There may be a number of reasons as to why you want to know how to view private Facebook profiles. The following article will cover some tips that will help you learn how to go about it without being friends.
There can be hundreds of reason for trying to learn how to view private Facebook profiles. You may want to check on a cheating spouse or spy on your ‘ex’. You may even want to learn more about the beautiful girl before you can approach her. Or maybe you are a worried parent, trying to make sure your daughter’s boyfriend is not a weirdo. Ethical or unethical, moral or immoral; whatever may be your reason, we shall discuss some tips to help you out in this.
With a public URL
It is obviously a bit tricky to view a private profiles without being a friend. You can do so by getting a public URL of the person from the Facebook site. And how do you secure a public URL? It is very simple to do. Do not log into your account. Then, search for the user profile from Facebook search. You will find a public URL for the user and all you need to do is copy the URL link. Then, paste the URL in the address bar and you will be able to view a bit of the user’s profile. You can even Google the users name and find his/her profile in results. When you click open the page, you will be able to see their friends list, some of the common groups they attend and maybe even some of their personal information.
With Social Engineering
Social engineering is a psychology theory, where one tends to make someone comply to their wishes. You make the person start talking to you and in turn allow you to access their profile. All you need to do is just send a simple message. You see, when you open a person’s profile, you can see their image and on the opposite side you can see three options. First one says, ‘Add as Friend’, which is obviously not what we want, second is ‘Send a Message’, and the last is ‘View Friends’. The second options is what we need. All you need to do is send the person a message, ‘Hi, I am Rob. I think we had met at Camp New Rock last summer. If yes, please message me back’. If you are lucky, the person may reply politely, or rudely ask you to ‘get lost’. Whatever maybe the reply, you will now be able to access their limited private profile.
You may find the above method a total waste, if the person does not reply. Or maybe the person knows you, and obviously you don’t want him/her to know you are sneaking around. You can try another approach that will help. All you need to do is view the person’s friends list. You may find there are some friends without a photo. Open their profiles and you may find they are not very active on Facebook. Make sure you make a list of these people and open a new account under their name. Send new friend requests to other members of the person’s friend list as well as the person you are interested in with your new fake identity. You can send a message along, saying ‘Hello, I have forgotten my old password and have created a new account. Please accept my friend request’. Chances are the person will accept the friend request and you will now get access to their complete profile.
Is it Ethical?
You may think you are doing no harm in trying to view some private and personal information, but are you aware, it is an invasion of someone’s right to privacy. Facebook is a social networking site where personal information is made public. But, all information posted is copyrighted against each individual users. Every member of Facebook has the right to decide who can and who can’t view their profiles. If you think about creating a fake ID, it can amount to identity theft. This is a serious offense under the court of law. If you bombard them with messages, it may amount to harassment. And above all, trying various methods may amount to stalking. You can go through the pros and cons before trying anything that turns out to be a serious offense under the law.
It is obvious that you may want to keep a tab on your kids interaction on the social networking sites. Or maybe you want to catch a cheating spouse red-handed. It may also happen that you want to make sure, someone you know is not falling for a serial killer! Whatever may be the reason, make sure you do not cross the limits. Keep in mind that someone else may know how to use Facebook unethically or try the same tricks to check out your profile. My friend gave me a great tip, make some buddies with guys in CIA or the police force. Or even better, if you are too sure something is wrong somewhere, hire a private detective. They will prove to be best source to help you with private information.