It’s a simple question “Who am I following on Facebook?” But it leads to a lot of confusion for many users. Today I’m going to explain everything in simple terms so that you get this 100 per cent!
I think the confusion comes from people not quite thinking about the terms “following” and “followers” – plus there are conflicting guides on the internet. Add to that the fact that Facebook “friends” follow each other and like and share. So many terms!
Don’t worry it is really easy once you establish a few facts. I’ll clear up the confusion, explain why it matters and then show you how to see who you are following on Facebook – your following list.
Let’s get to it.
Following and Friends on Facebook Explained
When you send someone a friend request on Facebook and they accept it you automatically follow them – and they automatically follow you. Simple enough in most cases and it makes sense.
If they don’t accept your friend request however, you’ll still automatically follow them and probably won’t realize. You can of course unfollow them – more on that later.
You can also follow someone or a Facebook Page without being a friend. Again you’ll get to see some of their posts – but they will not see any of yours as they are not your friend!
I hope that makes sense so far.
When you follow someone or a page you get to see some of their posts in your news feed (main page). You don’t see everything they post due to the Facebook algorithm. It takes into account how often you interact with their content and your viewing habits amongst other things.
We don’t need to get too deep here on the inner workings of Facebook.
Why Who You Are Following on Facebook Matters
Who you follow on Facebook matters because it shapes the kind of content that will show up in your feed – your main page.
Remember the algorithm – it will serve up content it thinks is related to your viewing and actions on Facebook. It also considers the people and pages you follow.
See the problem?
If you follow a stream of people or pages that post about bad news, conspiracy theories and other harmful stuff then this will be reflected in your Facebook feed. People who agree with these posts will often like and share them – increasing the reach of what is posted.
Conversely if you follow people and Facebook Pages that post uplifting and positive messages you’ll get to see more of their Facebook posts. They will show up in your feed as the algorithm knows that these related posts resonate with you!
That’s important because it means if you follow a friend who is always posting about politics or bad news then you might find your feed full of this kind of content. If you join cat lover groups and post and like cat pictures – guess what shows up a lot in your feed.
You need to consider who you follow and what interactions you have on Facebook. So who you are following really does matter more than most people think.
When you have a minute why not have a look at some of my other Facebook tips and tricks articles. Maybe see my post about Facebook hacking apps or perhaps read how to send Gifs in Messenger – two popular ones. For others, maybe you are interested in how to tell when someone was last on Facebook and how to see their Facebook messages.
Have a good look around the technology guides section – something might be of interest!
How to See Who I Am Following on Facebook
Now we get to learn how to see who you are following on Facebook. I’ll cover how to do this on Facebook.com and then on the Facebook App (on mobile devices).
First on the main web version of Facebook:
- Login to your Account
- Go to your profile page – click on your profile photo
- Select “friends” tab – in the menu below your photo header
- Select “following” tab
- This “following” section shows all the people and pages you are following but are not “friends”. Remember, you automatically follow all your friends unless you have changed their settings (I cover that soon).
- Within the “friends” tab you will see them organized into different groups – All friends, birthdays, college, high school, current city, hometown and following.
That’s it you can now see who you are following on Facebook in this section – everyone!
Under the “following” tab you can see a few other things if you scroll down:
- Pages and people you follow
- Photo and videos
- Check ins
Keep going and you’ll see some of the things you chose as interests when signing up for a Facebook account at the beginning:
- Sports – teams and athletes
- Music
- Movies
- TV shows
- Books
- Apps and games
- Likes – for all sections books etc
- Events
- Questions
- Reviews given
- Groups
It is good to know where to find all this information as Facebook can be quite tricky to navigate at times.
Top Tip:
When you are in the “following” section you can change the settings for each individual or page you follow. You can click on one or hover over the name and select the three dots. Then select “follow settings” – this allows you to change settings for this user.
Within the follow settings you can change most settings. You can select to unfollow or block from seeing their posts on your timeline.
Have you ever had problems sending Gifs on Messenger – it’s more common than you think but there is an easy fix. See my guide for the details.
How To See Who I Am Following On Facebook App
It is a slightly different process to see who you are following on the Facebook app – that is for anyone on mobile android and iPhone. The layout on the mobile app tends to be different and not as easy to find your way around.
Here is how to see who you are following when using the FB app:
- Log in to your Facebook account on the app.
- Tap the hamburger menu icon in the top right corner. Select your profile picture or username to go to your Facebook profile page.
- On your Facebook profile select the three dot icons next to “Edit profile” and tap on “Activity Log”.
- Choose the “Following” tab in the Activity Log screen to see who you follow on Facebook.
That’s it for the mobile app. Just be aware this is accurate at the time of writing and I do update this guide. But Facebook have a habit of changing things ever so slightly so tab names can change or move position. The main process should remain the same more or less.
How To Hide Who I Am Following On Facebook
So, you can see who you are following on Facebook but did you know that others can see who you are following too. Sometimes you might not want others to see who you follow. Here’s how you can do it:
- Log in to your Facebook account.
- Click on the down icon in the top right corner of the main menu and select “Settings & Privacy”.
- On this next screen choose “Settings”.
- On the left sidebar menu select “Privacy”.
- Scroll down to “Who can see the people, Pages and lists you follow?” and select “edit”.
- Here there is a dropdown menu with several options. You can change the privacy setting from “Public” to “Only me”.
That will mean that only you can see who you are following on FB. You have several choices about who can see your following list. You can also allow “friends”, “friends except”, “specific friends” and “custom”. There are lots of other useful privacy settings on this page so have a look around when you are there.
How To See Who Follows You On Facebook – Your Followers
So what about who follows you on Facebook, how can you see that list? This sometimes confuses people. There is a “followers” tab back in the main “friends” section on your profile page (as instructed above). But it only shows up if you have people following you who are not in your friends list.
For most ordinary personal Facebook accounts, people who are not your friends don’t tend to follow you. So for many, when they look for the “followers” list it isn’t there!
Just remember that your friends are all your followers, unless they change their settings deliberately.
To Sum Up
So, in conclusion, I’ve covered several ways to see who I am following on Facebook. You can use the main website, the app or the Activity Log. The process is slightly different for each one but they all essentially do the same thing.
You can also hide who you are following on Facebook from other people if you want some privacy. Finally, you can see a list of your FB followers – although this list will only be populated if people who are not your friends follow you.
I hope this has cleared things up for you and you also understand a bit more about how your following list can influence what you see on Facebook. Thanks for your visit.
