Facebook removes auto-hide from Timeline search

Users can no longer opt out of appearing in Timeline search results completely.

Facebook has removed the option for users to remove themselves by default from searches performed by other users.

The pending removal of the setting, called "Who can look up your Timeline by name?", was announced 10 months ago, when it was removed for people who weren't using it. Now the feature has been removed for all users, meaning those wishing to stay hidden no longer have the option.

Instead, Facebook said that those users can only hide from others on an individual basis by blocking other users. Blocked users cannot see the blocker in search results, cannot send the blocker messages and cannot click on the blocker's name where it appears on mutual friends' Facebook Timelines — for example, in the comments.

"The setting also made Facebook's search feature feel broken at times," Facebook said in a blog post. "For example, people told us that they found it confusing when they tried looking for someone who they knew personally and couldn't find them in search results or when two people were in a Facebook Group and then couldn't find each other through search."

We suspect the removal of the feature, however, will anger those users who employed it. You don't hide from view by accident or for no reason — and blocking individual users doesn't always work when those users simply delete their account or create another using a throwaway email address.

However, the social network believes that the setting gave users a false sense of security. "It didn't prevent people from navigating to your Timeline by clicking your name in a story in News Feed or from a mutual friend's Timeline," Facebook said.