If a friend on Facebook uploads a photo that you’re in, or shares a post that is relevant to you, they might choose to tag you in it – just as you might do the same, should you upload something that is connected to them.
Tagging someone on Facebook essentially means that their name is visible to anyone who views the post or photo – with a direct and clickable link to their profile. It also means that the tagged post or photo appears in their feed on their profile.
Unless, that is, they switch off the automated share function – or take action to prevent the tag from being made public.
Sometimes, you might find that you are tagged in something that you don’t want to be linked to. And that’s where this article comes in.
Can You Turn off Tagging?
While you cannot stop another user from attempting to tag you in a post, you can take steps to prevent that tag from linking to your account and profile.
These steps include hiding or restricting the audience of posts that you are tagged in and adding an approval and review process whereby you have to check every post that you are tagged in and choose whether or not it can be displayed on your profile.
How to Restrict the Audience of Tagged Posts
When you restrict the audience of users that can see a post or photo you’re tagged in, there are two main options that you can control.
Of course, the post itself can only be changed by the poster – but you can change who sees it on your profile feed.
- Click on the menu button in the bottom right hand corner of your screen
- Select ‘Settings and Privacy’ then ‘Settings’
- Scroll down the menu to ‘Profile and Tagging’
- Under the ‘Tagging’ heading change the top two questions about post visibility after tagging
How to Use Tag Review
Tag review is an additional step that you can activate, giving yourself the control to approve tagged posts or keep them hidden from your profile completely.
Turning this Tag Review feature on is one of the best ways to protect yourself from being linked with content that you don’t like or agree with.
- Click on the menu button in the bottom right hand corner of your screen
- Select ‘Settings and Privacy’ then ‘Settings’
- Scroll down the menu to ‘Profile and Tagging’
- Under the ‘Reviewing’ heading, you can switch on the toggles to both review tags added to your posts by other users, and to review any posts that you’re tagged in
So, while it’s not possible to stop other users and friends from tagging you in their posts, what you can control is whether or not that tag is visible and connected directly to your profile. We hope this advice helps you to feel more in control of your Facebook activity and visibility on the app.
