How to See Who Shared Your Link on Facebook

You hit publish on a new article, share the link to your Facebook page, and watch it go. A few hours later, you see the Shares count ticking up. But who are these people spreading the word? Finding out exactly who shared your link on Facebook can feel like a puzzle, largely because of individual privacy settings that hide this information. However, with the right methods, you can gain a much clearer picture of your content's lifecycle and the people who support it.

This guide will walk you through direct ways to find who's sharing your content, workaround search techniques, and the analytics-driven approaches that reveal the impact of those shares. We'll show you not only how to find this information but also what to do with it to build a stronger community around your brand.

Understanding the Core Challenge: The Privacy Wall

Before we jump into the methods, it's important to understand why this information isn't always available. The main reason is Facebook's privacy controls. When a user shares your post, they can set the audience for their share. Common settings include:

• Public: Anyone on or off Facebook can see the share. These are the ones you can usually find.
• Friends: Only their Facebook friends can see it. You won't see this share unless you are friends with them.
• Friends of Friends: Their friends and the friends of their friends can see it.
• Custom Lists: They can share it with specific groups of people.

If someone shares your link to their "Friends," and you're not one of those friends, their share is effectively invisible to you and won't appear on any public share list. This is the primary hurdle, but don't worry - there are still several ways to track your content's journey.

Method 1: Check the "Shares" List Directly on Your Post

Let's start with the most straightforward method. This approach works best for finding public shares and will give you a list of people who used the official "Share" button on your post.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Navigate to Your Original Post: Find the post you want to track on your Facebook Page, Group, or personal profile timeline.
2. Locate the Engagement Metrics: Below the post's content and above the "Like, Comment, Share" buttons, you'll see a line of text showing the total number of likes, comments, and shares. For example, "150 Likes, 32 Comments, 24 Shares."
3. Click on "Shares": Click the clickable "Shares" link. A pop-up window will appear titled "People Who Shared This."

This list will show you the names of people and pages that shared your post publicly. From here, you can often click directly on their share to see what they wrote about your link in their own post. This is a goldmine for understanding how your community is framing your content.

A Practical Example:

Imagine you run a cooking blog and share a link to your "Perfect Sourdough Recipe." You click the "18 Shares" link and see that a community page called "Local Home Bakers" shared your link. By clicking on their share, you discover a whole thread of people discussing your recipe, asking questions, and sharing photos of their own loaves. This is a direct engagement opportunity you would have otherwise missed.

The Main Limitation:

As mentioned, this method mainly reveals public shares. If 10 of your 24 shares were from people with "Friends only" privacy settings, you would only see 14 people on this list. It gives you a piece of the puzzle, but not the whole picture.

Method 2: Use the Facebook Search Bar to Find Manual Shares

Not everyone uses the "Share" button. Some people prefer to copy your link and create a completely new post with their own thoughts. These manual shares won't appear in the shares list from Method 1, but you can often find them using a simple search trick.

How to Do It:

1. Copy Your Full URL: Go to your original content (your blog post, product page, etc.) and copy the entire URL from your browser's address bar. Make sure you have the complete link, including https://www..
2. Paste it into the Facebook Search Bar: Go back to Facebook and paste the full URL directly into the search bar at the top of the page.
3. Press Enter: Hit the "Enter" key to run the search.

The search results page will show public Facebook posts that contain that exact URL. This is a fantastic way to catch conversations happening outside your immediate followers who may have found your link from a friend or in a newsletter. You might be surprised to see your link pop up in public groups or on public pages you weren't aware of.

For example, if the full link to your article is:

https://www.yourgardeningblog.com/tips/growing-tomatoes-in-small-spaces/
You would paste that entire string into the Facebook search box.

Why This Works So Well:

This technique uncovers a different type of sharing behavior. These are not passive reshares, these are intentional posts where someone took the time to craft their own message around your content. It’s a strong signal that your content made a real impact on them.

