Why Doesn't My Facebook Show Updates?

Sharing your thoughts with your Facebook friends is instantaneous -- the second you click the “Post” button, your update appears on your Timeline and your friends' News Feeds. If you notice your status updates taking a long time to appear, or your News Feed is not showing recent updates from friends, your settings could be incorrect or Facebook itself is having issues.

Under the Update Status box on your Profile page next to the Post button is a little drop-down list. This menu shows who can see your updates, including Friends, Public and Only Me. If this is set to Only Me, no one on your friends' list will see your updates. Change this to make sure everyone can see what you have to say. Likewise, under the Update Status box on your News Feed is a another drop-down that lets you sort which stories you'd like to see -- the Top Stories or Most Recent. If Top Stories is selected, you'll see only the posts that Facebook deems popular enough to appear, and not the newest.

If your settings are correct so that your feeds should be updating in a timely manner, you may have an Internet connection problem, or Facebook itself could be having an electronic hiccup. Websites are not immune to the occasional operational issue, and sometimes some behind-the-scenes issue could affect the proper behavior of the site. Check your Internet connection and troubleshoot it if necessary. If your Internet is working and you can access Facebook but it's not functioning the way it should, try logging out and then back in or even rebooting your computer. If it still isn't updating properly, contact Facebook for help.