Sharing
Sharing Status Updates and Other Stories
To share a link:
- Scroll to the top of your News Feed and click the gray text next to your profile picture.
- Enter the link.
- Add an optional update, then click Post.
Keep in mind that liking or sharing a link through Facebook may show up in News Feed or on your timeline.
To edit a post you've shared on Facebook:
- From your News Feed, click your name in the top left to go to your profile, then scroll to find your post.
- Click
in the top right of your post, then click Edit Post.
- Make your changes to the post.
- If photos are included in your post, you can hover over any photos you'd like to delete and click X in the top right. Click + to add new photos.
- Click Save.
Deleting photos from a post:
In most cases, if you've added photos to a post you've shared, you can delete photos without deleting the entire post.
You can't delete photos from your post if you shared your post from a third-party app (example: Spotify, a news site) or a photo album.
Learn how to edit a post you've shared in a group.
Depending on the privacy settings of the original post (example: if someone chose to share their post with Friends), you may not see the option to share it.
To share a post you see on your News Feed:
- Below a post, click
Share in the bottom right.
- Select where you want to share the post. Depending on the post's privacy settings, you may see the following options:
- Share NowThe post will be shared to your News Feed and timeline with your current privacy settings.Share...You can customize the post (example: add a description) before you share it. If the post includes a link, you can choose to share the link by itself, or click next to Include Original Post to keep the text from the original News Feed post. You can click the audience selector to change your audience, then click Post.Share to Your Story NowThe post will be shared to your story with your current story privacy settings.Send As MessageChoose the friend or group you want to send a private message to, then click Send.Share in a GroupType the group name and add a description, then click Post.Share on a Friend's TimelineType your friend's name, then click Post.Share to a PageYou can only share to a Page you manage. Click the dropdown menu to select the Page, then click Post.
Note: You can't share posts with people who weren't part of the original audience (example: a post shared with “Friends” can’t be shared with “Public”).
To mention a person in a post or comment:
- Type the person's name with a capitalized first letter.
- Select a name from the list that appears.
To mention a Page or group in a post or comment:
- Type "@" and then the Page's or group's name.
- Select a name from the list that appears.
Keep in mind that depending on a Page’s settings, you may not be able to mention it.
When you mention a person, Page or group in a post or comment, a link is created. The audience for the link that’s created depends on the privacy settings of the person, Page or group you mention. For example, if you mention a secret group, only that group's members can see the link. The person, Page or group you mention may get a notification, and the post or comment may appear on their timeline.
Anyone can tag you in photos and other posts. Tags from people you're not friends with may appear in your timeline review, where you can decide if you want to allow them on your timeline. Remember, posts you choose not to allow on your timeline may appear in News Feed and elsewhere on Facebook.
Depending on your settings, you'll receive a notification when someone tags you. You can choose what notifications you receive about tags from your settings:
- Click
at the top right of any Facebook page and select Settings.
- Click Notifications from the left side.
- Click Edit next to the On Facebook section.
- Next to Tags, select what audience you want to receive notifications from.
You can also choose to review photos friends tag you in before they appear on your timeline by turning on timeline review.
If you don't like something you're tagged in, you can remove the tag or ask the person who tagged you to remove the post.
You can embed Public posts you’ve shared (including photos and videos) onto your own website or web page.
To embed a post:
- Go to the post you want to embed.
- Click
in the top right of the post and select Embed.
- Copy and paste the code that appears and add it to your own website or web page.
Note: If you embed a post onto a website but then change the audience from Public to another setting, you won't be able to see the post on the website.
Hashtags turn topics and phrases into clickable links in your posts on your personal timeline or Page. This helps people find posts about topics they’re interested in. To make a hashtag, write # (the number sign) along with a topic or phrase and add it to your post. For example:
- I just saw the cutest puppy! #dogs.
When you click a hashtag, you’ll see a feed of posts that include that hashtag. You may also see some related hashtags at the top of the page.
Please keep in mind:
- A hashtag must be written as a single word, without any spaces.
- You can include numbers in a hashtag, but punctuation and special characters (like $ and %) won't work.
- You can search for a hashtag using the search bar at the top of any page.
- You'll only see posts that were shared with you.
Learn more about who can see your posts when you use hashtags.
To share how you're feeling or what you're doing in a status update:
- Click Create Post at the top of your News Feed or timeline. Click Write something... in a group or an event.
- Click
Feeling/Activity. In an event, click
below the post.
- Choose Feeling... or select what you're doing (example: Traveling to...) in the dropdown menu.
- Choose how you’re feeling or a description of what you're doing (example: where you’re traveling to) by clicking one of the suggestions, or type a word to see more options. If it isn't listed, you can fill in your own and click it when it appears in the dropdown menu.
