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Like Instagram stories, when you share video content on Facebook, or someone tags you in a video, go live, or share your story, you should see who viewed your Facebook video shares.
That’s not always the case or even possible; there are situations where you won’t see who has viewed your video, and there are situations where you will.
So, the answer is not a yes or no. There are explanations, and I will explain them in this article.
First, if you’re in a hurry, here’s a short answer to how to see who viewed your Facebook video.
Who Watched My Facebook Video?
If the videos are uploaded directly to the news feed, you can only see the people engaged with it, such as likes, comments, and shares.
Assuming you are live streaming, you will see live participants (people who watched your live event). And after your live streaming ends, your video is the same as the standard newsfeed videos.
Though you can still see those who have comments, likes, or are engaged with the video, that’s not an accurate metric for measuring actual video performance data.
Several people might watch the video but don’t take action, like sharing it, liking it, and leaving comments; these people won’t count when you try to see how many people watch your Facebook video.
The Facebook video story isn’t like the others; you can see who viewed your Facebook story video within the last 24 hours. So, that is like answering your questions, right?
It’s complicated to say yes, as there are more metrics you can dig up about Facebook users who have watched your videos. Let’s dig deeper.
Facebook News Feed Video
Newsfeed videos also have view counts, reach, impressions, and engagement metrics, but that’s all you can get. There is just no way to know or identify people who watched it.
Facebook has no analytics or button to get insight into viewers’ data like demographics, friends, or Facebook users who watched your videos, even for a second.
You can only guess how many users viewed your video based on the number of Facebook views, likes, and comments. This is your best shot at knowing who viewed your Facebook newsfeed videos.
Likewise, if you watch someone else Facebook newsfeed video, they won’t know you do unless you leave comments or react to it by clicking the like button, love, anger, and others.
Facebook Livestream Video
A Facebook live event or streaming video differs slightly from news feed videos.
When you go live on Facebook, you can see people watching you in real-time, leaving comments or reactions. At this time, interacting with viewers is possible during live events.
However, your recorded live-streaming video will be viewed as a regular newsfeed video when the live event ends. You can no longer see people who watched it but the total number of views and engagements.
Also, remember that viewer counts consider watch time beyond 3 seconds. If the user’s watch time on your video is less than 3 seconds, it is not counted.
So, this whole thing makes relying on Facebook viewer count data inaccurate. Use this data as an estimate to measure the performance of your video content and engagement level.
Facebook Live Story Video
Facebook stories are live for 24 hours; it allows you to see if anyone has viewed your video story. You can see the Facebook user profile of the person who watched the story. The option to check their profile is even possible.
To see the list of people who have watched your story, go to your Facebook story using a desktop computer or smartphone.
Open the story you want to check the people that watched it and click “viewer count” in the bottom left corner of your page.
That’s it; now you can see who viewed your Facebook stories within the last 24 hours.
Assuming you want to control who can view your story, Facebook provides an easier way. In the setting, you can set your story privacy and control who sees your stories shared on Facebook.
Here are the steps:
- Go to your Facebook profile page.
- Click the three-dot (…) at the top of the page.
- From the drop-down menu, click Story Archive.
- On the next page, click settings.
- From the popup dialog box, select Story Privacy.
Here, you can choose who sees your stories on Facebook. There is the option for anyone on Facebook or Messenger, your friends only, a custom list, or the possibility to hide your story from specific people on your friend list.
These are helpful features if you don’t want certain groups or individuals to see stories you’ve shared on Facebook. Sometimes, we want to share things we don’t want family members to see; you can set privacy to block anyone.
Facebook also allows you to set whether stories are automatically archived and mute stories you want. Click the corresponding tab to change this setting from the default.
By default, Facebook stories are set to Friends only. But if you’ve changed this setting to Public, you may see “Other Views” on your Facebook Stories.
Other views mean people outside your friend list who watched your stories. These people are not on your friend list. In other words, your Facebook stories privacy policy is set to the public.
You don’t need to change this setting if you have no problem with anyone on Facebook watching your stories video.
However, think through the kind of visual content you regularly and often share before changing these settings. If you’re uncomfortable with close family members seeing what kind of stuff you share, it’s best to use the Hide Story From options.
Click the option, and manually select people to block your Facebook stories from viewing.
For stories shared through Facebook Business pages, the settings are public by default. This is the ideal option if you use Facebook for business.
Why Can’t I See People Who Viewed My Facebook Video?
Privacy concerns are a big issue for most social media platforms, and Facebook has to respect users’ privacy and personally identifiable data, like name, location, gender, etc.
For this reason, and by law, getting more data about people who watched your videos on Facebook is impossible. You can not get more than view counts, reactions, and comments.
GDPR means businesses processing user data, especially those in the European Union, must be protected.
If you are concerned about privacy and people seeing the things you share on social media, the best thing is to double-check the content you are sharing.
Also, occasionally, check the privacy checkup setting to ensure everything is as expected.
FAQ – How to See Who Viewed Your Facebook Video
More questions about who watched your Facebook stories, content/posts, or regular video content, including live streaming.
Can You Know If Someone Has Viewed Your Facebook Profile?
No, there is no way to know who viewed your Facebook profile. Facebook also says no option for you to know. However, some third-party services claim they offer this feature as a service. You should know this is against the Facebook terms of service you agree to when you sign up.
Can Your Friends See My Saved Facebook Posts?
No, only you can see your saved posts on Facebook. And the people who published the content won’t know you saved it, either. Nobody can see what you saved to your Facebook list unless you give them access to your account.
How do I see How Often a Person Views my Videos or Stories?
You can’t see how often a person views your Facebook posts or videos. Nor can you see who has repeatedly viewed your Facebook status or videos. Facebook values user privacy on the platform, and many marketing data are protected to make the platform usable and friendly for everyone.
Can You Save Someone’s Facebook Video to Watch Later?
Yes, you can save other people’s Facebook posts and video content to your saved and favorite list. To do that, follow these steps: Find the Facebook video or content you want to save, and click the “three horizontal dot (…)”. Next, from the down menu, click Save Post. Next, select the collection you want to save or create a new one.
Conclusion.
How to see who viewed your Facebook video is partially possible as Facebook has limited data available to creators.
As a content creator producing visual content, tracking performance, such as views, engagements, and unique visitors, is essential. But getting more than viewer counts and engagements isn’t possible with Facebook.
You should focus more on the engagement than the views count. If you get 10k views but 20 engagements (reactions and comments), that’s an indication your video isn’t helpful.
Low engagement signals to Facebook that people are not interested in the content. The Facebook algorithm will push your video content down people’s newsfeeds, making it more difficult to find.
Whatever the platform, creating helpful content is important for marketing success. Focus on delivering the best quality and content people are interested in.
