Facebook is easily one of the most famous social media websites in the world. There are over 2.6 billion active users on Facebook. Due to this massive popularity and engagement, we cannot stop ourselves from wondering, is it safe to use Facebook anymore.
Over the years, there have been many security and privacy breaches from various hackers on Facebook, but the social media giant has continuously worked on improving their privacy and security controls.
Despite all of these efforts, the biggest hurdle to Facebook security and privacy still remains persistent and that is Facebook stalking.
It is very easy to connect and access private information about someone on Facebook. Due to this, there are many cyber stalkers that use Facebook to target their victims. These Facebook stalkers gather personal information by accessing public profiles or even hacking.
As per a recent survey, it was found that over 41% of American people who are using social media have faced some type of cyberstalking in the last year. The same survey also indicated that women are even more likely to get stalked on Facebook.
We are all aware of the concept of stalking but there is no legal or fixed definition of this term. It is merely an idea that involves specific or unwanted behavior towards a person indirectly or directly that makes that particular person feel distressful or unsafe.
Stalking on Facebook can be defined as when one person who is most likely using a fake ID tracks all the online activities of another user and uses that information to cause unnecessary fear, emotional distress, or even a threat to life.
Facebook stalker could be anyone it can include boyfriend, girlfriend, neighbor, relative, batchmate, or any other stranger.
What is Facebook stalking?
As mentioned above, Facebook was already aware of this massive problem of stalking on their platform, so, they have taken as actions to prevent such activities and there is even a claim that there is no such thing as Facebook stalking going on right now, but the reality is way different.
Stalkers are still using Facebook to do several abnormal activities that can include,
- Interfering personal life
- track social media activities
- send unsolicited pictures and messages
- comments and likes on each photograph
- send a request to your friends in order to get to know more about you
- to access your Facebook page using another Facebook page.
The only difference between stalking and Facebook stalking is that stalkers are not physically following you and your activities but are doing it on social media using the internet.
Who is a Facebook stalker?
Among the definition of a Facebook stalker, there are a lot of different types of stalkers that you may encounter on the website. Some of them are as follows:
Quiet stalker
Unlike most of the other types of stalkers, a quite stalker would never send you a message, like, or comment your photographers in order to let you know of their activities. All they do is track your activities.
FB follower
This is an official way to follow someone without sending them a friend request. FB followers can easily access all your public posts and profile.
Like stalker
As the name suggests, a like stalker accesses all the photos that you have uploaded and likes them continuously.
Comment stalker
This type of stalker would continuously comment on every post that you upload.
Psycho Friend requester
A psycho friend request is obsessed with sending continuous friend request even if you reject the previous ones.
Timepass stalker
Timepass stalker is the one who is only looking at your profile to pass time. He could even send you some hilarious messages.
Your ex
You may already be aware of the fact that your ex may or may not be stalking you on Facebook just to know how you are doing after leaving them. It is very normal.
Types of stalkers
In order to understand more about Facebook stalkers, it is important to understand the various types of stalkers that you can encounter in real life.
Rejected stalker
As the name suggests rejected stalkers are those humans that have been rejected by someone they were interested in.
Resentful stalker
These types of stalkers are hell-bent on taking revenge on some previous action.
Predatory stalkers
These are one of the most dangerous stalkers that you can ever face. They are motivated by their desire for sexual and intimate gratification.
Intimacy seeker
These types of stalkers want to start a relationship with someone but are too afraid to go up to them and ask them out.
How to know who stalks me on Facebook?
If you have ever used Facebook then some of these questions must have crossed your mind at least once.
- How do you know who is stalking you on Facebook?Â
- How to see who is stalking your Facebook profile?
- How to see who’s stalking you on Facebook?
- How to tell if someone is stalking you on Facebook?
- Who stalked me on Facebook?
- Who stalks me on Facebook?
Let’s try to answer all of these questions one by one.
Friend request from an unknown person
If you are getting continuous requests from a person that is a complete stranger to you. Then that person is most probably trying to stalk you on Facebook.
Facebook friends list order stalking
In order to identify who has been stalking your Facebook account, all you have to do is visit your profile and your friends’ list and the names that come up on top are the ones that have accessed your Facebook account continuously.
Unaccepted friend request
In order to identify if someone is stalking you without being in your friend list, all you need to do is identify those friend requests that you have been rejecting continuously but are still popping up in your request section.
Active sessions
You can go to your Facebook settings and click on a feature that says active sessions. It is a very essential feature that lets you know about the different times where your Facebook account was logged in along with the devices and location. This will help you identify whether your Facebook account is hacked or not.
How to identify Facebook stalkers?
If you are a Facebook user and especially a woman then finding who is your Facebook stalkers can be a difficult task. So, here are some tips for finding your Facebook stalkers:
Facebook comments
It is a very easy method to identify Facebook stalkers. If you find that there is one person who is actively commenting on every post that you make, including your very old ones than that person is probably stalking you.
Facebook likes
If someone likes a large number of your photos at a single time that means they are monitoring your profile.
Private message
If someone keeps on sending you private message s without receiving a reply.
Top of your friend list
Whenever you visit your friend list from your profile section you will find out that the list is not as per alphabetic numbering. The Facebook algorithm shows those names at the top that have been viewing your Facebook account frequently.
If a person that follows you or is your friend on Facebook consequently sends you to request on other social media that means that that particular person is trying to track your activities across all social media platforms.
How to prevent Facebook stalking?
