Understanding Facebook‘s Privacy Controls

With over 2.91 billion monthly active users as of Q4 2021, Facebook hosts a massive amount of personal information and conversations. As a result, privacy controls are crucial. Before getting into the specifics of restricting someone, let‘s explore some key privacy settings Facebook offers.

Reviewing Your Privacy Options

Start by accessing your Facebook privacy options, which allow customizing exactly what various people can see:

To access main privacy settings:

• On desktop: Click down arrow > Settings & Privacy > Settings > Privacy
• On mobile: Tap hamburger menu > Settings & Privacy > Settings > Privacy

Here are key sections to review:

Posts, Profile and More

• Future posts: Choose default audience of public, friends only, or custom list. You can then adjust post-by-post.
• Past posts: Manage visibility of previous posts in bulk.
• People and tags: Review posts you‘re tagged in and remove tags.
• Profile: Pick what profile sections (bio, family members, work, education etc.) are visible where.
• Phone/email search: Toggle allowing searchability via contact info.

Connections

• Follower settings: Choose who can follow you without confirmation.
• Friend requests: Manage whether people can send requests, useful for mass friend imports.
• Block settings: View and organize your blocks and restrictions.

Apps and Websites

• App settings: Remove permissions for apps to access your Facebook data.
• Shared data: View what advertiser/business data Facebook is sharing about you

While this covers major areas, explore each section fully to understand all options. Customizing these settings appropriately lets you segue into restricting access for specific people.

Facebook‘s Data Transparency

In addition to opaque algorithms impacting what you see, Facebook has faced heavy criticism regarding use of private data:

• In 2018, the Cambridge Analytica scandal revealed 87 million users had data improperly accessed to target political ads. This kickstarted stronger data regulations.
• Facial recognition software automatically suggests tagging friends in photos, sparking lawsuits from Illinois and Texas over biometric privacy violations.
• Targeted advertising continues to push ethical boundaries around privacy – you‘ve likely seen an ad eerily aligned to a real-life conversation. While Facebook maintains it doesn‘t listen to microphones without permission, the depth of data collection allows equally precise targeting.

On the positive side, Facebook has invested seriously in data transparency features in recent years:

• An "Off-Facebook Activity" dashboard shows ads-related data received from external websites/apps about you for ad targeting. You can disconnect this data stream via settings.
• An "Access Your Information" dashboard provides your personal data processed by Facebook, from ads you‘ve clicked to security login details. You can export a file containing your data history.
• New data portability tools let you transfer your photos/videos out of Facebook to other platforms.

Leveraging these transparency dashboards enables better understanding and control of your information.

Algorithmic Impacts on Visibility

Beyond explicit privacy settings, Facebook‘s legendary news feed algorithm determines visibility of your posts and profile to friends/followers algorithmically.

If you notice particular connections missing your updates frequently, restriction could be a heavy hand. First explore possible algorithmic reasons:

• Affinity: Who engages most with your content? The algorithm shows your posts to them more to generate return engagement. Those not as actively liking/commenting see fewer updates.
• Recency: Connections you‘ve interacted with more recently will see more of your updates. Nurture important dormant connections to regain visibility.
• Competition: Both individual posts and full profiles compete dynamically for limited visibility in the feed. Popular viral content means fewer eyes on your updates.

Actively engaging connections counteract dampening effects for better visibility to key people organically before turning to restrictions.

Mental Health Considerations

It‘s also worth examining your personal reasons for wanting to restrict someone. Feeling overly scrutinized? Envying signs of "success"? These emotional drivers suggest limiting social media use more broadly.

Research compiled by Facebook itself found benefits from reducing time on the platform:

• Those using Facebook ≤30 mins/day had higher wellbeing vs heavy users
• Listing to motivational podcasts/audiobooks cuts Facebook use by ~15%
• Logging specific app usage creates awareness, supporting goals like limiting social media

If emotional health is your motivation, considerplatform-wide solutions like scheduling restricted access via Apple Screen Time. Developing more mindfulness around all usage is crucial.

How Other Platforms Handle Restrictions

It‘s also instructive to compare Facebook‘s approach with other major social networks:

Facebook provides the most nuanced restriction capabilities, though notifications could increase transparency. Instagram and Twitter follow/block feelings of "shadowbanning" by not alerting affected users.

Weighing the Pros and Cons in Different Scenarios

If after reviewing all privacy controls you still decide restricting someone is right – great! But approach thoughtfully based on your situation:

Coworkers: Restricting blocks work updates but allows maintaining a professional network connection. Unfollow/Mute may sufficiently minimize personal oversharing without restricting fully.

Public Figures: Restricting filters announcements/PR without cutting off access needed for managing a fan community account.

Ex-partners: Emotions run high with former friends/partners. Restrict temporarily then reassess if less contact helps provide needed distance.

Family: Tread very carefully with relatives, as restrictions likely permanently damage real-life relationships. Can you establish firm boundaries instead?

As with any social media limitation, be cautious not to overcorrect and isolate yourself when curating your spaces. Find the right balance for your needs.

Now that you understand the full context around Facebook privacy, transparency, data use, algorithms and more, let‘s get into the specifics of how to actually restrict someone.

Adding Individuals to Your Restricted List

To restrict a Facebook friend:

1. Go to their profile
2. Click the "Friends" button
3. Select "Edit Friend List"
4. Choose "Restrict"

Or:

1. Go to your Friends list
2. Click "Edit Friend Lists"
3. Select "Restricted"
4. Type the name to restrict

To restrict a group:

1. Go to your Friends list
2. Click "Create List"
3. Name the list
4. Type the names to restrict
5. Click "Create"
6. Click "Edit Friend Lists"
7. Select your new list
8. Choose "Restrict"

And you‘re set! They‘ll now only see posts you share publicly.

Impacts of Restricting Someone on Facebook

When you add someone to the Restricted List, what exactly changes from their end?

• Can only see public posts, not friends/custom audience posts
• Lose ability to comment/react on what is visible
• Won‘t see new profile pictures or life events
• Can still message you (and participate in group chats)

They aren‘t notified about the restriction directly. But if they notice missing major updates like engagement announcements, they‘ll likely realize something changed.

Easing a Facebook Restriction

If you want to remove limitations placed on someone:

On desktop:

1. Click down arrow
2. Choose Settings & Privacy > Blocking
3. In "Restricted List" section, click Edit List
4. Hover over their name and click "Unrestrict"

On mobile:

1. Tap hamburger menu
2. Tap Settings & Privacy > Settings > Blocking
3. Tap Restricted List
4. Swipe left on their name
5. Tap Unrestrict

This gives them back access to engage with your profile fully.

Alternative Options: Unfollow, Block, Unfriend

Beyond restricting, you have a few other Facebook connection management options:

Evaluate why you want more distance to pick the right tactic.

Restrict on Facebook ≠ Messenger

It‘s important to note restricting someone on Facebook does not limit messaging capability. They remain unrestricted on Facebook Messenger.

You must manually update Messenger restrictions separately:

1. Open Messenger settings
2. Select Block Settings
3. Search name to block

This prevents message notifications and moves their messages to a filtered Requests folder.

Restricting someone on Facebook lets you curate what they see from your profile activity while maintaining a nominal "friendship" status. Keep these core concepts in mind:

• Study all privacy settings to customize access controls
• Algorithmic visibility plays a role alongside privacy settings
• Restrict thoughtfully based on your specific situation
• Restricting only applies to Facebook itself, not Messenger

Hopefully exploring the full landscape empowers you to make informed decisions about restricting connections based on your needs!