Not everything said needs to be heard. This is especially true for social networks, where we often publish materials only for our friends - those people we trust. When making such publications, we sometimes need to make sure that we have chosen the correct privacy settings for the published records. In these cases, there is no point in turning to third parties for help. We will be helped by a special toolkit that allows us to determine how my friends see my page on the VK network. Below we will look at what these tools are and how to use them to ensure proper privacy of the records we publish.
What you need to know about privacy on VKontakte
Before we describe the steps to learn how to view your own profile in VK on behalf of other users, we hasten to assure you. The security settings of your VKontakte page will not save you from the close attention of intelligence services. The capabilities of the latter allow you to view even closed profiles, photos and videos protected by privacy settings. Therefore, if you decide to do something illegal using a social network, then do not be surprised if you are soon brought to administrative or criminal liability.
This also applies to materials uploaded to VK only for one’s own use (for example, as an archive) and closed by privacy settings. Such materials, if necessary, will also be reviewed by the Vkontakte administration for violations of the law.
You may also be wondering how to change your last name in VK without checking with the administrator.
How do other users see my VKontakte page?
There are 3 main ways to find out how other users see your VK page:
- Ask a friend
- Ask someone you don't have as a friend
- create a fake
- View in privacy settings.
Let's look at each method in more detail:
Ask a friend.
Yes, if you are on fairly good terms with a person, then you can ask him to show how he sees your VK page. The downside is that when changing privacy settings, you will need to ask him about it every time. This is not entirely convenient or practical. And it probably looks strange from the outside.
Creating a fake.
In my opinion, the easiest way is to periodically check if there is anything unnecessary on your page.
You can either add a fake as a friend and set the same privacy settings as for other friends, or watch the page from the outside to see how unfamiliar users can rate you. However, this method takes a little longer than the next one, because you need to find another number, remember your login and password, and also log out of another profile to enter this one. Another disadvantage is that you can see privacy settings set only for one category of users.
Privacy settings.
This method is very convenient and reveals the whole picture of what is happening. The only negative is that there is no such access through mobile applications. No matter how much has been studied, none supports this feature. But you can use any browser, including mobile ones.
How to view your VK page from the outside
In general, the functionality of VKontakte allows you to see how unfamiliar users see your account.
To do this you need to do the following:
- Go to your VK page;
- At the very top of the page on the right next to your avatar there is an arrow. Click on it and select “Settings”;
- Go to the “Privacy” tab;
- Scroll to the bottom of the page;
- Click on the blue text “See how other users see your page.”
Select this option
You can also go to the “Privacy” tab by clicking on the direct link https://vk.com/settings?act=privacy.
Your profile will be displayed in front of you as it looks to other users with the note “This is how an unfamiliar user sees your page.” However, viewing photos and videos in this mode is usually not available.
Previously, this mode allowed you to view the contents of your page both on behalf of unfamiliar users and on behalf of some of your friends. Now the possibility of viewing on behalf of friends has been removed by the VK administration.
We also previously discussed how to log into the mobile version of VK via a computer.
Viewing a VK page from the side
Next, we will tell you how to see your VKontakte page from the outside. You can check it out yourself, or you can involve one of your friends. The main thing is that this friend is kind and sympathetic, so make sure of this first.
Method 1. Privacy settings
There is a section in VK where we customize the appearance of the wall, determine what information guests see, and so on. This section is called "Privacy Settings". It will help us look at ourselves through the eyes of other users.
You need to do the following:
- Log in to your VK account.
- At the top right you see your name and mini-avatar - click on it.
- A drop-down menu will appear where you need to select “Settings”.
- You will find yourself on the corresponding page. In the block on the right, select “Privacy”.
- Scroll to the bottom of this section.
- Here you will see a blue line, by clicking on which you can see your VKontakte page from the outside.
Keep in mind that these instructions are only suitable for the full version of VK; this option is not available for mobile. That is, you need to log into the social network using a computer. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to find out in this way how other users see your account on your phone.
Method 2. Find yourself
We continue to look for answers to the question “How to see what my VKontakte page looks like.” Another option is to use the browser you usually use. We do the following:
- Sign in to your account.
- Click on the inscription “My Page” in the block on the left.
- Copy the address from the browser bar.
- Now click on your name in the upper right corner.
- Select "Exit" from the drop-down menu.
- Open a new browser tab.
- Paste the previously copied link into the address bar.
- Press Enter.
You can find yourself this way without copying the address from the browser line. It will be enough to enter your first and last name and the word “VKontakte”. However, then the search engine will also show you the accounts of other users, your namesakes. Search in this case will be difficult. Although you can admire your namesakes.
This method doesn't always work. Check your privacy settings. If it is determined that only VK users can see you, then nothing will work. In this case, the search engine will show you an empty account with your name. The avatar will feature a mysterious dog. And the warning will read “The page is available only to authorized users.”
Method 3. Left page
This path is longer and less exciting, but many people prefer it. True, they use it not just as a way to view their VK page from the outside, but also for other purposes.
We are talking about registering another account:
- Open the website vk.com or exit your page.
- On the right you see a window for quick registration.
- Enter your first name, last name and date of birth in the appropriate fields.
- Click “Continue registration”.
In principle, you can stop at this stage, since a new account has already been created. Or you can go further and create a full-fledged page, following the system prompts.
Now you can go to your old page and see all the information on it through the eyes of another user. In this case, the question “What does my VK page look like from the outside?” will disappear by itself.
Additional privacy settings that allow your profile to be seen by other users
Also, the VKontakte functionality allows you to choose which of your updates your friends see, and who can see your page on the network.
For this:
- Go to the “Privacy” section already mentioned above;
- Find the option “Who can see my page on the Internet”;
- Select a list of people who can see your account online.
- Also adjust the nearby option “What updates do my friends see in the news” and, if necessary, select a list of sections whose updates will be available to your friends.
We also previously told you how to listen to music on VK without going into it.
How to see how others see your account
To see how other users see your account, you need to perform several steps:
- Click on your round image in the upper right corner of the screen.
- Next go to “Settings”.
- There will be a few more options on the right under the General tab. Select "Privacy".
- At the very bottom there will be a link “See how other users see my page.”
- Click on it to see the result. In this case, you can choose how the profile is displayed for strangers, as well as for friends.
Viewing a VK page on behalf of another person
You can view information about a page using someone else's view through your website settings. Such a function does not have many settings and is strictly limited to the main page of its profile, but despite this, it more than copes with its task, providing some flexibility in terms of user selection.
- In the upper corner of the site, regardless of the page, click on the profile name and select “Settings” from the menu.
- After that, use the additional menu to switch to the “Privacy” tab and scroll to the very bottom of the page. Here you need to pay attention to the bottom block containing the link “See how other users see your page.”
- By navigating to the specified address, you will see that by default a personal page will open on behalf of the “Unfamiliar User”. This parameter can be easily changed using the “This is how your page is seen” drop-down list.
- If necessary, you can use the “Return to Settings” button at any time to leave the viewing mode. In general, there should be no difficulties using the function.
Currently, unfortunately, the opportunity under consideration is only available in the full version of the site, when there is nothing similar in the application. However, you can still use the option by opening the social network through a mobile browser in the “Full version” mode.
