How to be on facebook anonymously
How To Make Yourself Anonymous on Facebook
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(Image credit: Shutterstock)Knowing how to make yourself anonymous on Facebook will help protect your privacy from strangers and annoying acquaintances while still letting you see what your friends are up to.
For example, you could change the name that's displayed in your profile. You can also lock down your privacy settings to prevent other Facebook users from tagging you in photos, adding you as a friend, viewing your profile or sending you messages.
- How to hide Likes on Facebook
- How to change your password on Facebook
- How to stop Facebook sharing your data
This means you can use the social network in relative peace, without constant notifications and without strangers, distant acquaintances or former friends bothering or spying on you.
The catch to changing your name is that the Facebook name policy requires you to use "the name that your friends call you in everyday life. " If Facebook detects that you're using a fake name, your account could be suspended or deleted.
However, considering the number of fake profiles on Facebook, plenty of people seem to get away with it, so you may consider using a fake or altered name worth the risk to ensure your anonymity.
Changing your Facebook name is not illegal, but is intended for users who have changed their names due to marriage, divorce, or gender reassignment, and those who have legally changed their names.
With that caveat in mind, here's how to make yourself anonymous by changing your name and privacy settings on Facebook.
How to make yourself anonymous on Facebook: Change your name
1. Click the down arrow in the top-right corner of the Facebook website. Select Settings & privacy, then click Settings in the menu that opens.
(Image credit: Facebook)2. On the General Account Settings page, click the Edit button next to your name.
Here you can type in a pseudonym to use instead of your real name, though as explained above this is technically against Facebook's rules.
If Facebook suspects that you're trying to switch to a fake name, it may reject your request or ask you to provide identification to prove that you've changed your name legally.
On the same page, you can also change the "vanity URL" for your Facebook username to match your new name.
(Image credit: Facebook)3. Click Review Change to choose how your name will appear in your profile. Enter your Facebook password to confirm and then click Save Changes.
Note that you won't be able to change your name again for 60 days, so don't proceed unless you're sure you want to stick with your new moniker.
(Image credit: Facebook)4. Next, go to your Profile page and click the camera button on your profile photo to change the picture.
After all, why bother changing your name if people can still see your face?
To protect your anonymity, you can upload a photo of a pet, object, landscape or something even more nondescript. You have to use something though.
How to make yourself anonymous on Facebook: Change your privacy settings
1. Go back to Settings on the Facebook website and select the Privacy tab on the left. This section is very important for changing who can see your posts, send you friend requests and how other search engines list your profile.
Change "Who can see your future posts" to "Only Me" and "Who can send you friend requests" to "Friends of friends."
(Image credit: Facebook)2. Select "Profile and tagging" from the menu on the left. This will prevent other people from tagging you in pictures and places, so your boss can't see what you were up to during last weekend's big party.
Change "Who can post on your profile" and "Who can see posts that you're tagged in on your profile" to "Only me."
(Image credit: Facebook)3. Finally, select the Blocking tab in the left-hand column. Type the names of Facebook users you want to block into the "Block users" box.
This will help prevent cyberstalking by restricting or entirely blocking specific people from viewing your profile, tagging you, adding you as a friend or messaging you.
You can also block people from contacting you on Facebook Messenger by typing their names into the "Block messages" box. If you change your mind later, just click Unblock.
(Image credit: Facebook)- More: How to use Facebook Dark Mode on Android, iPhone and desktop
- How to avoid spoilers on social media
- How to block or unfriend someone on Facebook
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Robert Irvine was previously the How-To Editor at Tom's Guide. He has been writing tutorials about software, hardware, websites and other tech topics since the days of dial-up modems, and was previously the editor of Web User magazine. Robert enjoys cooking, and makes a mean sausage casserole, but is definitely not the celebrity chef of the same name.
How to Make an Anonymous Facebook Profile (and Why You Should)
From a variety of online jobs to keeping in contact with loved ones, Facebook's presence in our digital lives continues to grow. But what if you don't want the privacy risks that a personal Facebook profile brings?
Read on to find out why you might want to make an anonymous Facebook profile and how to set one up...
Why Would You Want an Anonymous Facebook Profile?
There are a few reasons why someone may want an anonymous Facebook account, but they all usually have one thing in common: privacy.
Many people are concerned about Facebook's privacy settings and violations. Making an anonymous Facebook profile allows you to keep fraudsters away from your personal information, like your real email address and birth date.
Free Checklist: Download The Ultimate Facebook Security Checklist
If there is ever a large data breach on Facebook, having an anonymous account could prevent you from becoming a victim of fraud. Because you haven't used your real information to set up your Facebook account, this limits the chances of your personal data falling into the wrong hands.
