How to Stalk People on Facebook Using the Close Friends Feature
Screen shot of Facebook
Jeannieinabottle
Do You Have Issues?
Just when you think Facebook has really taken its ability to help you stalk your friends and family as far as it can possibly go, it comes out with another new feature to further help you on your journey. Yes, Facebook has added the Close Friends feature. Initially, I saw this feature and thought, "Oh, my two best friends are on Facebook, so I will totally add them to my Close Friends list. Thanks, Facebook. Not sure why this is necessary, but cool." That is when I learned the awesome stalking ability this new feature gives you.
Basically, when someone is on your Close Friends list, you will be alerted if they do pretty much anything at all on Facebook. Did your best friend just post a new photo? What about a status update? You will be alerted with a little icon beside the Close Friends link. Even better, if you click on the link, it takes you to a special page devoted to your "close friends." This page is EXTRA SPECIAL! If your friend even "likes" someone's photo, you will know. If you friend posts a comment on anyone else's page, you will know. If your friend does ANYTHING AT ALL ON FACEBOOK, you will know. The possibities are unlimited!
Need Help Determining Your Close Friends?
As it turns out, my two best friends are rarely on Facebook. Bummer! This feature would be so much better if I could add someone to the list that actually participates on the site more. After all, stalking someone that barely gives up any information online is no fun at all! Should I make new friends that are more obsessed with Facebook? I mean, I seriously want to take advantage of this new feature. But wait... there's more?
If you click on the Close Friends link and it takes you to the super special Close Friends page, your fun has only started. Take a look over to the right. Facebook has taken the time to not only tell you who is on your Close Friends list, you can look below that list to see a list full of friend suggestions. Hey, thanks Facebook! I am so happy you have been stalking my every move and stalking my friends so you can best tell me who is most worthy of being my close friend. I am glad I don't have to think for myself anymore.
After Facebook helped me so I don't have to think for myself anymore, I can see who my real close friends are according to Facebook. Obviously, the people that really care about me are on the Close Friends suggestion list, so let's take a look. OK, so 2 cousins, 2 friends, and the guy I am dating are on the suggestion list. Thanks! Now this gives me an idea who is actually reading my Facebook status updates everyday. Now that I know they really care, I am going to add some of them to the Close Friends list.
So now, let me add one of my friends and my potential new boyfriend to the Close Friends list. Perfect! He made it on the Close Friends suggestion list, so I am happy to know Facebook approves of him. Sure, I used to care what my parents or friends thought about that type of thing, but Facebook is giving me the thumbs up, so he must be the right man for me! Also, I wanted to figure out a way to stalk him a little better anyway, so this is great. Now I can see when he posts anything anywhere on Facebook. Hey, who is that girl and why did he "like" her photo? Hmmm...
Well, it looks like I have a phone call to make, so I need to go. I hope you find it even easier than ever before to stalk everyone you know. This feature takes your friendship to a whole new level and who wouldn't want that? Happy stalking!
Copyright ©2012 Jeannieinabottle
The new Facebook Timeline
Jeannieinabottle
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A Facebook Stalking Poll
Comments
Jeannie Marie (author) from Baltimore, MD on July 15, 2014:
No, it does not tell them. I've put people on the list, deleted, and added them again.
Ellen Nguyen on July 12, 2014:
will they be notified that i put them in the 'close friend' tab?
Jeannie Marie (author) from Baltimore, MD on April 10, 2013:
You are so right. I used to feel like I was really accomplishing something when I stalked people before. I still enjoy the challenge of deleting someone in an angry rage, but trying a week later to read their page. Fun times. Thanks for checking out my hub.
Emily from Florida on April 09, 2013:
Very funny. But I sort of miss the good old days when we had to do our own stalking, before Newsfeed and the like.
Jeannie Marie (author) from Baltimore, MD on April 08, 2013:
It is helpful, yet creepy at the same time. I barely look at my Close Friends alerts now. Perhaps that makes me less "stalkerish" now. Thanks for checking out my hub.
Nicole S Hanson from Minnesota on April 08, 2013:
Very interesting! I had no idea that you could do this. Useful hub!
Jeannie Marie (author) from Baltimore, MD on March 27, 2013:
I have a theory they recommend certain people based on how much that person views your profile and your interests. I am still not certain of that though. I've been putting some thought into it, too. Thanks for your comment!
Barbara Fitzgerald from Georgia on March 26, 2013:
Thumbs up and quite funny. I am off now to see who Facebook wants me to be close to. Btw how does fb pick which of your friend's photos to display in your friend list. I keep seeing someone I never check on and who never posts. Why this person out of 1600 choices?
Jeannie Marie (author) from Baltimore, MD on February 26, 2013:
Oh, that is excellent advice. I have to admit I did not even know about that feature. Thanks so much for sharing!
Jkocian from Wisconsin on February 26, 2013:
Great info! I just wanted to add- for the person who hates being tagged in photos- I use the feature that notifies me when someone tags me in a photo or post. It works great because you have to approve the tag before it shows up on your timeline...
