One of the best things about Facebook is the endless access to new content, shared by both friends and groups or pages that you part of, as well as ads and other suggested or recommended creators.
Users are able to upload their own content in the form of text posts, photos and videos, or can share posts that others have created. The benefit of a shared post is that it gives the user space to add their own caption and text, while retaining the original poster’s name and caption.
But in some cases, a post that you come across on Facebook will not be available to share.
Here are some reasons why you may be unable to share a post on Facebook…
The Original Post Is Private
If a Facebook post is uploaded under the private audience setting, then it is not available to be shared by other users.
This is because the original poster will have set the audience of their post to ‘Friends’ or specific users only, and so Facebook prevents it from being shared beyond this community.
This is most likely to be the reason why you cannot share a post that has been uploaded by someone who you are friends with on Facebook.
The Post Goes Against Community Guidelines
If the post you want to share is public and has been shared by a page which should enable wider sharing, then it could be that there’s an issue with the content.
Posts which have been reported or flagged for inappropriate content will be blocked from sharing, to keep Facebook a safe space for users of all ages.
You’ve Been Blocked From Sharing
Facebook tracks and monitors activity from its users and will block those who are seen to be in violation of the terms and conditions for safe use.
If you find yourself unable to share a post that you see on Facebook, but there is no clear violation or reason for it being un-shareable, then it could be that the issue lies within your own account.
A temporary block from sharing on Facebook can be caused by:
- Excessive posting on Facebook, when your account has been overly active in a set period and so your account has been flagged for spam activity
- If you’ve shared posts that your followers and community have marked as being irrelevant or unnecessary on their feed
- You’ve previously shared a post which breaks community guidelines
A block like this will likely be temporary, meaning that it will not affect your ability to share posts for an extended period of time. The chances are that you just need to wait it out.
We hope this helps and goes some way towards explaining why you might be unable to share a post. Being unable to share a post publicly does not necessarily mean you can’t save it or send it directly to another user – or you could always screenshot it for future reference!
