I often hear people complaining (or just commenting) about what a negative place Facebook is – and I have to say that I 100% disagree. Now, it's true that offensive people get EXTRA when they are hiding behind the keyboard – but Facebook provides you tools to take control of what you see in your newsfeed and I want to highlight one process for you today: the ability to report, hide, unfriend, and/or unfollow.
As you scroll through your timeline you may notice posts that are offensive and/or negative. Typically at this point, I recommend thinking about whether this was a one-off post from a typically acceptable person – or a typical rant from a repeat offender. From there, you can determine whether you want to report the post (if it's REALLY bad – terrorism, self-harm, nudity, spam, etc.), hide it, or take more permanent action against the person who posted it.
If it's a repeat offender, you can choose to completely unfriend – but sometimes that causes some additional issues if that person discovers you unfriended them – and my goal is ALWAYS to avoid DRAMA. So, I rarely go there… instead I love the Unfollow function. With unfollowing, you will remain friends but you will not see their content in your newsfeed! You can also select to “snooze” the account for 30 days, which effectively unfollows them temporarily and then will place them back into rotation – this can be especially beneficial around election time, right?!
I'll tell you, since I started actively unfollowing and curating the content in my newsfeed, Facebook no longer feels like a negative place. It's exactly what I want from the social media platform: a supportive environment with friends and family all dedicated to lifting each other up. Give it a try – I am willing to bet that you'll begin to feel differently about your newsfeed soon, too!
Want to see exactly how this is all accomplished? Check out the video below!