The problem with Facebook is that your “friends†group is actually made up of pretty much everyone you know, including your family, relatives, friends, work colleagues, professional contacts, etc. Etc. Yes , you can create lists and group people into them, but it’s hard to find a function that no one has ever used. However, I will still mention how to use Facebook Lists if you really want to organize your friends list.
So what’s the best way to hide your Facebook status from one person or a specific group of friends? In my opinion, the best way is to use the privacy controls while you are actually creating the status update. In this article, I’ll show you how to control the privacy of an individual status update, as well as all future status updates.
Single case update
Since you will probably only restrict your status updates for a while, the simplest solution is to click on the little privacy management button in the lower right corner of the status update window.
For privacy controls, any default setting will be set to determine who can see your Facebook status updates. In my case, the default setting is only Friends. If you want to change this for a specific message, click on the down arrow.
At the top, you’ll see three main options: Public, Friends, and Just Me. Below you will find more options like Friends besides Acquaintances and then Custom. Below these options, Facebook will provide you with several custom lists that it creates on its own.
In my case, it gives me options for friends who live in certain areas, my family, close friends, friends who went to the same school as me, etc. If you already have a list and want so that only these people see your status, just select the list and you’re done.
To exclude someone or the entire list, you must click on Custom. The Custom Privacy pop-up window will open.
Here you can specify exactly who you want to share or not share the status update with. In my example above, everyone will see my message except people on the Family list. You can enter individual names or select them from your lists. Click “Save Changes” and you’re done.
So is there a way to find out that you have hidden a Facebook message from him? Well, Facebook doesn’t let the person know unless you accidentally tagged them! So make sure you don’t tag the person you are trying to hide your status from.
Also, even if the person you tagged is friends with the person you are hiding the message from, the latter will not be able to see it on the first’s wall or in their news feed. Technically, excluded people on Facebook won’t be able to know that you’ve posted a status update. Obviously, if someone mentions this outside of Facebook, you might be in trouble!
Future status updates
After you change the setting when posting a status update, Facebook assumes that you want to continue to do so. If you go to post another status update, you will see that it still says Custom instead of what it did before. You can also check this setting in your Facebook privacy settings. Go ahead and click on the small lock icon in the upper right corner.
Then click Who can view my content? to expand these possibilities. Under “Who can see my future messages?” Click the box and select Custom. In my case, it was already set to Custom as I just posted a status update with custom privacy settings.
Create Facebook Lists
The pre-built lists created by Facebook are useful, but sometimes you need to create a list for a specific group of people who aren’t already on the list. To do this, you need to go to the main news feed and then hover your mouse over Friends in the left sidebar until More appears.
You will now see all of your lists. At the top, you can click Create List.
Give you a list of names and start typing names to create a list. Click the “Create” button and everything is very simple!
You can now use this list in various Facebook settings that allow lists. Hopefully this helps you control the privacy of your Facebook status updates. Be sure to read my other Facebook posts like how to hide your online Facebook status, update your Facebook status with a text message, and how to hide from one Facebook friend from another Enjoy!
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