It also frees you up from worrying about colleagues or acquaintances trying to connect with you on the platform. By having a completely anonymous profile, you don't have to worry about choosing between surveillance from coworkers or snubbing friend requests from those in your office. You can share personal posts with those close to you.
While your friends will know who you are, the general public will not.
You don't have to worry as much about lurkers spying on your profile or a privacy breach exposing your personal information.
Another reason why a person may want an incognito Facebook account is so that they can be an administrator of a Page on the platform. Unfortunately, Facebook doesn't allow you to act as an admin on Page without an account to tie it to.
For people who work in social media management or marketing, an anonymous account can save you from needing to link your personal profile.
How to Set up Your Anonymous Facebook Account
Making an anonymous Facebook account is very simple and quick. Truthfully, the more bland and barebones your name and profile picture is, the better. Your account is less likely to catch someone's eye if you keep it simple.
1. Create a Burner Email Account
If you want to keep your Facebook account truly anonymous, the first step is to make a new email address. This ensures your login information for Facebook will not be tied to any of your personal information.
If you use your own email address to sign up for Facebook, it can be tied to your personal information---especially if you've used that email for other accounts. Make sure you use a name and email address that doesn't contain any features of your real name.
Insert the information to set up your email account, making sure you don't enter any of your real personal information.
2. Sign up for Facebook
When you sign up for Facebook it is important that you use an email address and not your personal phone number. If you use your phone number, this very important piece of data will be connected to your account---defeating the purpose of having an anonymous account on the platform.
To sign up to Facebook, make sure you're logged out and visit Facebook.com. Select the green Create Account button. In the mobile app, you can log out of your account (if you have a personal one already), and hit the blue Create New Account button.
3. Enter the Details for Your New Account
The details you enter into these fields are very important. Make sure you do not use your real name, email address, or birth date. By using only fictional data, you are ensuring none of your personal information will be tied to your new Facebook account.
Insert your new email address, a strong password, a fictional birthday, and preferred gender. Hit the Sign Up button.
When Facebook asks for access to contacts when signing up, be sure to click 'No'. If you click 'Yes', you may show up on the 'People You May Know' suggestions for other Facebook users.
You now have a new incognito Facebook profile.
4. Select Your Profile Picture
Since it is the first thing people on Facebook see when deciding to interact with you or not, your profile picture is important. We would recommend choosing a picture that will not compromise the anonymity of your account, like a Facebook avatar or a generic photograph.
A Facebook avatar will allow you to conceal your identity and have some fun with your profile picture.
If you use a Facebook avatar, you can add some personality to your account, while still remaining anonymous. If you would like to make your own animated profile picture, make sure to read our guide on how to make a Facebook avatar.
5. Start Adding Your Friends
Remember the reasons why you created this anonymous Facebook account when you decide who to add to your friend list. Only add people that you trust---and people who won't share your new Facebook identity with others.
Sometimes, people will notice the number of mutual friends they have in common with you and add you out of curiosity. Regardless of the reason, always be mindful of who you are adding and confirming on Facebook.
However, you may want to communicate with the people you are adding so that they know who you are.
We suggest sending individual private messages to your friends and family.
This way they will know that the mysterious profile trying to add them is actually you under a pseudonym.
6. Confirm Your Account
Facebook will request that you confirm your account. You can do this by email or with a phone number and Facebook will send you a one-time confirmation code.
We strongly suggest confirming your account with your burner email address and not your real phone number. This will prevent any of your personal information from being tied to this incognito Facebook profile.
You're all set. Enjoy the privacy and freedom of having an anonymous Facebook profile!
Keeping Your Profile Private
To keep your new anonymous Facebook profile incognito, avoid adding too many people you know, use a pseudonym for your username, and try not to comment or like too many of your real-life friend's posts.
The key to keeping your profile anonymous is to be mindful of how you use your Facebook account.
Maintain Privacy Online While Using Social Media
An anonymous Facebook account is one of the many ways you can secure your privacy online and still participate in social media.
In a world where our personal information is up-for-grabs, you can create an environment where your privacy is protected.
An easy way to become completely invisible on Facebook*
March 24, 2015 Technologies
Read this article to learn how to make your activities and content on Facebook* invisible to prying eyes.
Sometimes it seems very difficult to hide from the all-seeing eye of Facebook*. However, there is a way to do this.
When you complete this process, no one but you will be able to track your Facebook* activities, view your photos, except that your friends will still be able to view your main profile.
Note: You don't have to change all of the Facebook* settings discussed below. You can only change what you deem necessary.
