The whole idea of social media is that first word, social. To meet up with existing friends, meet new ones and learn more about people in general.
There is always that one friend who constantly bombards you with requests, comments on your every post or update, sends you invitations to play whatever game they are playing or links to lame offers.
If you know someone like that, you may want to know how to add someone to your Facebook restricted list.
The Facebook restricted list
So what is the Facebook restricted list and what can it do for you? As mentioned above, we all have Facebook friends that are more acquaintances than friends and who we don’t want to know or be able to comment on our every action on Facebook. That’s where a restricted list comes in.
Like when you ask your buddies to not share your whereabouts or new hobby or job with an ex, or when you want avoid unfriending your boss but don’t want them to know everything that’s going on in your life. That’s when the restricted list comes into its own.
Here is how to add someone to your Facebook restricted list.
- Open Facebook and log in.
- Select the Friend you want to add to the list and go to their profile page.
- Select the Friends dropdown box in their profile picture.
- Select Add to List.
- Select Restricted. A tick should appear next to it to tell you it has been added to the list.
Once you have added someone to your Facebook restricted list they will only be able to see updates you have made public. If you want to stop them seeing certain posts or updates, label those for friends only. Then whomever is on your list will not get to see them.
To stop someone seeing your post, do this:
- Write or create your post as normal.
- Select the Public box in the bottom right of the update.
- Change from Public to Friends.
You also have the option to use ‘Friends except’ which further refines who can see your update and who cannot. This can also be useful if you don’t want someone specific to see an update or post. It won’t stop them being able to view if from someone else’s Facebook page but will stop it appearing on their own.
If you’re using a phone, the process of adding someone to your Facebook restricted list is slightly different.
- Open the Facebook app on your phone and log in.
- Navigate to the profile of the person you want to add to the list.
- Select the Friends icon and select Edit Friends List.
- Select Restricted at the bottom of the screen.
- Select Done.
The end result is the same and the setting will of course copy across the website as well as for mobile users.
The Facebook restricted list and business pages
If you manage a Facebook business page and someone is being annoying, you can restrict access to that page too. This is often essential to prevent a troll or jerk from influencing how other people visiting your page view your business.
Personal pages are one thing, a business page is quite the other. Any argument, negativity, trolling or general stupidity can influence how people view you and/or your business so needs to be put down fast.
- Open Facebook and log in.
- Navigate to your business page.
- Select Settings in the top right and select People and Other Pages.
- Check the box next to the person you want to block from your business page.
- Select the small gear icon in the top right.
- Select Ban from Page and then Confirm.
That person should now no longer be able to post anything on your page. You can also hide any comments they may have made before too many people see them.
- Navigate to your business page.
- Select over the comment you want to delete and select the three dots.
- Select Hide Comment and do just that.
- You can also then select Ban USERNAME to stop them commenting further if you don’t want to block them.
The Facebook restricted list is a very useful tool in controlling who can see and comment on your page, whether personal or business. Despite having been in place for a while now, very few people I have spoken to even know of its existence. If you’re having issues with a ‘friend’ or Facebook user, at least you now know how to control them.
