As one of the most widely used social media platforms, Facebook plays a significant role in connecting people across the globe. Users share a plethora of content, from status updates to photos, videos, and articles. When browsing Facebook, you might come across posts that catch your attention, but often, you may wonder when exactly the post was made. While Facebook displays a relative timestamp, such as “1 hour ago” or “2 days ago,” it does not provide the precise time the post was published.
Lately, many of our readers have come to us with the query of how they can see the exact time of a Facebook post. If you are also curious about this, you are at the right place.
In this article, we will explore various methods to determine the exact time of a Facebook post. This will also enable users to gain deeper insights into the timeline of activities and interactions on the platform.
Let’s get started!
How to See Exact Time of Facebook Post?
Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, and it allows users to share a variety of content, including posts, photos, and videos. When a user posts something on Facebook, the time and date of the post is displayed.
However, the time displayed is not always the exact time the post was made. There are a few reasons why the time displayed on Facebook may not be the exact time the post was made.
First, Facebook uses a system called wall time to display the time of posts. Wall time is based on the time zone of the user who posted the content, not the time zone of the user who is viewing the content.
This means that if you are viewing a post from someone who lives in a different time zone, the time displayed may be different from the actual time the post was made. Second, Facebook may round the time of a post to the nearest minute.
This means that if a post was made at 12:01:23 PM, the time displayed may be 12:01 PM. Finally, Facebook may delay the display of the time of a post. This is done to prevent spam and other malicious activity. If you need to know the exact time a Facebook post was made, there are a few things you can do.
Hover over the time of the post.
The easiest way to see the exact time a Facebook post was made is to hover over the time of the post. A pop-up will appear that displays the exact time and date the post was made.
Use the Facebook API.
The Facebook API is a powerful tool that allows developers to access and interact with data on Facebook. You can use the Facebook API to get the exact time a post was made.
Use a third-party tool.
There are a number of third-party tools that can be used to see the exact time a Facebook post was made. One popular tool is called Time Insights. Time Insights allows you to see the exact time of posts, as well as the time of comments and other activities on Facebook.
Facebook utilizes relative timestamps to indicate the time since a post was published. These timestamps appear as “just now,” “1 minute ago,” “2 hours ago,” or other similar phrases. While relative timestamps offer a general sense of when a post was shared, they lack the specificity needed for certain scenarios.
For instance, if you are investigating the chronological order of events or verifying the sequence of posts during a particular incident, the precise time becomes crucial. One way to see the exact time of a Facebook post is through your web browser’s developer tools.
Please remember that this method requires basic technical knowledge, and the steps may vary slightly depending on the browser you are using. Here’s a general outline:
Step 1: Navigate to the Facebook post you want to examine.
Step 2: Right-click on the post and select Inspect or Inspect Element from the context menu. Alternatively, you can press Ctrl + Shift + I (Windows/Linux) or Cmd + Option + I (Mac) to open the developer tools.
Step 3: Within the developer tools panel, look for a line of code that contains the post’s timestamp. The timestamp will likely be in Unix time format, which represents the number of seconds since January 1, 1970.
Step 4: To convert the Unix time to a standard date and time format, you can use various online Unix time converters.
Simply copy the Unix time value and paste it into the converter to get the exact time when the post was published.
Using third-party browser extensions and mobile apps
If you find the developer tools approach too technical, several third-party browser extensions simplify the process of revealing the exact time of a Facebook post. These extensions are designed to enhance the user experience and provide additional functionalities beyond what the platform offers by default.
Facebook Timestamp Revealer
This browser extension is available for popular browsers like Chrome and Firefox. Once installed, it adds a small icon to the Facebook post, allowing you to see the exact time the post was published with just a single click.
Social Revealer
Another browser extension that serves a similar purpose is Social Revealer. It displays the exact timestamp of Facebook posts when you hover your mouse over the relative timestamp. Suppose you primarily access Facebook through the mobile app.
In that case, you might wonder how to see the exact time of a post since developer tools are not readily available on mobile devices. However, several mobile apps have been developed to bridge this gap and reveal the exact time of Facebook posts.
Friendly Social Browser
This third-party app provides an alternative interface for Facebook and includes a feature to view the exact time of posts. Friendly is available for both iOS and Android devices.
Swipe for Facebook
Similar to Friendly, Swipe offers an intuitive interface for Facebook with additional functionalities, including the ability to see the exact time of posts. The app is available on both iOS and Android.
If all else fails, and you still need to determine the exact time of a Facebook post, you can reach out to the original poster directly. Facebook allows users to send private messages, and by politely asking the poster for the precise time of their shared content, you may receive the information you seek.
Additionally, if you are viewing a post from someone who lives in a different time zone, make sure to adjust the time accordingly. If you are viewing a post that was made a long time ago, the time may have been rounded to the nearest minute.
Wrapping it up
That brings us to the end of this blog. To wrap it up, let’s quickly recap everything we have learned today. We began our discussion by talking about Facebook as a popular platform in the social media world and its various features.
We then explored how one can see the exact time of a Facebook post. We also discussed additional methods like using third-party tools and mobile apps for the same. With this, we hope we were able to answer all your questions and doubts about Facebook and how to see the exact time of a Facebook post.
If you have any more questions you would like us to address, feel free to drop them in the comments below. We will make sure to answer them in our upcoming blogs, as always.
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