AIBU to wonder if Facebook shows who has viewed your profile?

[TotaleclipseinFrance]

I recently found out that an old school friend's dad has died.
We drifted apart after school and haven't met for a long time - not because of dislike but because she moved to the other side of the country.
I searched for my friend on Facebook.
I did not send a friend request at the time as I was trying to figure out what to say. Or indeed if it were appropriate.
Their name is not common so I had look at several profiles of the same name.

Anyway, a few days later, I see I have a friend request from my old friend.

Sorry this is just a long-winded way of asking if you look at somebody's profile will you appear on their page?

I know the background may be unnecessary.

I also appreciate this has probably been asked lots of times before but I guess it's a constant query.

If it's not appropriate to ask about other social media sites here I understand why it may be removed. No problem.

But ‘people you may know’ is sooo random. It keeps trying to force me to friend an OAP who is friends with my mobile hairdresser and an old school friend of a friend that she hasn’t seen in years. And then theres some totally random people who have no mutual friends with me. I have no idea why they are suggested.
I can pretty much guarantee that none of these people are stalking me or even know of my existence.

If definitely works out if you’ve been in the same vicinity and suggests them. That’s pretty easy for FB to do if you have location services turned in.

Well, an old boyfriend from a holiday fling 40 years ago, who lives on a different continent, and who I have had no contact with in that 40 years and absolutely no contact details for or mutual contacts, appeared on my “people you may know” list. So yes, I do think it suggests people who have looked you up.

I think it does to be honest. And sometimes it's when you've added someone as a contact on your phone.

Facebook will also show you people you've been in close proximity to on you're "People you may know" as well. The app will happily track your location. I've been at music gigs and then a few days later seen people on FB that I was stood near to in the crowd.

Its one of the reasons I don't have the app on my phone any more and just use the website.

I had my child's class teacher come up in 'people you may know' - I definitely hadn't searched for her (she's actually there under a different surname anyway) but I was mortified to think she might think I'd been looking for her!

I did put it down to the geographical proximity thing.

Facebook also shoves people you might know in there, if you have been in close proximity (some computer bid from police taught me it) he said definitely if you both have location on and appear to be near each other on numerous occasions.

I don’t know a single person on my “friends I might know” bit and I doubt that these people would know me. A lot live in countries I have never even visited

This definitely happens. If you look at theirs, your name will appear on theirs

Did they have a live story at the time? As if you look at their feed and they have a published a story in the last 24 hours (and it’s on their profile feed) you will appear to them as a viewer, even if you didn’t click the story icon on their profile picture. I have been caught out by this!

both facebook and instagram removed the feature when you could see who visited your profile/other peoples profiles nearly a decade ago due to “privacy”. However, what both do now is that if you view/search someone then they will end up in your “suggested friends” and you in theirs. Annoyingly facebook does that for people you also pass by based on your location! I figured that out when I was on a road trip, literally bumped into random stranger accidentally on the cafe and that very same person was in my suggested friends the next day. I stopped using facebook…

Yes, I also wondered this with people who you have no mutual friends with.

Proximity is definitely a thing, I had a friend suggestion of someone who sometimes comes into my work

I know his name but I'd be amazed if he any clue about mine so it's not that he's been searching for me and we dont have any mutual friends

That's madness! 😀

Facebook does do this - I know that for certain. If you look someone up you will appear right at the top of their people you may know and you'll stay there for ages ! Don't look at profiles unless you're comfortable with this - so not your boss or people from work or any other random person you thought you'd have a nose at . If you do block them afterwards. I hate this about Facebook and think it's really bad of them to do it .

Proximity is a thing, definitely. I am also a bit narrow-eyed about letting it have access to microphone; mention a name and up they appear on the 'Friends You May know' list.

I suspect its because you looked them up, and if you have friends in common (which you surely do if you went to school together), facebook worked out you know each other and suggested you to them as a friend.
Or, their dad died, and they thought about their old friend from school and how life is short, and wanted to get in touch.

I was feeling nostalgic a couple of weeks ago and searched for 2 people I haven't seen for years. I couldn't find either of them so assumed they weren't on Facebook - there were others with the same or similar names but not the ones I was looking for. Strangely enough, a couple of days later one of them appeared in 'people you may know'. I thought it was a coincidence but now I know it isn't because the same thing happened 2 weeks later ' there before my very eyes was the other person. It's not coincidence, it's bots or algorithms working in the background without people realising.

This definitely happens on Facebook. If somebody pops up as a suggested friend, it means you have mutual friends or their phone number/ email in your phone; if you have none of these then it means they have viewed your profile. I know this happens because my aunt had an ex from pre - Internet days, so no mobile / email for him. They had no mutual friends and then he suddenly popped up as a suggested friend.

Whilst you can't see who looked at your profile directly, you can see if you looked at stories etc. But by searching you their profile you have "feed" the algorithm with information so it will try and connect you.

How would you know if have mutual friends when some people hide their friends list completely? If someone random shows up in my "people you may know" list I assume they are mutual friends with someone who hides their list, or are on an interest group. I've looked people up and had them appear as suggested friends, but others I've looked up never appear at all. As a group administrator I look people up all the time to check they aren't bots...would hate to think I then ended up as a suggested friend, and even more that random people from my past would get me as a suggestion simply because I'd browsed their profile through curiosity (or even through wishing them well and wanting to see how they were!).

My current "People you may know" list (and I don't check it that often) shows loads of people with mutual friends - plus a random guy who I doubt has browsed my profile - he just has interests in common and seems to have millions of followers, so I assume he is more a "page" broadcasting his views than a person, and has come up because FB thinks I may also want to read his thoughts.
Also one person whose business page I follow.
Also an "extra" profile belonging to a Facebook friend. No apparent mutual friends, but I think there will be some.
Conversely there are many people I have browsed who don't appear. So I hope I wouldn't be in their lists!

I seem to have loads of DC's teachers on my people you may know. I have never searched them on FB and I don't think they would even know who I am as they haven't all been direct class teachers for my DC.
I think phone location and proximity plays a role in 'people you may know' as it shows more teachers on mine at the same times as parents evenings and school events etc.

Algorithms are much more complicated than that and the experience of one random lady can't possibly be extrapolated to be certain about how Facebook works for everyone

I think when you get friend suggestions it's a mixture of whose profile you looked at and also just people who you share mutuals with