These days, it’s no longer surprising when a friend or acquaintance suddenly creates a rant on your Facebook feed. It can be triggered by anything from a politician’s tweet to a movie spoiler to the type of mask someone is wearing (or whether they’ve ever worn it).
If someone in your Facebook feed has exceeded what you consider to be the limit, you can use a variety of methods to overlook their posts – or them. You can unfriend, block, snooze them (so you don’t see anything from them for 30 days), or just hide one of their logins. Here is a rundown of how to achieve each.
Note: All of these instructions are for the “new” version of Facebook on your desktop.
Hide a post
Let’s say that someone you otherwise liked wrote a rave reviews about a movie you absolutely hated. Because you’re friends, it appears on your timeline. You really don’t want your other friends to read this. like this-false review. Do not be sad! This post is easy to hide so it doesn’t appear on your timeline. (Of course, it will still appear on the author’s timeline, but there’s nothing you can do about it.)
Simply click the three dots in the upper right corner of the entry. You can hide the post in question or “postpone” the person who posted it for 30 days. You can also unfollow the person, which means you will no longer see their entry on your timeline, but you will not unfriend them.
Note: If you hide a post and then change your mind, it may take some time to find it again:
- Click the arrow in the upper right corner of your Facebook page
- Select “Settings & Privacy” > “Activity Log”
- Find “Filter” in the left column (there will be a small blue link in the top right corner of the column) and click on it
- Scroll down and select “Hidden from Timeline”. Click “Save Changes”.
- You should see hidden posts in the left column. Hover your cursor over the entry you want to show, click the three dots and you should be able to restore it.
unfriend someone
You’ve been friends with someone you thought might be nice, but it turns out that their policy or attitude towards cat videos, or endless posts about obscure horror movies, is driving you crazy. Hiding occasional posts won’t do it for you. You want to unfriend them.
Not hard:
- Go to their profile (you can click on their profile photo or search for their name)
- Click on the “Contact” icon (it is right next to the “Message” button)
- Select “Unfriend” > “Confirm”
According to Facebook, the person you unfriend will not be notified that you unfriended them. However, you will no longer be in it. they friends list so they can notice you’re gone. If you change your mind, you will have to go through the normal “friendship” process again.
block someone
Sometimes, there’s no way around it – someone has really offended you and you don’t want them anywhere, anytime, anywhere on your timeline. In this case, it’s time to block them.
When you block someone, they can’t post on your timeline. They can’t see anything you post on your timeline, tag you, send you invitations, try to befriend you, or start a conversation with you. And if you are already friends with them, you will unfriend them too.
To block someone:
- Click the arrow in the upper right corner of your Facebook page
- Click “Settings & Privacy” > “Settings”
- Find and select “Block” in the left column
- Find the “Block users” section in the middle of the page and type the person’s name or part of their name in the “Block users” field.
- A list of names that match what you typed will appear. Find the person you want to block and click the “Block” button next to their name.
Unblocking someone is relatively easy if you change your mind — go back to the “Block users” section and you’ll see a list of everyone you’ve blocked under the “Block users” field. Just click the “Unblock” button next to their name.