Jeannie Marie (author) from Baltimore, MD on February 20, 2013:
Thank you so much for telling me! For the life of me, I could not figure out where all the extra traffic was coming from for this hub. I am glad you enjoyed it. Facebook can be so scary sometimes! Thanks for the vote up!
Martie Coetser from South Africa on February 20, 2013:
Hi Jeannie, I found this hub of yours today in HubPages' list of featured hubs. After reading this, I can but only say that nobody with secrets should have a Facebook account. Transparency is the aim of the century, and why not? I do believe in Camus's quote: "Where lucidity reigns a scale of values become unnecessary."
Voted up, well-presented and very interesting :)
Jeannie Marie (author) from Baltimore, MD on February 20, 2013:
ginger24 - Wow, I have not seen that feature. I don't log in to Facebook with a cell phone, so I never realized this information was going out there. Thanks for letting me know! I wonder if there is some way to turn it off. I have the "offline" option set on Facebook when I log in on the computer. Perhaps your phone has that feature. I hope so!
grand old lady - You are welcome and thanks for visiting my hub!
Meggan Tropos - Wow, I would have never thought of that. That is so true though... some people will friend anyone and then it is easy to stalk their friends. I am pretty selective about who I friend on my personal page and now I am really glad I am. Thanks for sharing!
Meggan Tropos from United States on February 19, 2013:
The more friends people have, the easier they are to stalk actually. A friend of mine wanted to spy on her ex, so she sent a friend request (though a different friend the ex didn't know) to his new girlfriend. The girlfriend had nearly 1000 friends and apparently didn't really care who was requesting to be friends with her. She didn't even question it. So of course, since the girlfriend is friends with the ex, she can now stalk him through his girlfriend (and through *her* friend).
Geez. I have enough trouble keeping up with the people I am not stalking. No thanks!
Mona Sabalones Gonzalez from Philippines on February 19, 2013:
Thank you for this information:)
ginger24 on February 19, 2013:
have you seen the feature (from a cell phone) where you can see when others last logged into facebook via cell phone. from my phone, when logged into facebook , there is a "head" in the top right corner. Shows certain people and when they last logged and even who is online. I'm really wanting to know how to get off that list!!!??? I'm not liking that others can see my login activity.
Jeannie Marie (author) from Baltimore, MD on February 18, 2013:
Yeah, it is really too much. I had added people to the list not knowing exactly what it did, and it was just tooooooo much info. I had to take out most people on that list. That is why I was so informed when writing this hub. :-) Thanks for your comment!
Stephanie on February 17, 2013:
I don't even bother with that feature. I would hate someone to know every since move I made on Facebook. I mean, if I'm making sure I don't post every idea and thing I do on Facebook all the time because I don't want the world to know EVERY detail, then why would I want them knowing anything I find amusing or like that others share? I think Facebook is really become too intrusive on people's privacy even if the profile settings suggest otherwise.
Nerd Mama from USA on February 14, 2013:
Ooooh, I don't know how I never caught that feature before. Awesome!
KT Banks from Texas on February 11, 2013:
I guess that does sound like a lot of friends, however, many, many of them are readers - who have read my books, not actual "real life" friends. I have made some sweet connections with them, though - just like here, on Hubpages.
Jeannie Marie (author) from Baltimore, MD on February 11, 2013:
Wow, you've got a lot of friends on Facebook! The feature is pretty easy to use and, although I find it disturbing on some level, I still find the Close Friends feature is helpful at times. I learn more than I ever needed to know about people on that list, but at least I don't have to weed through the spam on the feed page.
I wish I did know a way to get people to stop tagging me. The most you can do is go to that photo and untag yourself, which is fairly time consuming and annoying. I do think once you are untagged, there is an option so they can't tag you again in that photo. That used to not be the case, so I was constantly untagging myself from embarrassing photos and getting retagged. As you can tell, I obviously have delightful friends. :-)
Thanks for the comment!
KT Banks from Texas on February 11, 2013:
I have over 3600 friends on Facebook, and I didn't know anything about this feature. I probably don't know a whole lot of things about Facebook. I saw the movie, at home, but I was trying out a new Vodka recipe, so I don't remember a lot about it. I do, however, still have the Vodka recipe, lol. (it's a sweet drink that tastes a lot like cool-aide)
I do have a problem with people using my name to tag a random picture, just to get more people to look at it. Then my other friends get angry because they feel as if they are being spammed - which they are. Any ways you know to stop this?
Jeannie Marie (author) from Baltimore, MD on September 08, 2012:
I highly recommend the feature. The only problem is when you add too many people to the list that constantly update everything all the time on Facebook. I had to actually take someone off the list because she was cluttering my feed. Hehe. Thanks for the comment!
Nancy McClintock from Southeast USA on September 06, 2012:
Very cute hub. Thanks for sharing. I am going to try this one out.
Jeannie Marie (author) from Baltimore, MD on March 08, 2012:
Facebook knows so much more than it needs to about everyone's life. I wish it served a practical purpose. For instance, when I was getting my license renewed recently, there was a sign that said they were on Facebook. I figured, well why do I need to come in at all? All my latest photos are already online. They should just use on of those photos and mail my new license to me. Then Facebook would be really valuable. :-)
But yeah, it is interesting to see who is suggested on that list. I have a theory it has the people that visit your page the most. Hmmm...
