4 ms·

I would love it if you could filter Facebook to only show posts of friends, and not their likes of clickbait news articles, shares of stupid math puzzles, or th

by twanvl 9y ago

I would love it if you could filter Facebook to only show posts of friends, and not their likes of clickbait news articles, shares of stupid math puzzles, or them wishing their third cousin a happy birthday. Actually, the fact that your friends' likes show up in the Facebook newsfeed is actively discouraging me from liking anything. I do not want my friends to see what posts I like.

brlewis 9y ago
That was a friendfeed feature I really liked. I don't know if the feature ever made it into facebook after the acquisition.
coatmatter 9y ago
I think there is a setting that disables the default option of (edit: some of) your likes showing up on friends' feeds (ad preferences?) but I know that's all beside the point now in the broader context. Before my deactivation, I thought about those in my list whom I wanted to see or communicate with and to be honest, I couldn't think of that many in proportion to all those I mostly added a decade ago. Frankly, I found the "news" to be more interesting than most "personal" posts. I also didn't want new Friends to be able to easily trawl through my no-longer-relevant past Facebook life. Upon realising there was no easy way to control the privacy settings for that and in frustration, I started the process of deleting Facebook. (Not many realise this, but Messenger will still work while an account is deactivated.) It's simply too hard to create a graduated list of different "Friends" on Facebook (or Google+). While their presented mission might be to "connect people", real life doesn't work that way. Coupled with an encouragement of oversharing by design, it's a recipe for not a very good website to spend time on. I don't know of anyone within my own friends group who has gotten successful from using more social media. I also don't plan to be the first, not when other more lucrative niches exist.

by twanvl 9y ago

brlewis 9y ago

That was a friendfeed feature I really liked. I don't know if the feature ever made it into facebook after the acquisition.

coatmatter 9y ago

I think there is a setting that disables the default option of (edit: some of) your likes showing up on friends' feeds (ad preferences?) but I know that's all beside the point now in the broader context. Before my deactivation, I thought about those in my list whom I wanted to see or communicate with and to be honest, I couldn't think of that many in proportion to all those I mostly added a decade ago. Frankly, I found the "news" to be more interesting than most "personal" posts. I also didn't want new Friends to be able to easily trawl through my no-longer-relevant past Facebook life. Upon realising there was no easy way to control the privacy settings for that and in frustration, I started the process of deleting Facebook. (Not many realise this, but Messenger will still work while an account is deactivated.) It's simply too hard to create a graduated list of different "Friends" on Facebook (or Google+). While their presented mission might be to "connect people", real life doesn't work that way. Coupled with an encouragement of oversharing by design, it's a recipe for not a very good website to spend time on. I don't know of anyone within my own friends group who has gotten successful from using more social media. I also don't plan to be the first, not when other more lucrative niches exist.