No, Facebook does not suggest friends in relation to those who have searched your profile or have stalked you. Even though multiple users have reported that they have seen similar patterns where they searched or stalked someone’s profile and then started showing up as a suggested friend to them, Facebook has gone on record to deny these claims.
So how does Facebook suggest friends to you? Let’s look into it.
Table of Contents
- How Does Facebook Suggest Friends
- 1. You share mutual friends with them
- 2. The person is in your contacts
- 3. You are in their contacts
- 4. Your Profile Data matches with them
- 5. They are in the same area as you
- 6. Your Facebook Activity may be similar
- 7. One of you follows or followed the other
- 8. You may be in a group chat with them
- 9. One of you follows the other on Instagram
- What Happens When Someone Stalks Your Profile?
- How To Appear On Someone’s Facebook Suggestions
- How To Prevent Your Account Account From Showing Up As Suggested
- How To See Facebook Suggested Friends
- Conclusion
How Does Facebook Suggest Friends
Facebook has shared its suggestions algorithm with the public to prevent any confusion. Here are the factors Facebook takes into account to suggest a friend.
1. You share mutual friends with them
If you have friends who are commonly friends with another person, there’s a high chance Facebook may recommend them to you as a suggested friend, assuming that there’s a connection.
2. The person is in your contacts
If you have allowed Facebook to access your contacts, Facebook will search within your contacts to see their Facebook profiles. For every contact that you have who’s not friends with you on Facebook, Facebook will start suggesting them as a friend to you.
3. You are in their contacts
Similarly, if your number is saved in the other person’s contact list and they have allowed Facebook to access their contacts, you may get them as a suggested friend.
4. Your Profile Data matches with them
Everyone’s Facebook profile has different information that can create connections if you share the same information as the other person. This could refer to you going to the same schools as them, working in the same workplace as them, having similar interests or hobbies as them, following the same pages as them, etc.
5. They are in the same area as you
If you have provided access to your location to Facebook, Facebook can narrow down on your residence’s location, and suggest friends that are near you.
This can also happen if Facebook sees your workplace location to be the same as a suggested friend’s, or if there was an event and Facebook starts suggesting friends that were in the same location.
6. Your Facebook Activity may be similar
If in a Facebook activity, you and a stranger mutually participated, Facebook may end up suggesting that person to you as a friend.
Examples of this include joining the same group or being tagged in the same photo, post, or a comment.
7. One of you follows or followed the other
Facebook friends and followers are two separate things. If you follow the other person (without being a friend) or they do the same to you, you may end up getting them as a suggested friend.
Even if they followed you in the past, or you followed them in the past, the same can happen.
8. You may be in a group chat with them
Facebook Messenger can create group chats with Facebook users that are not your friends. However, if Facebook sees this happening, it may assume a connection between you and your fellow group members and start suggesting them as a friend to you.
9. One of you follows the other on Instagram
Instagram and Facebook are owned by the same company, Meta. And many of your data is linked or shareable with both accounts.
This is why, when Facebook sees your Instagram followers not being friends with you on Facebook, Facebook can start suggesting them as a friend to you.
What Happens When Someone Stalks Your Profile?
If Facebook claims that it does not suggest friends upon the other person searching for you or stalking your profile, what really happens when someone stalks you on Facebook?
The truth is, when you stalk someone on Facebook, absolutely nothing happens.
Facebook does not notify the other person that they were stalked, you don’t appear on their Suggested Friends list, and there is no app that can actually pull out who stalked your profile.
So stalking people on Facebook is harmless and has no consequences.
How To Appear On Someone’s Facebook Suggestions
Interested in someone and want to appear on their Facebook Friend Suggestions? Stalking won’t help, so here’s a little more that you can do to pace things forward.
Note that no matter what you do, you can not guarantee that Facebook will put you on the other person’s Friends Suggestions list, so the best way to approach someone that you’re interested in will still be to just send them a friend request.
1. Follow them
Following is the best option when you want to approach someone subtly without adding them as a friend and facing a possible rejection.
Following will help you see the other person’s posts and will also notify the other person that you have started following them.
Soon, you should start appearing in their Suggested Friends list.
2. Get mutual friends
Facebook almost always only suggests people as friends that you have mutual friends with. So the best way to approach someone in a friendly manner would be to start following or adding their friends. This will indicate a strong connection between you two to Facebook and it may end up suggesting you as a friend.
3. Add them to your Contact list
If you have the other person’s number, another great way of showing up as a suggested friend would be to add their number to your phone.
With that, make sure you have enabled Facebook to access your contacts.
Facebook should now scan your contacts and try to suggest you as a friend to contacts that you’re not already friends with on Facebook.
4. Follow them on Instagram
Since Facebook and Instagram belong to the same company, your Instagram followers have a high chance to be recommended as a friend to you on Facebook.
If you have the Instagram username of the person you’re interested in, try following them on Instagram. Once you’re both followers on Instagram, Facebook should start trying to patch you up on Facebook as well by suggesting you as a friend.
How To Prevent Your Account Account From Showing Up As Suggested
Some people find it weird or creepy to appear as a suggested friend to strangers, who can open their profiles up and stalk them easily.
If you want your Facebook experience to be private and not have your profile shown up as a suggested friend to other people, here’s what you need to do.
- Launch Facebook.
- Now click on the three-line Menu button at the top right corner of your screen.
- Head over to Settings and Privacy, and then select Settings.
- Now scroll to Audience and Visibility, and then click on How People Find And Contact You.
- From the drop-down menu, select Only Me.
Now, you’re the only one who can search for profiles on Facebook and add them as your friend. No one else can find your Facebook profile unless they’re already a friend.
How To See Facebook Suggested Friends
New to Facebook and don’t know what the Suggested Friends fuss is about? Don’t worry. Here’s how you can find people with similar connections on Facebook, also known as Suggest Friends or People You May Know.
- Launch Facebook and head over to Facebook’s Menu(three-line button on the top right of the screen).
- Now click on Friends.
- You should now see Suggested Friends along with a list of people you’re already friends with.
Facebook also shows up Suggested Friends casually when you’re browsing your feed. It is repetitive so there’s a very unlikely chance that you miss it.
Conclusion
So if you were wondering if all your Suggested Friends on Facebook were actually people who were stalking you or searching your profile, the answer is no.
However, there are other reasons why Facebook might filter out people and suggest them as a friend to you.
Interested in more? Check out How To See Who I Am Following On Facebook?
