# Facebook:  Possible to block third-party links from a friend without blocking status updates?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-possible-to-block-third-party-links-from-a-friend-without-blocking-status-updates/514939>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 24, 2009, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-possible-to-block-third-party-links-from-a-friend-without-blocking-status-updates/514939 "2009-10-24T04:45:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-possible-to-block-third-party-links-from-a-friend-without-blocking-status-updates/514939/1 "2009-10-24T04:45:55Z")

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So there’s this guy on Facebook who makes it his purpose in life to re-post a hundred news and links items from all over the web every day and it’s seriously cluttering up my news feed.

However, he’s also my friend and I would like to know what HE’s up to – when he actually bothers to talk about himself instead of everything else in the world.

I only want to use Facebook for minutiae, not world-changing headlines 😃 Any way I could block his links while keeping his status updates visible?

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**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-possible-to-block-third-party-links-from-a-friend-without-blocking-status-updates/514939/2 "2009-10-24T09:27:21Z")

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I don’t have an answer, but would like to chime in with a question if I may.

Is there any way I can restrict my updates to updates only, rather than all the stupid who found what cows and achieved how many jewels?

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**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-possible-to-block-third-party-links-from-a-friend-without-blocking-status-updates/514939/3 "2009-10-24T12:20:00Z")

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I can answer the second question, - you can block apps like farmopolis. Hover over the post and off to the right of the post there shoukd be a “hide” “button”. Click on it, and one of the options is “hide farmopolis”

Brian

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**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-possible-to-block-third-party-links-from-a-friend-without-blocking-status-updates/514939/4 "2009-10-24T13:25:30Z")

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I have a friend like the OP’s friend and I haven’t found a way to just view his status, other than only showing EVERYONE’s status via preferences. However, I want to see my other friends’ links and not his, and I haven’t found a way to do it so I block him.

For **bengangmo** , tho, if you run FireFox check out [Facebook Purity](http://steeev.freehostia.com/wp/2009/03/19/facebook_purity_cleans_up_the_facebook_homepage/). It will block all of those silly apps and games, and only show what you want in the newsfeed.

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**Author:** ![Polly\_Glot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9de053/32.png) [@Polly\_Glot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polly_Glot)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-possible-to-block-third-party-links-from-a-friend-without-blocking-status-updates/514939/5 "2009-10-24T21:53:18Z")

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[lite.facebook.com](http://lite.facebook.com) is from, i believe, the makers of facebook themselves.

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**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facebook-possible-to-block-third-party-links-from-a-friend-without-blocking-status-updates/514939/6 "2009-10-24T22:04:51Z")

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Thanks – lite is interesting – but it doesn’t quite get rid of those 3rd-party nuisances.