How To Prevent Facebook From Suggesting My Friends To My Other Friends
Facebook friend recommendation notifications have been present since Facebook’s inception. Although you may run into someone you know on occasion, this is often someone you do not want to be friends with or with whom you have never crossed paths.
Many Facebook users find this function disturbing and choose to turn it off or deactivate it entirely.
Even if you’re a sociable person, constantly receiving “You have a new buddy recommendation” alerts may be very irritating. Fortunately, there is a remedy.
In this brief tutorial, we will teach you how to permanently disable Facebook friend recommendations.
Follow along if you want to learn how to stop Facebook friend recommendations!
But first, let’s clear something up…
What’s the story behind these Facebook friend recommendations?
Facebook spent years perfecting its recommendation engine for a very good reason: in the early days of the platform, their team found that users who added at least 7 Friends in 10 Days were more likely to return to the platform and use the app. This is also known as the “aha moment” that drove Facebook’s development in its early stages.
Now that you’ve established the context, it’s time to get rid of them!
How to Turn Off Facebook Friend Suggestions
For your convenience, I’ll walk you through the procedure on both the Facebook app and the Facebook website.
through a mobile Facebook app (Android, iOS/iPhone, and iPad)
Step 1: In the top-right corner, tap the hamburger menu symbol.
Step 2: Go to Settings, and then scroll down to Notifications.
Step3: In the Notifications settings, check the box next to People you may know.
Step 4: Turn off the “Allow notifications on Facebook” option. Alternatively, if you just want to disable certain kinds of alerts (for example, push notifications, SMS notifications, and email), you may do so.
Step5: To confirm the modification, tap Turn off.
through the website Facebook.com
Step 1: Click the bell symbol in the top right corner to access the notifications panel.
Step2: Click the three dots to the right of the “Notifications” box, then choose Notification settings.
Step 3: Navigate to the Notifications settings and choose the “People You May Know” option.
Step 4: Uncheck the box next to “Allow Notifications on Facebook.” Alternatively, you may simply deactivate certain kinds of alerts (such as push notifications, phone SMS, and so on) on your account.
Whether you alter the “suggested friends” notification settings through the website or mobile app, the procedures outlined above should prevent Facebook from sending you alerts across all devices associated with your Facebook account.
What factors influence Facebook friend recommendations? How does Facebook recommend friends?
The Facebook friend recommendations algorithm is mainly based on your contacts, geographical data, and other common connections you have with individuals who are already your Facebook friends. If you don’t have any common friends, the first two will be utilized to find individuals you may know.
How Can I Stop Facebook From Suggestions?
Keep in mind that deactivating alerts on your end does not prevent you from appearing in recommendations on other people’s accounts.
If you do not wish to appear in recommended friends on other people’s accounts, you may alter the privacy settings on your profile:
Modify the “Who can view the persons, Pages, and Lists you follow?” setting. to “It’s just me”
Change “Who may send you friend requests?” to “Friends of friends.”
Change “Who can view your friend lists?” to “Only me.”
deactivate search engine visibility for the general public
In your iPhone/Android settings, turn off location services for the Facebook mobile app.
Check out our guide to Facebook privacy settings if you want to know how to modify these settings on the Facebook app or website.
Will you appear as a recommended buddy if you search for someone on Facebook?
Although Facebook tracks and saves your search history, there is no official comment from Facebook on the subject.
In general, individuals on Facebook will not be aware that you have looked for them or visited their page; nevertheless, some Facebook users have claimed that after visiting someone’s profile, they ended up in friend recommendations.
Final Thoughts
Facebook friend recommendation alerts aren’t going away anytime soon. The good news is that they are very simple to deactivate, as we explained above. This not only prevents friend recommendation alerts from appearing, but it also reduces the quantity of friend requests.
If you want to learn more about Facebook’s friend suggestion system, I recommend reading our guide to individuals you may know on Facebook.
