How Do I See My Hidden Followers On Facebook
If you've been on Facebook recently, you may have seen a status detailing how to ban Facebook members who are “secretly following” you — Typically, they are something along the lines of:
“I tried this, and I blocked (X) individuals!!!! It was individuals I didn't know and whose names I couldn't say. Please do the following, Facebook family and friends: Go to your account settings, blocking, blocking users, and enter in “Following Me” without the quotations; surprise, there were (X number of) individuals following my FB page with names I couldn't even pronounce. Very frightful! They are all now banned, but I had to go to each individual name to do it. Copy and paste to share.”
No, the story is just a variant on a popular Facebook scam that spreads from time to time.
The allegation is untrue, according to ThatsNonsense.com, a website devoted to “exploring online nonsense,” and Snopes, a fact-checking website.
Searching the terms “following me” in the “Block users” textbox in Facebook settings does not provide a list of individuals who follow you.
“What it DOES DO is display a list of people connected with the terms you put into the textbox-in this instance, the words “following” and “me.” According to ThatsNonsense.com, “this may imply that such phrases appear in a user's name, introduction, or any of their About Me sections.”
People who follow the instructions will almost certainly see a random list of Facebook users appear since the phrases are somewhat general and often occur in certain parts of people's profiles – and the letters “me” are prevalent in user names.
According to ThatsNonsense.com, “these users will have little relationship with you and are definitely not following you.”
RUMORS LIKE THIS IN THE PAST
In January, a similar Facebook rumor circulated, alleging that “Facebook security” employees were being paid to monitor users' accounts — and that users could find out who by typing “Facebook Security” into the same “Block users” textbox.
Entering those phrases into the search box, according to Snopes, returns individuals who have used the words anywhere on their profile or someplace visible, such as a public post — basically the same result as the current myth.
According to the Snopes website, “the list returned by this search does not contain individuals who are secretly following you, nor anyone hired by Facebook security to spy on you.”
In 2011, a similar tale spread on the social networking platform. According to ThatsNonsense.com, visitors were instructed to enter the phrases “Automation Labs” into the same text box to see stalkers, but the result was actually a list of individuals who had the terms “automation labs” in their profile.
According to ThatsNonsense.com, “(the hoax) most likely originated as a consequence of a misunderstanding of Facebook's privacy settings.”
SECURITY SETTINGS ON FACEBOOK
According to Facebook's help center, users' friends will automatically follow them; however, users may enable individuals who are not their friends to follow them as well.
Users may control who can friend and follow them by going to Facebook settings, clicking “Public Posts,” and then selecting “Friends” or “Public” next to “Who Can Follow Me.”
Users may choose whether or not they want to be informed when individuals who are not their friends start following, sharing, like, or commenting on their public postings.
If users enable others to follow them, a list of their followers may be accessed by choosing “Friends” underneath their profile's cover picture and then selecting “Followers” – This option will not show if you do not have any followers.
Finally
They who allow non-friends to follow them should be aware that individuals who submit friend requests that are rejected or deleted will begin following them — if users do not want someone to follow them, they may ban the accounts.
