Facebook account, but invisible. Possible ?

[The_Doc]

My wife, who has never had a facebook profile or account, wants to use Messenger,

or rather everyone else seems to use it and she feels like she's missing out, shifts at work etc.

But she wants to be undiscoverable and invisible on Facebook once all the Messenger contacts are setup. She has nothing to post on Facebook and will use it as a shell account.

Is this possible? any experiences?

I don't have FB either,

[LordHaveMurci]

Pretty sure you can just use Messenger these days, not sure why you’d want to though with WhatsApp etc?

You can lock FB down pretty well anyway.

[megaphone]

I have an account, just so I can stalk people.. It is possible to lock it down to a bare minimum. No picture, no profile etc. You can also set your 'friends' level so only friends can see your details. You can also set who can add posts on your timeline etc. You've just got to double check yoi have all the settings correct, it is a bit convoluted as FB really want you to share everything.

Problem you may find is friends 'tagging' you in on pictures etc, or tagging you at places you have visited. I avoid photos when out socialising as I have been tagged in by numpty friends.

[steveo3002]

no photos , generic name like daveB or whatever , block all privacy settings , add no one , you can message people without adding them

[Buzz84]

megaphone said:

Problem you may find is friends 'tagging' you in on pictures etc, or tagging you at places you have visited. I avoid photos when out socialising as I have been tagged in by numpty friends.

There is a setting that means you have to approve all tags before they appear on your profile, could just refuse them all.

The photos can still be uploaded but cannot be linked to your account (obviously if the photo is up on other peoples pages then you can be recognised if anyone sees it)

[CAPP0]

One thing to be aware of is that occasionally (and possibly only if someone else flags it, I don't know) FB will ask you to verify your identity and prove that the name you're using is yours.

I believe they have also started removing accounts which are not active.

[thebraketester]

Yes. Setup the account and contacts and then deactivate the account leaving the option selected to still use messenger.

[7n8n]

Make sure you set up the Facebook account with an e-mail address not used for anything else. Create a dedicated one if need be.

[Condi]

7n8n said:

Make sure you set up the Facebook account with an e-mail address not used for anything else. Create a dedicated one if need be.

Why? FB don't send spam, I can't remember the last time I did get anything from them.

[anonymous-user]

thebraketester said:

Yes. Setup the account and contacts and then deactivate the account leaving the option selected to still use messenger.

This is about the best way of achieving what you need. Just be aware that she’ll have very little control of what data is actually shared with Facebook even though Facebook will give her lots of options to lock down her account. They’re very good at making you feel in control of privacy when Facebook themselves will still obtain lots of data. I agree that WhatsApp would be better albeit not ideal and obviously also owned by Facebook.

[The_Doc]

Thanks, got this sorted.

Shell FB account with no content and hooky DOB, it wanted a real email address, but incoming mail will be easy to block.
Opened Messenger and logged in.
Turned every single privacy setting in FB to Nobody/Nothing/NoTag/etc
Deactivated FB account which specifically says "this will keep your Messenger account alive"

[steveo3002]

i set mine up with a phone number instead of email , never had any spam /calls from them

make sure you dont check any share contacts boxes , pref use a throw away sim

[Julietbravo]

thebraketester said:

Yes. Setup the account and contacts and then deactivate the account leaving the option selected to still use messenger.

This is the right answer - and the only one.

I had been on fb from the start and it housed literally 000's of family photos, but I wanted to leave and keep messenger.

Step 1) Go to settings and tell it to compress all your photos to a zip file and drop it on your desktop, and/or slide them over to google photos.

Step 2) Go to 'deactivate' your account. If you 'close' your account you lose everything; if you 'deactivate' it, you are effectively logged out, don't exist in searches, but you get to keep messenger through both desktop and the app. If you ever decide you want to go back onto fb, you the account reactivates the moment you log in.

I deactivated my account at the beginning of lockdown, and had to reactivate to fiddle with admin privileges on a page I used to run, then deactivated the account again. I have to say my life is enriched; I now call and speak to people that I want to, and messenger still works so you can call through that if you need to. You're not missing out not having fb.

[interstellar]

I think you could have just done messenger without a Facebook account. A friend did this

[The_Doc]

Oh I've never had it and neither has she.
We don't do Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, or have any real Social Media presence. I have a Twitter account that I use solely to contact companies. We live in the countryside, we don't have Uber, Deliveroo, or anything like this. I do have superfast broadband at 80Mb

.
She just wanted Messenger to stay up to date with the shifts being offered at the local cottage hospital, which is walking distance away.

[The_Doc]

interstellar said:

I think you could have just done messenger without a Facebook account. A friend did this

It turns out this stopped on 26/12/19

[dundarach]

Just set up a facebook account, people won't stalk your wife without reason.

Perhaps post a photo of her on here so we can make an informed decision?

[ZesPak]

Condi said:

7n8n said:

Make sure you set up the Facebook account with an e-mail address not used for anything else. Create a dedicated one if need be.

Why? FB don't send spam, I can't remember the last time I did get anything from them.

People that have FB installed on their smartphone or even uploaded their contact list to see who's on FB way back when means FB could "recognize" you anyway and start suggesting you to these people.

I agree, a separate mail address is the right way, generic name as said and check the option that you'd have to approve tags (which I would recommend to everyone).

[anonymous-user]

ZesPak said:

Condi said:

7n8n said:

Make sure you set up the Facebook account with an e-mail address not used for anything else. Create a dedicated one if need be.

Why? FB don't send spam, I can't remember the last time I did get anything from them.

People that have FB installed on their smartphone or even uploaded their contact list to see who's on FB way back when means FB could "recognize" you anyway and start suggesting you to these people.

I agree, a separate mail address is the right way, generic name as said and check the option that you'd have to approve tags (which I would recommend to everyone).

I appreciate it's off topic but the OP appears to have sorted what he needs so I hope i'm not being rude. This is kind of a thing for me and what I offer as a business so please don't thing I'm being critical as i'm not and it's genuinely an interest of mine but what are you expecting to mitigate or achieve with the above tactics?

[RizzoTheRat]

Out of interest how do people message someone who has messenger but no facebook profile of friends? I use facebook but not messenger, but I thought you could only message people you were friends with or via their profile page?