Thanks for the comment!
FloraBreenRobison on March 07, 2012:
I just checked my suggestion list. Most of mine were fellow hubbers...
FloraBreenRobison on March 07, 2012:
Facebook has given me and other family members no end of problems. My Dad has tried deactivating his account several times, but it keeps getting reactivated. Mine was truly dead until I joined Hubpages and it kept getting reactivated, so I gave in, but that wasn't a great idea. I don't want the timeline, I don't want to chat late at night because that's when I had a weird conversation with one of my high school "friends" that was disgusting. I had insomnia, so I went on Facebook at about 4am. Bad idea! Stalking is a big concern for me and this new feature is just *not* what I need. I don't think I want to check this out. This is a nasty site, Facebook.
Jeannie Marie (author) from Baltimore, MD on March 06, 2012:
Maybe that is the secret behind Facebook's success - the company is actually full of stalkers. Hehe. Thanks for reading and thanks for sharing!
Ruchira from United States on March 05, 2012:
Haha...Facebook sure has some psychopaths in their organization who keep coming up with ideas on how to ruin human relationships...lol
I am glad you noticed it...thanks for the info. Gotta inform others now thus sharing :)
Jeannie Marie (author) from Baltimore, MD on March 05, 2012:
I don't really use the chat feature either. I would rather just have someone email me. I don't have the time to sit at my computer and chat online. Even if I had the app on my cell phone, I still wouldn't chat either. It is just not my thing. Thanks for dropping by!
Katharella from Lost in America on March 05, 2012:
Gee I guess I'm going to hop right over there and just make mine open to everyone! Apparently it really doesn't matter!
I'm either going to reply to someone or I'm not! So if my friends wonder why I'm not on chat, then I guess there's the email feature! :)
Jeannie Marie (author) from Baltimore, MD on March 05, 2012:
barbergirl28 - I am glad I could help you out with this information. It is actually creepy scary how much you will learn about anyone you put on that list, especially if that person is very active on Facebook. Currently, I have a love/hate relationship with the Close Friends feature. Thanks for dropping by my hub!
Sunshine625 - Oh yes, the block button is great. I don't know if I used it on Facebook, but I've definitely used it on Twitter and MySpace. Thank you for your support! :-)
Linda Bilyeu from Orlando, FL on March 05, 2012:
I'm glad you are on the case Jeannie:) I don't pay any attention to those buttons. I've been on FB over 6 years and I just learned last month that we could block someone?! There's another hub for you!! Jeannie for 2016!!:)
Stacy Harris from Hemet, Ca on March 05, 2012:
This is way to funny... The title really drew me in (not that I am the stalking type at all...maybe... I admit to nothing), but I haven't really played aroudn with most of the fun features. I find myself a little boring on facebook. I mean - I go ahead and post a gazzilion status updates and try to like everything of every one of my friends... but this different level of facebook - totally checking it out!!
Jeannie Marie (author) from Baltimore, MD on March 04, 2012:
Sunshine625 - My friend and I were just having a discussion about this new feature and she brought up a good point. When someone puts YOU on the Close Friends list, it does not notify you. So that person is totally following your every move without you knowing. Now, if you were on their friend list anyone, they could have been doing that all along, but it is just WAY easier now. It kind of creeps me out to think about it. My friend and I will be conducting some experiments with this feature now. But don't worry... I am on the case. ;-)
Alecia - Yes, they are taking things little too far on Facebook. It used to be a fun, simple site. However, there is really barely any privacy now. I am careful about what I post, but apparently, I need to be even more particular.
DeborahNeyens - It is pretty funny to see Facebook's suggestions. Some of the people it suggests I hardly visit on Facebook at all, so I have to believe they must be visiting my page all the time instead. Interesting. Scary and interesting.
THEHuG5 - I know what you mean. Every little tiny thing that person does pops up on that Close Friends page. I am rather grateful my two best friends really are barely on Facebook. It really limits the notifications. :-)
Thanks everyone for the comments!
THEHuG5 on March 04, 2012:
Hmmm I never though about putting people who share their personal info on my close friends list. You've made me think jeannieinabottle lol. When the feature first came out I put all of my "close friends" on the list but it just got annoying after a while. I can't stand getting notifications about other peoples status updates. If I get a notification I want it to be for/about me!
Deborah Neyens from Iowa on March 04, 2012:
Too funny. And now I have to go check out who Facebook thinks should be my close friends.
Alecia Murphy from Wilmington, North Carolina on March 04, 2012:
I'm like Sunshine, I'm glad I don't have any close friends on the list. I don't need to know everyone's personal business, I don't even want to know all of my personal business. I wish they would stop changing things. Thanks for sharing this information Jeannie!
Linda Bilyeu from Orlando, FL on March 04, 2012:
OMG I'm thankful I don't have any close friends on my list! What an invasion of privacy and just plain rude! Thanks for the heads up. Facebook thought they were slick, but they didn't take into account that Jeannieinabottle was on top of these things and warning us! Thanks!!:)
