Have you ever noticed how Facebook suggests friends who glance at your profile? They appear to be attempting to act as matchmakers. But why would Facebook want to connect you with someone who has already checked you out? Perhaps they just want to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to find love. Or perhaps they are just creepy.
Key Takeaways
- Facebook’s ‘Suggested Friends’ feature, known as ‘People You May Know,’ connects users based on mutual friends, networks, and shared interests.
- Viewing someone’s profile on Facebook does not guarantee you will be suggested as friends; mutual friends and shared activities play a significant role.
- Facebook’s algorithm for suggesting friends is influenced by factors like contact information, profile details, and third-party app interactions.
- Users can disable friend suggestion notifications and change privacy settings to reduce unwanted friend suggestions.
- Clearing search history can help minimise the chances of Facebook using search data to recommend friends.
Does Facebook Suggest Friends Who Look at Your Profile?
There are several schools of thinking on this topic. Some people claim that Facebook recommends friends depending on who views your profile the most. Others feel that Facebook makes suggestions based on who you engage with the most (for example, who you comment on, tag in images, and so on).
It’s crucial to remember that Facebook’s algorithm continuously changes, making it difficult to determine how the suggestions are formed. However, there are a few techniques to determine who views your profile the most.
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What Are Suggested Friends on Facebook?
As the name suggests, Facebook’s ‘Suggested Friends’ tool, also known as ‘People You May Know,’ connects people based on mutual friends, networks they belong to, and comparable profile information, among other things.
It appears to be a harmless tool that suggests Facebook users about people in their network, friends of friends, or people with whom they have common interests, but is it? Some users believe otherwise!
The ‘Suggested Friends’ feature can be eerie and ambiguous at times, owing to the random and unexpected nature of the choices. Imagine a stranger appears in your Facebook list of suggested friends, someone you’ve never met, and you have no similar acquaintances or hobbies.
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Does Facebook Suggest Friends Who Have Searched For You?
Not necessarily. Simply put, Facebook’s algorithms are in action. But how precisely does it work? Let’s discuss a few theories.
Mutual Friends
If you look through the suggestions in your Facebook profile’s ‘People You May Know’ section, you may see familiar names and the number of mutual friends you both have. This is one of the most prevalent ways Facebook recommends friends to its users.
When proposing friends, the algorithm uses your existing friends list to locate mutual connections with your friends. For example, suppose you’re friends on Facebook with people X and Y, who are friends with person Z.
Facebook algorithms may recommend person Z in your list of suggested friends depending on your mutual connection with X and Y. This is Facebook’s approach to assisting its users in expanding their connections and making new friends by sending them a friend request or a direct message.
Simultaneous Viewing of Profile
When two people visit each other’s profiles, Facebook promotes them as friends. Consider your search for the profile of an old friend, acquaintance, or colleague from school, college, or work. Assume you locate the ideal profile and begin stalking them to learn more about what they do and where they live. Browse their images or the ‘about’ area, but don’t send a friend request.
Similarly, the individual does the same thing: they click on your profile and look around for a while but don’t add you. Facebook’s algorithm will take note of both situations and add either of you to the other person’s suggested friends list.
Excessive Profile Searches or Views
When you search for someone on Facebook, will you be suggested as a friend? That is unlikely to occur if you do it once out of curiosity. However, if you read or search someone’s page excessively, Facebook may promote you as a friend to the other person!
Viewing someone’s profile does not guarantee you will be suggested as a friend or vice versa. However, if you do it several times, Facebook algorithms may learn the information and create a link or connection between the two accounts.
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What does Facebook suggest?
There is no definitive solution to this question because Facebook’s algorithm for suggesting friends continuously changes. Mutual connections, interests, and previous platform interactions are all factors that may impact who Facebook suggests as friends.
What Are Facebook Suggestions Based On?
Facebook considers various characteristics when suggesting friends for you. Having mutual friends will be a significant factor. However, Facebook also considers where you work, where you went to school, whether you live in the same city, and whether you share similar hobbies.
Contact Information
Another approach to answering the question is: Does a friend proposal imply that the individual has looked at your Facebook profile and saved your contact information?
For example, you meet someone at a party and exchange phone numbers. If you have uploaded your contacts to Facebook or Messenger, the algorithm will search your list, identify new connections, locate the new contact, and add them to your list of suggested friends.
Profile Information
Most of our Facebook profiles contain personal information such as our school, college, university, workplace, city, and country. Facebook also suggests buddies by utilising this data to discover people who share similar information.
It may be an old-school acquaintance, a colleague from your previous job, or someone who lived in the same city and attended the same college as you. This simply refers to similar or mutual information exchanged by two people, based on which Facebook recommends friends and people you might know.
Shared or Common Interests
Facebook frequently leverages information from third-party apps and websites when suggesting new friends to a Facebook user. This information primarily relates to certain hobbies, pages you like, groups you join, posts you interact with, and apps you connect with on Facebook.
For example, suppose you enjoy travelling and have joined many travel groups, frequently like travel-related articles, and connect with other travel enthusiasts on discussion forums. In that case, Facebook will evaluate your activity, determine your interests, and recommend other travellers as prospective friends.
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How to Stop Facebook from Suggesting Friends?
Facebook may be among the most popular social networking networks with several income prospects, but certain features can irritate certain users. Some Facebook users find the ‘Suggested Friends’ feature unpleasant and even creepy in some situations, particularly when it proposes someone whose page you only browsed for a few seconds.
Disable Friend Suggestion Notifications
Don’t like how Facebook recommends friends? Simply disable the notifications for it, and that’s all.
When using Facebook’s mobile app, navigate Menu > Settings & Privacy > Settings > Notifications > People You May Know. Toggle off ‘Allow notifications on Facebook,’ and you’re finished.
If you’re using Facebook on a web browser, click the small profile picture symbol in the top-right corner of the page. Go to Settings & Privacy > Notifications > People you may know to disable Facebook notifications.
Change Your Privacy Settings
Assume deactivating friend suggestion notifications is insufficient for you and that you want Facebook to stop offering you as a friend to other people. In that case, you can change your privacy settings.
Navigate to Settings & Privacy > Privacy shortcuts. See further privacy settings > Audience and visibility: How people may find and contact you.
Temporarily Hide ‘People You May Know from Facebook News Feed
While you cannot permanently eliminate Facebook’s ‘People you may know’ area, you can temporarily hide it from your News Feed. Here is what you should do:
- Click the three-dot icon next to the ‘People you may know’ option.
- Select ‘Hide persons you may know.’
This will hide the feature, but remember that it may still appear elsewhere on Facebook.
Clear Your Search History
We know that Facebook suggests friends based on user search history. It keeps track of the profiles you look for and visits, so you should always erase your search history to reduce the likelihood of it using the search data to recommend friends.
Can I tell who has looked at my Facebook profile?
No, you can’t. Facebook does allow users to see who views or looks at their profiles.
How does Facebook suggest friends?
Facebook recommends friends using its proprietary algorithm, which analyses each user’s behaviour, personal information, shared or common interests with others, contact information, and other data.
If I look for someone on Facebook, will I be suggested?
Unless you spend a lot of time looking at their page, the Facebook algorithm may propose your profile as a buddy in their list.
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Conclusion
It’s safe to believe that viewing someone’s Facebook page or viewing yours does not imply that you’ll start appearing in each other’s list of suggested friends or people you may know. Even if this occurs, it is coincidental and indicates that Facebook has most likely used account activity and other indicators to identify that individual as a potential friend.
Furthermore, Facebook’s algorithms are always changing, so you never know whether looking for someone will result in their being suggested as a friend or vice versa.