1. Click on the lock icon in the upper right corner of your profile, and then click "See other settings".
2. You have moved to the "Privacy settings and tools" section.
Now in the paragraph "Who can see your publications in the future?" you need to change the settings to "Only me".
3. You can then restrict access to your past entries. Click on "Restrict access to previous posts", and then confirm the action by clicking "Apply these restrictions to past posts." Now your past entries will be available only to friends, and other users, including friends of friends, will not be able to see them.
4. Under "Who can send you friend requests?" replace "All" with "Friends of Friends". This will greatly reduce the occasional friend requests you receive on a regular basis.
5. Under "Whose posts do I want to filter in my inbox?" change the main filter to enhanced filtering.
6. If you do not want all users to be able to find you by email address, in the section "Who can find you using the email address you provided," mail? change "Everyone" to "Friends".
7. The same scheme applies to the item "Who can find you using the phone number you provided?".
8. If you don't want other people to find you using search engines, make sure that you don't check the "Allow search engines to link to your Timeline" box.
9. Then go to the menu item "Chronicle and tags", opposite all items select "Only me", and in the last item "Who sees tag recommendations when photos with images of people similar to you are uploaded?" select Nobody.
10. Also make sure to enable options such as "Submit tags made by friends before they are posted to your Timeline" and "Submit tags other people make on your posts before they appear on Facebook* ".
11. If you do not want your publications to be available to anyone other than friends, then go to the "Subscribers" menu item and opposite the "You can subscribe to my updates" item, change "All" to "Friends".
12. After that, go to the "Advertising" menu item, next to the "Third Party Sites" item, click the "Edit" button and select "Nobody".
Do the same with the "Advertising and Friends" section below.
13. Finally, go to the Applications menu item. Select Old Facebook* Mobile → Just Me. This will prevent your previous posts that were made using the older Facebook* mobile apps that don't have a built-in audience selection feature to be visible to other users.
*Meta Platforms Inc. and its social networks Facebook and Instagram are prohibited in the territory of the Russian Federation.
Can I use Facebook privately and anonymously? Can!
"You can't solve a problem at the same level that it started. You have to rise above this problem by rising to the next level."
Today you will not surprise anyone with the statement that the one who owns the information rules the world. Everyone has long understood that such global monsters as the social network Facebook or the search giant Google know more about us than we do ourselves, and actively trade this information.
After all, if you do not pay for the goods - you are the goods
To accuse them of using data about our activity is not completely correct, since there is no violation here. In fact, we ourselves allow the use of data about our activity when we register on a social network. We pay with our data or data about us, for allegedly free use of network services. Whether we like it or not - but this is a harsh reality that we have no way to refuse.
Although opinion leaders such as Steve Wozniak, Elon Musk and Brian Acton periodically call for removal from Facebook - but this is very difficult to put into practice - it is easier to cure a drug addict.
We really can't give up on social media, for a lot of reasons.
In social networks we have a lot of contacts and friends, business, useful information and the history of our correspondence. You can of course switch to other social networks - but if they are also free, like Facebook, this will not solve the privacy problem.
We are completely dependent on Facebook and can't even imagine how we can get out of it painlessly.
Nevertheless, there is a way out!
Ukrainian developers of the Security Services Group, known for their private and anonymous messenger Kryptos Private Messenger, have launched in test mode a solution that will allow you to become inaccessible to Facebook social network algorithms that monitor user actions - sounds like a break in the pattern, doesn't it? After all, sitting with your ass on two chairs has always been considered something impossible.
By installing the beta version of The Fondom Project application on your smartphone, you become invisible, as it completely encrypts your private messages, which look like a meaningless character set to Facebook.
A digital "condom" for your Facebook account allows you to remain private while remaining public.
Also, the application completely blocks all annoying Facebook ads.
But this is only the visible part of the undoubted advantages of the application.
At the code level, you get a solution that will preserve your privacy, protect your data from leaks, hackers and censorship.
You will not be hacked, as the user's encryption keys will be stored on your device without the possibility of access by third parties.
You can be absolutely calm about their safety, since even the developer does not have access keys to them, as well as access to your Facebook authentication data.
Your data will become a complete secret for the social network itself. The app uses the OpenPGP protocol for encryption, keeping your private keys on your device. The public keys that Facebook receives do not allow it to access your content.
Is The Fondom Project legal?
Yes, absolutely! Since you are not the ultimate beneficiary of your content on Facebook, this means that you can upload whatever you want to the network.
Can Facebook block The Fondom Project app?
No, because The Fondom Project does not work with the Facebook API.
