Like and/or Follow on Facebook

Welcome back from your summer activities. I hope that they were refreshing and re-energizing for you. My own summer was very special as I celebrated my Golden Jubilee of Religious Profession as a Sister of Notre Dame with friends, family, colleagues and community. These fifty years have gone by very quickly.  I have been blessed to live this life in company with so many wonderful people. I was reminded of that over and over again this summer as I recalled and experienced anew God’s goodness and love. I am truly grateful for my vocation and I treasure every day of this journey—past and still to come. Thank you for being part it. Here are a few photos from my celebrations.

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Back to work….

Like and/or Follow

Recently the pastor of one of my client parishes asked me the difference between Likes and Follows on Facebook. I had not thought about that before, but I told him that I was pretty sure that when someone is your Friend on Facebook or Likes a Page, they automatically become a Follower of you or that Page and will then see posts from you or that Page in their News Feed. But with a little research I discovered that there is more to it than that.

Personal Profile

Your “Friends” on Facebook automatically follow you. They will see what you post in their News Feeds. But you may also have people following you who are not your “Friends” if you have not turned on the Friends filter for your posts. Without the filter, your posts are public and can be followed by anyone.

I discovered that I have 70 such followers by looking at my Profile Page (where my Cover Photo is). It showed how many friends I have, but also how many followers. I only want my friends to see my posts, so I followed the steps below to add the filter.

How to Manage Who Sees Your Posts

1. Click at the top-right corner and select Settings.
2. Click Public Posts on the left.
3. Select Friends or Public next to Who Can Follow Me.

Also, in case this is of interest to you—you can be a friend to someone, but not receive their posts in your News Feed simply by clicking on the word “Following” under their cover photo and editing your options.

Facebook Page

Facebook Pages are public. People who like a Page, automatically follow it. You can also Follow a Page without Liking it by clicking the word Follow which is alongside “Like.”

If you are Following a Page, you have some options. (These are found by clicking on the word “Following.”) You can check to see these posts first in your News Feed or not at all. You can do the same with Notifications from this Page.

If you want more information on Following on Facebook, check out this page: https://www.facebook.com/help/382751108453953/