewhat freaks me out, and at the same time I am curious. It’s a weird feeling, really.
At the top of the page you will have Home, Profile, Account. Go to Account, then Privacy Settings, then Search. You will then see “Facebook Search Results. Who can see your search result on Facebook”. Choose “only friends”.
Hopefully this helps!
@jonsblond That keeps anyone from finding you. DarlingRhadamanthus is trying to keep people who aren’t her friends from seeing people she is friends with.
@buckyboy28 I just did what you said.( @DarlingRhadamanthus the pencil is in the same line as the word friends, and doesn’t really look much like a pencil )
When I clicked on the pencil I get a drop down with this:
[ ] Show Friend List to everyone
Note: Your Friend List is always visible to you and your friends
You can check the box to show your friends to everyone. Mine was already unchecked, so I guess others can’t see mine?
I unchecked everything but notify me of a friends birthday.
@buckyboy28 is on the money, go to your profile, click the pencil icon and de-select the tick box. Facebook has become a complex beast and most people do not fully understand the privacy settings, which is a little alarming.
Other ways to lock down your FB account:
1) Account (top left) > Profile Information – set everything to “Friends Only”;
2) Account (top left) > Search > Facebook search results – select “Only friends”, also deselect “Public search results” tick box;
If you follow the two steps above, you’ll be as invisible as you can be in FB. There is no shame in doing this, use FB however best suits you. After all the information you share on-line is YOURS to share, so you should be able to control who sees it.
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