I learned so much about people when I joined FB. It's weird that people will post their unfiltered thoughts to their "friends" but it shows you who they really are!

of right-wing stuff. If they only do it once in a while, it's within my level of tolerance for opposing views.

someone's head is at. If a person fails to lock down his/her page you can figure out how liberal or conservative a person is. I can tell who to just flat out stay away from or who to be careful around if I cannot avoid them (like they work for the same company that I do).

As to my own use, I keep mine pretty locked down with almost no personal information. I like to follow animal related groups and progressive causes (which why mine is locked down because I live in an uber red state).

Go to that person's profile
Hover over the Friends button at the top of their profile
Select Unfriend

If you just unfollow. Unfollow means you don't get notified of their posts. But you can block them. Block does not unfriend but you'll never see their stuff and they'll never see your stuff. I'm blocked by a few RW friends, and I've blocked some. I can still message them.

I still see their replies in other posts. Some I've Unfollowed are family members, whose posts in most threads are just fine. I just don't want to see their right wing political or sociopolitical views.

I have an aunt and two cousins I unfriended because they post too much. My wall is all their stuff and I have to scroll so much to get to anyone else, that I unfriended them! The aunt didn't understand I had done that. Now I can keep them as friends but unfollow them. Good addition by Facebook.

Same with right wingers. I can skip and occasional post and not worry about it, but if someone starts too much on that, just unfollow them.

I find it very useful.

He's a lawyer who was a friend of my brother in law and late sister and I think just likes to argue. But then he crossed a line by making it personal. He has been helping us with some estate issues so I didn't want to stink things up by 'unfriending' him. Being on the restricted list, he still shows up as a 'friend' but he doesn't see anything I post, unless I tag or mention him (and trust me, I won't).

customize their experience. That's a very valuable thing that can improve how you see these social media outlets. Facebook has improved its options to give you even more control. That's a good thing.

I have been on FB only a couple of years..and there is one person.. who I really like, but they post a gazillion threads a day.. my entire feed can be full of jokes etc..

they'll get over it and hopefully get the message.

than Unfriend. I use Unfriend almost never. The only people I have ever Unfriended were truly abusive. Before doing so, I have always informed them that I would be Unfriending them and why in a private message.

and not implying "Unfollow" is not a good option to have ... but sometimes "harsh" is warranted and an effective way to get the message across that you don't approve. It's worked for me with several close friends.

I don't want to hear politics on facebook.

I do mind ugly, biased and ignorant political posts, though.

I don't see many intelligent political posts on Facebook, and very often they are clearly intended to provoke. I find the "liberal" posts as distasteful as the conservative ones.

And never would. I have been subjected to some really inappropriate personal attacks during discussion with right-wing family and friends.

I don't filter anyone. I accept people as they are and choose to engage them based on my willingness, energy and/or desire to do so.

I'm pretty confident in my being able to stand my ground. I have had others ask me why I haven't unfriended certain individuals. No one would have blamed me if I did.

If people want to make asses of themselves on line, I let them. Ain't no thing.

I wasn't saying that people should do this. I was simply pointing out that they could. There's an important distinction there.

and I can see how, given that it is social media, a fine tuning of one's feed would be useful.

Last edited Sat Jun 27, 2015, 11:00 PM - Edit history (1)

If you have one or two friends who post every minute detail of their life, you can miss interesting posts from others because the prolific posters messages fill up your timeline too quickly.

Sometimes it's not about filtering as much as it as directing the traffic flow to your newsfeed.

That way I see their non political stuff that doesn't irk me.

type their own ugly posts.

If I wanted to hear from an asshole, I'd fart.

Seriously. Life's too short to worry about hurt fee-fee's of right wing assholes-- even if they are family.

Family is family. You do what you want, and I'll do the same. How does that sound?

Facebook is where I go to connect with people I actually want to interact with.

Family reunions are where I go where I listen to morons spew garbage and argue with them.

There's a reason I don't talk to X cousin or Y aunt. (They're assholes.)

I really don't get this attitude that it's cool to 'friend' someone you despise, just because they're related to you. But then, I've never been big on bowing to pressure.

You can delete any post or block sites that you do not agree with or like. That way I still get to see their post that I do agree with like pics of my grandkids