I want to follow some of the posts my friends make on Facebook, but without engaging with them. No likes, no comments, no shares. Is that doable?
Facebook has a million features that people don’t know about,and once you learn about them, you might find everyone else’s behavior frustrating. You’ve been warned. For example, you can edit your posts or comments, even weeks later, so instead of posting a second command saying “oops, spelling mistake, I meant XXX” just fix the original posting. Heck, you can even do that from the mobile app, you don’t even have to be on a big computer.
It’s the same way with following a thread or post. Sure you can post a comment like “following”, but why? The only reason I can think of that someone would do that is because either they don’t know you can follow a post just as easily without detracting from the discussion or because they feel their attention is worthy of note and something others are going to care about. My view of the latter? Probably people aren’t actually going to care that much. You want to participate? Participate!
Anyway, let me climb off my soapbox and help you out! 🙂
Here’s the kind of comment that drives me just a bit bonkers:
Not only has Kevin shared that he’s following the discussion with everyone, but someone else has liked it! Now the like actually makes sense because it is engagement and it also allows that person to follow, but.. but there’s a smarter way.
It all revolves around the ubiquitous “•••” link on the top right of every single post on Facebook. A click and there’s a menu that appears:
Most of the options are related to the person who posted the piece, but notice the very last option, the one in blue: “Turn on notifications for this post“.
That’s the one. Choose it and you’re now following the post without bothering anybody. You’ll get this confirmation:
Important question: Can the person who posted see that you’re following it? I don’t know for sure, but I believe it’s hidden from them. Certainly it’s more subtle than adding a “following” comment!
This way you can follow and get notifications like this one in your Notifications list:
All while you;’re staying incognito. Nice, really. And now you know how to do it, you’re going to get upset with people who post “following” remarks. I just predict it.
Now, while we’re talking about Facebook, I invite you to sign up for Ask Dave Taylor on Facebook. Lots of fun content and videos, and much more. Looking for Facebook help? We’ve got lots of that here on the site too!
