how to go back and look at old facebook posts
Click the drop-down menu at the top right and select “Account Settings.”
Right-click the Facebook zip file and select “Extract” to unzip the archive.
But all that is about to change.
Facebook actually allowed you to search other users’ posts before in a more limited way, and this feature’s subsequent removal implied an increased concern for users’ privacy. The return to the concept suggests that the site is keen to be treated as a news source, perhaps to compete more effectively with Twitter. Facebook already offers a “Trending” box, and a demo for the new search function suggests searching an event (the new evidence for water on Mars, for example) in order to see what people are posting about it.
A few notes: Results aren’t displayed in chronological order, so you may have to scroll to find the post you were looking for. And using fewer words (just keywords) will likely provide better results than a more specific, longer query.
Oh man, I remember Bryan posted a really funny dog video to my Facebook wall, like, last October, but now I can’t find it. If only there were some way to search through my old posts. Fear not, disgruntled Facebook user, Facebook is rolling this function out on iOS and the web as we speak.
It’s got to be done on a computer, so if you still have access to one of those things, here’s how you do it:
If you’re anything like me, then you’ll shudder at the thought of how you used to use social media so criminally. All the ‘Facebook rapes’, how you’d refer to yourself in the third person (“Catriona Harvey-Jenner is feeling happy because she just sat her last exam”❌) and the god-awful tagged photos which display an array of outfits that should never have seen the light of day.
Yes, it’s the search box. It is unquestionably your friend. I’ll search for a great photo I posted a few months ago after I had a chance to drive the amazing 2017 Acura NSX by simply entering “acura“:
That’s it. Use the searchbar. It’s definitely your friend.
References:
http://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/social-media/2015/10/facebook-now-lets-you-search-everyone-s-old-posts-here-s-how-stop
http://www.wired.com/2014/12/search-old-facebook-posts/
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/entertainment/news/a43638/find-all-old-facebook-posts-archive/
http://www.askdavetaylor.com/can-easily-search-old-posts-facebook/
http://www.newstatesman.com/science-tech/social-media/2015/10/facebook-now-lets-you-search-everyone-s-old-posts-here-s-how-stop