- To edit how you’re feeling or what you’re doing, click
- Once you’ve added your feeling or activity, finish filling in your status update and click Share or Post.
If you choose an activity like watching a TV show or reading a book, the TV show or book will also appear in the related sections on your About page.
Note: you can only add one feeling or activity to a status update.
Privacy Controls for Stories You Share
You'll find an audience selector tool most places you share status updates, photos and other things you post. Click the tool and select who you want to share something with.
The tool remembers the audience you shared with the last time you posted something and uses the same audience when you share again unless you change it. For example, if you choose Public for a post, your next post will also be Public unless you change the audience when you post. This one tool appears in multiple places, such as your privacy shortcuts and privacy settings. When you make a change to the audience selector tool in one place, the change updates the tool everywhere it appears.
The audience selector also appears alongside things you've already shared, so it's clear who can see each post. After you've shared a post, you have the option to change who it's shared with. If you want to change the audience of a post after you've shared it, click the audience selector and select a new audience.
Remember, when you post to another person's timeline, that person controls what audience can view the post. Additionally, anyone who gets tagged in a post may see it, along with their friends.
The audience selector lets you choose a specific audience when posting. Your options may include:
Public: When you share something with Public that means anyone including people off of Facebook can see it.
Friends (+ friends of anyone tagged): This option lets you post stuff to your friends on Facebook. If anyone else is tagged in a post, then the audience expands to also include the tagged person and their friends. If you don't want your photo or post to be visible to the friends of the people you tag, you can adjust this setting. Click the audience selector next to the story, select 
Custom, and uncheck the Friends of those tagged box.
Only Me: This option allows you to post stuff to your timeline that is visible only to you. Posts with the audience of Only Me will appear in your News Feed but not your friends' feeds. If you tag someone in an Only Me post, they will be able to see the post. Custom: When you choose Custom, you can selectively share something with specific people, or hide it from specific people. You can also share with specific friend lists if you’ve set them up, such as Family or Best Friends, or hide posts from your Coworkers list. Custom also provides the option to share with groups or networks you belong to. Something that’s public can be seen by anyone. That includes people who aren’t your friends, people off of Facebook and people who use different media such as print, broadcast (ex: television) and other sites on the Internet. For example, if you use our services to provide a real-time public comment to a television show, that may appear on the show or elsewhere on Facebook.
What information is public?
Information you share that is always public: Some of the information you give us when you fill out your profile is public, such as your age range, language and country. We also use a part of your profile, called your Public Profile, to help connect you with friends and family. Your Public Profile includes your name, gender, username and user ID (account number), profile picture, cover photo and networks. This info is also public. Some of the ways this helps us connect you are:
- Your name, profile picture and cover photo help people recognize you
- Gender helps us describe you (ex: "Add her as a friend")
- Listing your networks (ex: school, workplace) allows others to find you more easily
- Username and user ID (ex: your account number) are in the URL of your profile
- Age range helps provide you with age-appropriate content
- Language and country help us provide appropriate content and experiences
Information you share publicly: When you choose to share something with Public (ex: when you select Public from the audience selector), it’s considered public information. If you share something and you don’t see an audience selector or another privacy setting, that information is also public. Learn more about using the audience selector to control who you share with when you post to Facebook.
Stuff other people share: If other people share info about you, even if it’s something you shared with them but did not make public, they can choose to make it public. Also when you comment on other people’s public posts, your comment is public as well.
Posts on Facebook Pages or public groups: Facebook Pages and public groups are public spaces. Anyone who can see the Page or group can see your post or comment. Generally, when you post or comment on a Page or to a public group, a story can be published in News Feed as well as other places on or off Facebook.
Remember that public information can:
- Be associated with you, even off Facebook
- Show up when someone does a search on Facebook or on another search engine
- Be accessible to Facebook-integrated games, applications and websites you and your friends use
- Be accessible to anyone who uses our APIs, such as our Graph API
You can use the audience selector to change who can see stuff you share on your timeline after you share it. Keep in mind that when you share something on someone else's timeline, they control the audience for the post.
To change the audience of something you've shared on your own timeline:
- Go to your timeline and scroll down to the post you want to edit.
- Click the audience selector next to the date or time on the post. The icon will be different depending on its current audience settings.
- Select your audience from the options that appear (example: Public, Friends, Only Me).
Learn more about how to control what people can see on your profile and timeline.
When you share something, people you include in the audience of the post may see it in News Feeds.
Learn how to change the audience of something you've shared.
When you add a hashtag to your post, the people you’ve shared your post with can also see it in that hashtag's feed. For example, if you share a post with a hashtag with the audience Friends, people you're friends with can see your post in that hashtag’s feed.
If you use a hashtag in a post you share to a Public audience, and allow people to follow you, your post will appear on your public profile and in that hashtag's feed.
