Facebook “Like” Button – What Happens When You Click “Like” From External Sites?

With all the privacy changes Facebook continues to make, it’s important to know and understand the appropriate privacy settings to change as well as the results of the actions you take on Facebook.

Today, I wanted to take a closer look at the popular “Facebook Like” button that’s beginning to appear on just about every site these days.

The Facebook Like or Recommend button gives you the opportunity to publicly say you are a fan of the content. Once you click the Like button, you’ll be prompted to login to Facebook (unless you’re already logged in).

What happens when I click “Like” or “Recommend?”

You make a public connection between your Facebook Profile and the content you “like.” Facebook will then post a story on your profile and may also appear on your friends’ News Feeds.

One thing you may not realize is items you “Like” can display in the  Info section of your Profile. Per Facebook’s Help Center, “in some cases, when you create a connection to a real world entity, such as a book, movie or athlete, your likes and recommendations become a part of your profile in the same way as the connections you make with Pages on Facebook. They will appear in your “Likes and Interests” section of your profile, and you may receive updates from that connection in News Feed.”

The “Facebook Like” process

1. You visit a site and find the Facebook Like Button. To demonstrate, I visited one of my favorite sites RottenTomatoes.com and clicked that I “Like” Law Abiding Citizen.

Now, my name displays with a message showing me that 211 other Facebook users have clicked the “Like” button.

2. Let’s see what happens on Facebook after I hit the “Like” button from RottenTomatoes.com. First, within my Facebook Wall, you’ll find the action in my Recent Activity.

3. Is my Wall the only place this action appears? Nope! As I browse the Information section of my Profile, under “Likes and Interests,” I now see Law Abiding Citizen listed in the Movies section.

How do you remove something you’ve liked?

To remove something you “Like,” simply click the button again and it will remove the story posted on your wall and remove the entry in your “Likes and Recommendations” listing.

As Facebook continues to change and evolve, the privacy we once had is slowly being removed. This is one example.