It is general knowledge that no one would want to get stalked on. Everyone wants space and independence, so, how does one prevent Facebook stalking. Well, there are certain tips that you can follow and they are as follows:
Wisely accept friend requests
There is only a small number of things that a random person can you view in your account if they are not your friend. So, it is considered wise to accept friend requests by only those persons that you personally know.
Keep your data private
No matter how secure you think Facebook is, it is never a good idea to make your personal information available on your Facebook account. There are some things that you should never post online like;
- Financial details or even bank name
- Vacation plans, wait until you return home
- Don’t tag family members and relatives to photos
- Photos of your kids
- Anything about family members, especially kids and parents
- Contact information, like phone number, email, address, etc.
- Anniversary
- Birthday
- Maiden names
- Any clue of your login details and passwords
Block your active status
The first thing that you must do in order to prevent Facebook stalking is to turn off active status for all contacts by going into the profile and privacy settings.
Unfriend
If you find something suspicious about an individual Facebook user, it is considered important to simply unfriend them.
Block
If you are certain that one person is looking to get information about you then unfriending may not be enough, as there is still a lot of information that he can view. Blocking is the right choice in this case.
Cyberstalking complaint
If you find out that someone is seriously stalking you and you are resultantly feeling threatened for your life, then and it is important for you to understand that cyberstalking is a crime. There are cyberstalking laws in our country that can prevent you from getting bullied online.
All you need to do is gather some conclusive evidence and lodge a complaint against the person who is stalking you on Facebook. This is in my opinion the best way to stop those Facebook stalkers from providing emotional distress to even more people like you in the future.
Cyberstalking laws by state in the US
In the United States, cyberstalking is an illegal crime. As per the legal definition, it is clearly mentioned that any sort of action taken by one person targeting another person using electronic internet devices with an objective to harass, injure, dox, kill or provide any other kind of emotional distress, then that person could be held as a Convict.
Obviously, there are different laws in every state of the United States regarding cyberbullying, and in order to get the specifics about these laws you can refer the table below:
| State | Relevant law(s) | State | Relevant law(s) |
| Alabama | 13 A-11-8 | Montana | 5-5-220, 45-8-213 |
| Alaska | 11.41.270,11.61.120 | Nebraska | N/A |
| Arizona | 13-2921 | Nevada | 200.575 |
| Arkansas | 5-41-108 | New Hampshire | 644:4,633:3a |
| California | 422, 528.5, 646.9, 653.2, 653m, Civil code: 1708.7 | New Jersey | 2C:12-10, 2C:33-4 |
| Colorado | 18-9-111, 18-3-602 | New Mexico | 30-3A-3 |
| Connecticut | 53a-182b, 53a-183 | New York | 240.3 |
| Florida | 784.048, 817.568 | Delaware | 11-1311 |
| Georgia | 16-5-90, 16-5-91 | North | 14-196, 14-196.3, 14- |
| Hawaii | 711-1106, 711-1106.4,711-1106.5 | Carolina | 277.3A |
| Idaho | 18-7906 | North Dakota | 12.1-17-07 |
| Illinois | 720 ILCS 5/12-7.5, 720, 135/1-3, 720 ILCS135/2, ILCS 135/1-2, 720 ILCS | Ohio | 2903.211, 2917.21 |
| Indiana | 35-45-2-2, 35-45-10-1, 35-45-10-2, 35-45-10-5 | Oklahoma | 21-820-1173, 21-850-1172,21-1953 |
| Iowa | 708.7 | Oregon | 163.730, 163.732, 166.065 |
| Kansas | 21-3438, 21-6206 | Pennsylvania | 18-2709, 18-2709.1 |
| Kentucky | 525.08 | Rhode Island | 11-52-4.2, 11-52-4.3 |
| Louisiana | 14:40.2, 14:40.3 | South | 16-3-1700, 16-17-430, 16-3- |
| Maine | 17-A 210A | Carolina | 1710, 16-3-1720, 16-3-1730 |
| Maryland | 3-805 | South Dakota | 49-31-31, 22-19A-1 |
| Massachusetts | 265-43, 265-43A | Tennessee | 12.1-17-07, 39-17-315, 39-17-308 |
| Michigan | 750.411h, 750.411i,750.411s | Texas | 33.07, 42.07 |
| Minnesota | 609.749, 609.795 | Utah | 76-5-106.5, 76-9-201 |
| Mississippi | 97-45-15, 97-45-17, 97-29-45 | Vermont | 13-1027, 13-1061, 13-1062, 13-1063, 13-1027 |
| Missouri | 565.090, 565.225 | Virginia | 18.2-60, 18.2-152.7:1 |
| Washington | 9.61.260, 9A.46.020 | ||
| West Virginia | 61-3C-14a | ||
| Wisconsin | 947.0125, 947.013 | ||
| Wyoming | 6-2-506 |
Sources of the table:
- Cyber Misbehavior, An Introduction to Violent Crime on the Internet
- Cyber Stalking and Cyber Harassment Legislation in the United States
Conclusion
Facebook stalking is a critical issue and must be taken seriously. In today’s world of social media, everyone is posting each and every aspect of their personal life online.
In such an online space, there are all kinds of people with different intentions. It is highly recommended to keep your private stuff away from the internet whether it is your Facebook account or any other social media account.
If you are encountering Facebook stalking then you must take appropriate steps to prevent any such actions by the stalker. If you are unable to do that you can always lodge a criminal complaint against the person that you suspect is stalking you.
