How to Turn On Followers on Facebook

Letting people follow you on Facebook is one of the fastest ways to grow your audience beyond your immediate circle of friends. It turns your personal profile from a private diary into a public platform, allowing you to connect with a wider community interested in what you have to say. This guide will walk you through the simple steps to turn on followers for your personal profile, explain the difference between friends and followers, and give you actionable advice for what to do next to actually attract an audience.

Why Turn On Followers in the First Place?

Before we get into the step-by-step, it’s worth understanding why this is such a powerful move, especially if you're a creator, entrepreneur, community leader, or just someone looking to build a personal brand. When you're only connecting with "Friends," your reach is capped. Every friend request is a mutual agreement, and you're limited to 5,000 friends total.

Enabling the "Follow" button changes the game entirely. Here’s what it does for you:

• Unlimited Reach: Unlike the 5,000-friend limit, you can have an unlimited number of followers. This is how public figures and creators build massive audiences directly on their personal profiles.
• Wider Audience Access: People who are interested in your content but may not know you personally can now see your public updates without having to send a friend request. This is perfect for sharing content related to your business, hobby, or expertise.
• Maintained Privacy: Turning on followers doesn't mean your entire life goes public. You still control the audience for every single post. You can share a family photo with "Friends" only and then post an industry insight for "Public" a few minutes later. Your followers will only see the content you explicitly mark as public.

In short, it gives you the best of both worlds: a private space for personal connections and a public stage for broadcasting your message.

How to Turn on Followers on Your Facebook Profile (Step-by-Step)

The process is straightforward and takes less than a minute. The steps are slightly different depending on whether you're using a computer or the mobile app.

On a Desktop Computer:

1. Log in to Facebook: Open your web browser and go to your Facebook account.
2. Access Settings: Click on your profile picture in the top-right corner of the screen. A dropdown menu will appear. Select “Settings &, privacy,” then click on “Settings.”
3. Find Public Post Settings: On the left-hand navigation menu, look for and click on “Public posts.” If you don’t see it, it might be nested under “Audience and visibility,” so just look for an option that controls who can follow you.
4. Enable Followers: The first option you'll see is "Who can follow me." Click the dropdown box next to it and change the setting from "Friends" to "Public."

That's it! Once you set this to "Public," a "Follow" button will now appear on your profile for anyone who isn't already your friend. Any pending friend requests you have will automatically become followers, and you can change settings for who can comment on your public posts and what notifications you get right on this same page.

On a Mobile Device (iOS or Android):

1. Open the Facebook App: Tap the Facebook app icon on your phone to open it.
2. Go to the Menu: Tap on your profile picture and the three horizontal lines (the "hamburger" menu) in the bottom-right corner (iOS) or top-right corner (Android).
3. Navigate to Settings: Scroll down and tap “Settings &, privacy,” then tap “Settings.”
4. Find the Follower Settings: Scroll down to the “Audience and visibility” section. Tap on “Followers and public content.”
5. Allow Public Followers: The first option at the top will be "Who can follow me." Tap on “Public.”

Just like on the desktop, this single change enables the follow functionality on your profile. You can also use this screen to manage other public settings, such as who can comment on or like your public profile information.

Friends vs. Followers: Understanding the Key Difference

This is a common point of confusion, but the distinction is simple and powerful once you grasp it.

• Friends: This is a two-way relationship. When you accept someone's friend request (or they accept yours), you can both see each other's content, including posts marked for "Friends only." You appear in each other's friend lists, and you can send private messages via Messenger. Remember, you're capped at 5,000 friends.
• Followers: This is a one-way relationship. Someone can follow you to see your public posts in their news feed. You are not required to follow them back, and you won't see their content unless you choose to. They can't see your posts marked for "Friends." There is no limit to how many followers you can have.

When someone sends you a friend request, they automatically start following you, even if you don't accept their request. This means they will begin seeing any public content you share. If you decide to ignore or deny the request, they’ll remain a follower until they manually choose to unfollow you.

A Quick Note About Facebook Pages

If you're running a Facebook Business Page, you don't need to worry about turning followers on. It’s the default setting. Pages are public by nature and designed for brands, businesses, and organizations. When someone "Likes" your Page, they automatically become a follower. They also have the option to just "Follow" your Page without liking it, which allows them to see your updates without showing a public endorsement.

The entire follower system on Pages is baked in from the start - your job there isn't to enable it, but to create content that earns those likes and follows.

Now That You Have Followers, How Do You Get More?

Flipping the switch is the easy part. Building an audience that cares is the real goal. Once you’ve enabled public followers, your work is just beginning. Here are actionable strategies to start attracting people who genuinely want to hear from you.

1. Optimize Your Profile for Public Viewers

Your profile is now your landing page. When a potential follower arrives, they should instantly understand who you are and why they should follow you.

• Your Bio: Your bio is prime real estate. Make sure it's set to "Public" and clearly explains what you do or what you talk about. For example: "Helping small businesses with social media marketing" or "Sharing my journey as a landscape photographer."
• Profile Picture &, Cover Photo: Use a clear, high-quality headshot for your profile picture and a compelling cover photo that reflects your brand or personality. These are public by default and make the first impression.
• Your Intro Section: You can add a Featured photo, links to your work, and other key details in the "Intro" section to give people a quick snapshot of who you are. Make this public.

2. Consistently Post Public Content

This is the most important step. Having a "Follow" button does nothing if all your posts are set to "Friends only." You need to feed your public audience with valuable, interesting, or entertaining content. When you create a new post, remember to change the audience selector dropdown (it usually defaults to "Friends") to “Public.”

• Provide Value: Share tips, tutorials, news, or insights related to your expertise. If you're a fitness coach, share quick workouts. If you're a writer, share writing tips. Give people a reason to tune in.
• Show Personality: Share your opinions, tell stories, and go behind the scenes. People follow people, not just brands. Your unique perspective is your greatest asset.
• Use Engaging Formats: Don't just post text. Use high-quality photos, create videos, and experiment with Facebook Reels, which have massive organic reach. Reels, in particular, are a great way to get discovered by people who don't follow you yet.

3. Engage With Everyone

Social media is a two-way conversation, even when it's a one-way follow. When people leave comments on your public posts, reply to them. Answer their questions. Acknowledge their feedback. This shows that you're an active and approachable creator, which encourages more people to participate and stick around. An engaged community is an asset that grows on its own.

4. Promote Your Facebook Profile Elsewhere

Let people know they can follow you!

• Cross-Promote: If you have an audience on Instagram, X, LinkedIn, or TikTok, tell them they can follow you on Facebook for different kinds of content.
• Add to Your Email Signature: Put a link to your Facebook profile in your email signature.
• Mention it on Your Website: Add a social icon linking to your Facebook profile on your website or blog.

Getting your first 100 or 1,000 public followers is a huge milestone. It all starts with making your profile discoverable, consistently sharing public content, and engaging with the people who choose to come along for the ride.

Final Thoughts

Enabling the follow button on your Facebook profile is a simple technical step that unlocks the potential for incredible organic growth. It allows you to build a community around your brand, ideas, or creations without being constrained by a friend limit, all while maintaining control over your personal privacy.

Once you start consistently posting Public content and attracting followers, managing your content calendar and replying to all those new comments becomes the next happy challenge. To keep everything organized across Facebook and all my other platforms, I use Postbase. It lets us plan and schedule everything from a visual calendar and manage all comments in one inbox, which saves hours every week and makes it easy to stay consistent as your audience grows.

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