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[Joaniepat]

Your profile pic doesn't have to be you. You could use an abstract image, a photograph you've taken, a pet, anything really...
If you're in Facebook groups, especially private ones, others may feel suspicious of you if you don't have any sort of profile pic - I always start with the assumption that anyone with no profile pic is either a troll or a fake account so I wouldn't admit them into any of the groups I manage. Unless they prove me wrong.

I'm curious to know why the absence of a profile pic engenders suspicion. I belong to three private FB groups and had no trouble joining. (Even one of the moderators on one group has no pic.) I could, as you suggest, put up a pic of, say, a floral display or my dinner or anything really, but can't understand why that would make me appear more trustworthy. I'm a duffer when it comes to social media, so please excuse my ignorance!
JP x

[CLKD]

It isn't essential and FB itself won't know. 

[CLKD]

Often people on FB post for their own ends, ignoring the general UK Laws. It's about filming on a Ring bell device: trying to find the driver of a particular car, therefore catching people walking by etc.; which is against the Law.  The person won't have it ........ and isn't keen to release the film to the local Police Force.

I have suggested to a relative today that a friend of hers who lives outside the UK that maybe the photo of their child shouldn't be on FB - who knows who is watching 

[Ju Ju]

I have very little information in my profile, even an incorrect DOB. I rarely post, but look occasionally to see what people are up to.

[PeriWhat?!]

Your profile pic doesn't have to be you. You could use an abstract image, a photograph you've taken, a pet, anything really...
If you're in Facebook groups, especially private ones, others may feel suspicious of you if you don't have any sort of profile pic - I always start with the assumption that anyone with no profile pic is either a troll or a fake account so I wouldn't admit them into any of the groups I manage. Unless they prove me wrong.

I'm curious to know why the absence of a profile pic engenders suspicion. I belong to three private FB groups and had no trouble joining. (Even one of the moderators on one group has no pic.) I could, as you suggest, put up a pic of, say, a floral display or my dinner or anything really, but can't understand why that would make me appear more trustworthy. I'm a duffer when it comes to social media, so please excuse my ignorance!
JP x

It's entirely up to a group's moderators who the let into their group. But lots of people experience trolling, or worse, from accounts with no profile pic, which makes them wary. Obviously, as you say, trolls can still operate from behind a generic picture.

[Dorothy]

You can lock down your profile so tightly that no one can find you - make sure you only have the minimum information posted that is necessary to run the account, and have that set to 'private'.  The only thing that MusT be public is your name & profile pic, but you can choose to leave the pic blank or use a generic photo of a flower etc.  If you're worried about being tracked by an unusual name, I'd either use a nickname or middle name instead - or a misspelling.  I have a friend who has put a deliberate typo in her name and reversed her first and surname.  So, for example, Charlotte Smith becomes Smyth Charelott.

You can set your preferences so that no one can send you a friend request.  You can also make yourself 'unsearchable' by your email/phone number.  And if you want to make sure your profile is private enough, you can click on the three dots on the header and click on 'view as' public.  This shows what your profile looks like to a random browser - I check this regularly, to ensure I haven't accidently made something public without realising it.

I have to have a FB account as I run a group page, but I'm very careful who can see it and what information I post on it!