diff --git a/bookwyrm/forms.py b/bookwyrm/forms.py
index 57a94e3cd..c9e795c3e 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/forms.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/forms.py
@@ -132,6 +132,7 @@ class EditUserForm(CustomForm):
             "summary",
             "show_goal",
             "manually_approves_followers",
+            "default_post_privacy",
             "discoverable",
             "preferred_timezone",
         ]
diff --git a/bookwyrm/migrations/0046_user_default_post_privacy.py b/bookwyrm/migrations/0046_user_default_post_privacy.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f1c8e7c31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bookwyrm/migrations/0046_user_default_post_privacy.py
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+# Generated by Django 3.0.7 on 2021-02-14 00:39
+
+from django.db import migrations, models
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ("bookwyrm", "0045_auto_20210210_2114"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.AddField(
+            model_name="user",
+            name="default_post_privacy",
+            field=models.CharField(
+                choices=[
+                    ("public", "Public"),
+                    ("unlisted", "Unlisted"),
+                    ("followers", "Followers"),
+                    ("direct", "Direct"),
+                ],
+                default="public",
+                max_length=255,
+            ),
+        ),
+    ]
diff --git a/bookwyrm/migrations/0079_merge_20210804_1746.py b/bookwyrm/migrations/0079_merge_20210804_1746.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ed5d50d0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bookwyrm/migrations/0079_merge_20210804_1746.py
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+# Generated by Django 3.2.4 on 2021-08-04 17:46
+
+from django.db import migrations
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ("bookwyrm", "0046_user_default_post_privacy"),
+        ("bookwyrm", "0078_add_shelved_date"),
+    ]
+
+    operations = []
diff --git a/bookwyrm/models/user.py b/bookwyrm/models/user.py
index 3eb72cb66..21b6bbaac 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/models/user.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/models/user.py
@@ -105,6 +105,9 @@ class User(OrderedCollectionPageMixin, AbstractUser):
         through_fields=("user", "status"),
         related_name="favorite_statuses",
     )
+    default_post_privacy = models.CharField(
+        max_length=255, default="public", choices=fields.PrivacyLevels.choices
+    )
     remote_id = fields.RemoteIdField(null=True, unique=True, activitypub_field="id")
     created_date = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
     updated_date = models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True)
diff --git a/bookwyrm/templates/preferences/edit_user.html b/bookwyrm/templates/preferences/edit_user.html
index 9e2af7bee..6732b8ef6 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/templates/preferences/edit_user.html
+++ b/bookwyrm/templates/preferences/edit_user.html
@@ -53,6 +53,14 @@
             {{ form.manually_approves_followers }}
         </label>
     </div>
+    <div class="block">
+        <label class="label" for="id_default_post_privacy">
+            {% trans "Default post privacy:" %}
+        </label>
+        <div class="select">
+            {{ form.default_post_privacy }}
+        </div>
+    </div>
     <div class="block">
         <label class="checkbox label" for="id_discoverable">
             {% trans "Show this account in suggested users:" %}
diff --git a/bookwyrm/templates/snippets/privacy_select.html b/bookwyrm/templates/snippets/privacy_select.html
index f6959de53..d1215cc0b 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/templates/snippets/privacy_select.html
+++ b/bookwyrm/templates/snippets/privacy_select.html
@@ -5,17 +5,18 @@
     {% if not no_label %}
     <label class="is-sr-only" for="privacy-{{ uuid }}">{% trans "Post privacy" %}</label>
     {% endif %}
+    {% firstof current user.default_post_privacy "public" as privacy %}
     <select name="privacy" id="privacy-{{ uuid }}">
-        <option value="public" {% if not current or current == 'public' %}selected{% endif %}>
+        <option value="public" {% if privacy == 'public' %}selected{% endif %}>
             {% trans "Public" %}
         </option>
-        <option value="unlisted" {% if current == 'unlisted' %}selected{% endif %}>
+        <option value="unlisted" {% if privacy == 'unlisted' %}selected{% endif %}>
             {% trans "Unlisted" %}
         </option>
-        <option value="followers" {% if current == 'followers' %}selected{% endif %}>
+        <option value="followers" {% if privacy == 'followers' %}selected{% endif %}>
             {% trans "Followers" %}
         </option>
-        <option value="direct" {% if current == 'direct' %}selected{% endif %}>
+        <option value="direct" {% if privacy == 'direct' %}selected{% endif %}>
             {% trans "Private" %}
         </option>
     </select>
diff --git a/bookwyrm/tests/views/test_edit_user.py b/bookwyrm/tests/views/test_edit_user.py
index 0a86c486a..ccfb4c90d 100644
--- a/bookwyrm/tests/views/test_edit_user.py
+++ b/bookwyrm/tests/views/test_edit_user.py
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ class EditUserViews(TestCase):
         form = forms.EditUserForm(instance=self.local_user)
         form.data["name"] = "New Name"
         form.data["email"] = "wow@email.com"
+        form.data["default_post_privacy"] = "public"
         form.data["preferred_timezone"] = "UTC"
         request = self.factory.post("", form.data)
         request.user = self.local_user
@@ -81,6 +82,7 @@ class EditUserViews(TestCase):
         form = forms.EditUserForm(instance=self.local_user)
         form.data["name"] = "New Name"
         form.data["email"] = "wow@email.com"
+        form.data["default_post_privacy"] = "public"
         form.data["preferred_timezone"] = "UTC"
         image_file = pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.joinpath(
             "../../static/images/no_cover.jpg"