Facebook.

I don't think it's people who have searched your profile. Facebook algorithms link up all sorts of things about connections that may be apparent between people - it depends a lot on what groups you belong to, what searches you do, if you have tags to other people on pictures, whose profiles you comment on and what their connections are - so many things. Since I joined our local Facebook page even though I have absolutely no details on my page suddenly I am getting suggestions for friends that also belong to the same local page - people I have never connected with in any way at all. I never even comment on any pages, just read.

Dh and I were talking about a friend from the past.
It must be over 15 years since we last saw him.
This morning this person's profile as someone we
know popped up on DHs Facebook.
Spooky.

Kircubbin
You obviously don’t understand Mr Zuckerberg's business ?

Some might want to read this.

buffer.com/library/facebook-news-feed-algorithm/

I am also asked to ‘friend’ people who are friends of my friends. One of my old school friends has hundreds of friends and I’m always being asked to send them a friend request.

I’ve never looked at their profiles, so it isn’t that ive snooped on the pages.

Facebook makes all sorts of weird connections. Often they are friends of friends, or you have interests in common and are connected that way. It's got nothing to do with snooping.

I have both a personal page (very bland) and a business page on Facebook and so I get all kinds of connections coming through. I sell through a number of Facebook private groups (you have to join the group to participate and see the merchandise) so I get connections coming in from all over the world. I never "friend" people on my personal page unless I actually know them.

Facebook can be very useful if you are in business or involved in an interest group/charity/political party etc but I would never put my private life on the internet. I use all social media platforms with extreme caution.

I don't 'use' Facebook, but a couple of groups I'm a member of post times of meetings etc on there so I have to be 'on it'. I don't post on it. However, I'm amazed how many people want to be my 'friend'. Also amazed just how often people post about everything they do, from their coffee stops, picture of meals, holidays and views on everything. If I was a burglar I'd know their every movement!

You can't show up on Facebook unless you are registered so she must be.

Not on it and don’t want to be?

Is it possible, OP, that your conversation about Facebook with your friend has prompted her to register on it, perhaps with the help of her daughter?

If that happened, it's easy to imagine the daughter then showing her how to use it, and that would almost certainly include a demonstration of how to 'find' people she knows, and you, OP, both as her best friend and the last person to have mentioned Facebook to her, would almost certainly be person whose name she would choose to put in the search box.

If I were you, though, I'd just ask her.

As for snooping, I wouldn't worry about it. She'd only be able to see things that you've chosen not to keep private.

Oops. I often look up people from the past on FB but would be mortified if it was obvious I was looking them up!

Wouldn't dream of going near the site, I'm not tech-savy enough to put appropriate blocks on.

No, Old and proud, her details show she has been on the site for years.Its not a problem,I won't say anything to her.

kircubbin2000

No, Old and proud, her details show she has been on the site for years.Its not a problem,I won't say anything to her.

Ok kircubbin, though I can also imagine a similar scenario explaining how she might have been on been on the site for years, but not see herself as being on it - someone, let's still assume the daughter - registered her for it years ago, but your friend didn't follow through with regular use of it.

Like my mum and catch-up TV.
When I was staying with her three years ago, she asked me about it. I registered her on the BBC site, I (tried) to show her how to use it on her tablet, and we watched an episode of Call the Midwife together. However, she hasn't even attempted to use it since, and still regularly moans about not bring able to watch things she's missed because she's 'not got' catch-up TV!

As you'll have gathered by now, though, I have quite a flexible imagination when it comes to creating scenarios that 'might' fit around the known facts. I think it's in my nature to play Devil's advocate, too.

My partner is on Facebook. His daughters set him up on it over 10 years ago. He never goes on as he is not interested, doesn't even know his password

Just make sure that your FB profile is shut right down to what you want and that you only put up what you want. Also, on FB delete and ignore are two great actions to follow.

It's not always possible to delete everything. I was looking at a group I follow and was so annoyed by a comment I posted what looked like an angry rude reply. When I read it back I thought I shouldn't have said that and tried to delete it. I couldn't. Was it because it was in a private group I wonder.