How and why you should be reviewing your tags on Facebook
We take a look at a Facebook privacy option known as tag review that allows Facebook users to review and approve tags on Facebook before they appear on their timeline.
Facebook does not allow its users to stop their friends tagging them in content such as photos or videos. This means that if a friend tags you, there is little you can do to stop them other than to remove the tag when you are alerted to it.
What is tag review on Facebook?
There is, however, a tag review option, that allows a Facebook user to review and approve any content they’ve been tagged in. We should be clear however, that enabling this feature does not prevent a Facebook user’s friends from tagging them in content on Facebook.
What this features does do is it prevents the tagged content (i.e. photo, video, post) appearing on the Facebook user’s timeline until they approve it.
The user will get a notification each time someone on Facebook tags them in, for example, a photo or video. From there the Facebook user can click the notification and approve the tag and allow it to appear on their timeline, they can keep the tag but keep it hidden from their timeline or they can remove the tag altogether.
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Why enable tag review on Facebook?
Because you may be tagged in content that you don’t want to be tagged in. There are a number of reasons why we may not want to broadcast a particular photo, post or video to your entire friends list, and as such it’s a good idea to review tags before they appear on your timeline.
Enabling tag review gives you better control and oversight over what content you are tagged in on Facebook, and provides the perfect opportunity to remove content that you don’t want to be associated with, while also preventing it from appearing on your timeline.
Because a Facebook user can still be tagged in content such as photos, even if they have the tag review option enabled, that content can still be seen on Facebook, such as on the newsfeed or using Facebook’s search feature. However it will not appear on that user’s timeline until they approve it.
But tags are still visible on Facebook even with tag review enabled…?
Yes, but enabling tag review greatly reduces the visibility of content you are tagged in until you approve it.
Even if you enable the feature, friends can tag you in content and that content can still be seen across Facebook. However, if you have enabled tag review and have not yet approved a tag, that tagged content has limited visibility and is likely to be seen by less Facebook friends than when compared to not enabling tag review at all.
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Can I stop friends tagging me altogether?
Sadly not. While this would be a nice feature in respect to privacy, any friend can tag you in content, which is why we strongly recommend turning on tag review, which at least provides a way of reducing the visibility of content you’re tagged in until you approve it.
How do I enable tag review?
Head to your main settings (click the down arrow on the top right of your Facebook timeline if using Facebook on desktop.) Click Timeline and Tagging and enable the Review posts you’re tagged in before the posts appear on your timeline? option.
If you’re on the Facebook app, click the three horizontal lined icon, then click Settings & Privacy, then Settings, then Timeline and Tagging, then enable the Review posts you’re tagged in before the posts appear on your timeline? option.
This step is part of our ultimate guide to locking down your Facebook account. Read it here.
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