Facebook Tips & Tricks: Privacy, Groups, and Viewing Hidden Info

Facebook's constant evolution and updates can leave even longtime users feeling curious and confused. Despite its familiarity, users who have been active since the era of poking and like-reactions still find the platform's changing features and policies perplexing.

We've all experienced frustrating moments: appearing "active now" when we're not online, encountering unexpected suggestions in our "People You May Know" section, or struggling to recall how to perform a specific task. Posts from friends can also mysteriously disappear, adding to the confusion.

This blog provides concise, easy-to-follow pictorial guides to address common Facebook problems. We'll tackle the frustrating questions that have been lingering in your mind, helping you navigate Facebook features with ease.

Follow these easy steps:

- Tap on your profile picture in the top right corner of the Facebook homepage to access your profile.

- Scroll down to the "About" section.

- Tap on "See all About Info".

- Scroll down until you see the "Following" section.

- Tap "See All" and view your following list.

To see your friends' shared posts on Facebook, you can check your News Feed on your home page, which shows all of the posts from friends, pages, and groups you follow.

Identifying Shared Posts:

You can identify shared posts by the presence of the "Shared" text or icon, and by the original poster's name, along with the name of the person who shared it.

You can search for a friend's Facebook posts these steps:

- Go to your friend's profile by using the search bar at the top of Facebook to find their profile.

- Click the search icon (magnifying glass icon) located on your homepage, next to the "Message" button.

- Enter a keyword or phrase related to the person you're looking for.

- Click "Search" This will direct you to the profile's search page.

- You can proceed to filter posts by clicking recent, date posted, and posts from a specific year or month.

If a Facebook user's friends list privacy is set to ‘Only me', then you can't see their friends list. Nevertheless, you can assume that accounts that often interact with them are friends with them.

Another way to know some of their friends is by creating a new account and sending them a friend request. When your request is accepted, Facebook will suggest more of their friends. You can send more requests to these suggestions. Soon your number of mutual friends increase and that's part of their friends list.

Yes. Aside from the fact that if you and the suggested friend have similar interests or preferences, Facebook may suggest friends who searched you in your "People You May Know" or friend suggestions, as Facebook uses search history and profile visits as factors in its algorithm.

Active Status is usually represented by a green dot. It shows your friends and connections when you're active, currently in the same chat as them.

Occasionally, you may appear active when you've logged out due to some glitches. Most commonly, If you turn off Active Status for one app, you may still appear active on another, like your Facebook Messenger, so People may still be able to see your status on Messenger.

Also, you may appear active due to the app still running in the background or you're still logged in on another device.

Also if you leave the app, you may still appear active for some minutes before your “last seen” is up.

Unfortunately, this feature is not currently available on the Facebook app. If you post a YouTube link on your Facebook story, it will appear as an image.

You can only share clickable links from your Instagram to your Facebook story.

Your Roku TV and Mobile device must be sharing the same wifi connection for this to work. You can stream Facebook Live on Roku TV using two methods:

1. Screen Mirroring

- Press the Home button, navigate to Settings, select "wireless connections" and then locate "Wireless Transport".

- Find the “Screencast” option on your device, turn it on, and select your Roku.

- Open the Facebook app on your device and view on TV

2. Using the Roku Web Browser

- Press the Home button on your TV, navigate to "Apps", and select "Web Browser".

- Type "facebook.com" into the address bar and navigate to the website.

- Log in to your Facebook account on your mobile device.

- Go to the "Video" tab or search for the live video you want to watch

Easiest way to watch Facebook live videos on your Roku is to plug your HDMI cable into your Roku and then into your laptop.

To see videos you've watched on Facebook:

- Click on your Facebook through your profile picture.

- On the bottom right corner below your profile photo, click the three-dot menu icon.

- Now, Click on "Activity Log" and swipe across the blue buttons till you see "Videos You've Watched" and select.

- You can view your watch history. From here, you can see a list of all your recently watched videos and Reels on Facebook with thumbnail images.

- Go to your menu and click on the drop-down to reveal your profile and page

- Select your page

- Search group and click join

If you're unable to join some groups, be aware that not all groups allow pages to join. If there are already pages in the group, that could be because the membership was set to “only profiles” after those pages joined. The only thing you can do is reach out to the admins to change membership settings to allow pages.

Removing the share button requires you to set the privacy of the post to "Only Me" instead of "Public".

- Locate the specific post you want to disable sharing.

- Go to Privacy Settings located in the three dots in the top right corner of the post.

- Choose "Edit Privacy" or "Change Audience".

- Select "Only Me" from the options that appear.

- Tap “done” to save changes and exit.

To see deleted posts on Facebook:

- Go to your profile page.

- Tap the three-dot menu (or three horizontal lines) just below your profile picture, then select "Activity Log".

- In the Activity Log, tap on "Recycle Bin". You will find a list of your recently deleted posts.

- Select the post you want to restore and tap on the "Restore" button.

- Confirm the restoration to remove a post from the bin back to your timeline.

There are several reasons why you may not be able to like, post and comment on Facebook:

1. Community Standards violation: You may have shared something that violates Facebook's Community Standards.

2. Temporary restriction: Facebook may temporarily restrict you from commenting if you violate their Community Standards by spamming. Restriction varies according to the severity of the violation.

3. Group restrictions: A group admin may have temporarily restricted your ability to comment in a group.

4. Comment limit: You may not be able to comment on a Facebook Live video if you comment on the same thing too quickly or if your comment is too short.

5. Deleted posts: You may not be able to comment on a that is being deleted.

6. Unstable network: Causing delays in posting comments

What to do?

- Wait for the block/ban/restriction to be lifted because Facebook will eventually lift the block.

- If you think the block was due to an error, you can file a report with Facebook.

- Clearing your cache or browsing data may help if comments aren't loading.

How to avoid violating Facebook's Community Standards

Only message people you know, avoid spamming, and only send friend requests to people you know or within your location.

If you can't see all comments on Facebook, it could be due to Facebook's comment ranking algorithm, privacy settings, or issues with the app or browser cache.

1. Facebook's Comment Ranking Algorithm:

- Facebook uses an algorithm to prioritize comments(Most relevant), meaning you might not see all comments and some might be hidden.

- Try toggling the "Newest" or "All Comments" view on the bottom right of the post.

- If you've turned off comment ranking, your Page will display comments in the most recent order by default.

- Privacy Settings: Check your privacy settings: Ensure your privacy settings don't restrict comment visibility.

2. Facebook App or Browser Issues:

A congested cache can prevent recent information, including comments, from loading correctly. Clear the Facebook app cache or cookies

3. Other Possibilities:

- The person who posted the comment deleted it: A comment might disappear if the commenter or the post owner deleted it.

- The user who posted the comment may have blocked you earlier.

Facebook Marketplace hides certain listing details to prevent scams and protect users. However, legitimate buyers may need to access this information for verification purposes.

To access hidden details like contact details, you can directly contact the seller through Facebook Marketplace's contact form, allowing for secure and direct communication.

Facebook has changed a lot since it first started. It's no longer just a simple social network. Now, it's a complex platform with many features. This can make it hard for users to navigate.

This guide will help you solve these problems. By understanding Facebook better, you'll understand how the platform works, and be able to use it easily. You'll know where to find hidden settings and how to troubleshoot common issues.