Beyond Names: Using Analytics to Measure Impact

After a while, you realize the exact name on every share is less important than understanding the overall impact. Are the shares actually driving traffic back to your website? Are they helping you reach your goals? This is where basic analytics tools become your best friend, even if they can't tell you that "Jane Doe from Ohio" shared your link.

See Facebook's Impact in Google Analytics

If you have Google Analytics set up on your website (and you really should), you can see how much traffic Facebook is sending you. This is the ultimate proof that your shares are working.

How to find the data:

• Log in to your Google Analytics account.
• In the left-hand navigation, go to Reports > Acquisition > Traffic Acquisition.
• In the report that appears, you'll see a list of traffic channels. You can use the search box above the table and type "Facebook" to filter for it. Or, look for rows labeled "Organic Social" and "Referral."

You'll see traffic from various Facebook sources, like `facebook.com`, `m.facebook.com` (mobile), and `l.facebook.com` (a link shim). This data tells you exactly how many website visitors originated from a click on Facebook. While it doesn't list the sharers by name, it quantifies the result of their shares - which for most businesses, is the more critical metric.

Using URL Shorteners to Track a Campaign

For more specific tracking, use a URL shortener like Bitly when you post a link. By creating a unique short link for a particular Facebook post, you can isolate its performance.

Here’s the strategy:

1. Take your original URL: `https://yourbrand.com/summer-sale-2024`
2. Go to a URL shortener and create a custom short link: `bit.ly/summersale-fb24`
3. Share only this short link in your Facebook post.

Now, every click that comes through will be logged in your Bitly dashboard. You can see the total number of clicks, the geographic locations of the people clicking, and the timeline of engagement. It’s an effective way to ringfence the traffic from one specific post or campaign without complicating your analytics setup.

What to Do When You Find Who Shared Your Link

Finding out who shares your content is only half the battle. The real magic happens when you use that information to build relationships and encourage more sharing in the future.

1. Engage and Acknowledge

When you find a public share through the methods above, don't just be a silent observer. Jump into the conversation!

• Like their post. It's a simple, quick way to show you saw and appreciate it.
• Leave a thoughtful comment. Go beyond a simple "Thanks for sharing!" Ask them a question about their take or add a new piece of information to their thread. Example: "So glad you found this helpful! Which one of the tips are you going to try first?"

When you engage, you reward the behavior, make your advocate feel seen, and show their audience that a real person is behind your brand.

2. Identify and Nurture Your Super-Fans

Pay attention to who is sharing your content regularly. Are the same two or three people sharing nearly every article you post? These are your brand ambassadors - your most valuable community members. Put their names on a list. Reach out to them personally. Offer them sneak peeks of content or a discount on a product. Fostering these relationships can create a powerful, organic marketing engine for your business.

3. Listen to the Conversation

Pay close attention to what people are saying when they share your link. Their captions are priceless, unfiltered feedback. Did they pull out a specific quote they loved? Did they disagree with one of your points? Did they mention how it helped them solve a problem? Use this language in your future marketing copy and content creation. They are literally telling you what resonates with them.

Final Thoughts

While Facebook's privacy settings mean you can't get a complete list of every single person who shares your links, the techniques in this guide give you a powerful set of tools. By checking your post's share list, using the search bar for manual shares, and tracking your traffic, you can move from wondering who's sharing to understanding the real impact of your content.

At the end of the day, a less-than-perfect tracking picture doesn't have to get in the way of a great social strategy. In fact, worrying about every last share can sometimes distract from the bigger picture. It's often better to just focus on a few core things that actually make things run smoother. At Postbase, one of our favorite creator workflows starts with a powerful planning calendar for getting posts in tip-top shape and follows up with an easy check on what’s making the day brighter, with performance analytics that aren’t held hostage by your social platform’s latest paywall drama. When you’re spending less time wrestling with tedious tasks, you have more time to connect directly with the followers who love and share your work anyway. For my full creator playbook, a great place to start is Postbase.