Is there any way to get my browser to ignore Facebook etc?

I’ve noticed that when I try to access a page, my browser (Firefox) hangs, because it is trying to access Facebook, Imagesnap, Snapchat, Snapimage, and whatever other stuff I pay no attention to and have no interest in. (Some of these sources are fictional, but I think you get the idea.)

Is there a way that I can set my browser to ignore all this stuff so my pages load more quickly?

Assuming that you only have one tab open to load a single site, those external links are content links to external sites, and the page probably won’t load or render correctly if that data is not available.

You can use browser plugins like No-Script and Ad-block to block some of those things if you wish, which may help page load times, but you may need to spend some time customizing the configuration.

YMMV.

A tool like Fiddler should be able to do what you want. Not only can you block a request, you can substitute a different response to achieve a desired effect.

I’ve downloaded Fiddler 4 and am using it successfully for some tasks, but don’t know exactly what command you should give it. Maybe an expert will be along and educate us both.

I recommend uBlockor Ghostery.

I use Fiddler most days, and recommend it as a primary troubleshooting tool to customers, but I think it would be the wrong tool for this job.

I suspect crazyhorse has made the right suggestions - they look like they are coordinated approaches to web request filtering.

You can also block these sites by name via your HOSTS file or in your router. I have all of facebook blocked that way. Works good.

Search for: blocking social sharing widgets.

Dennis

In uBlock Origin settings, under the 3rd Party Filters tab, add the lists under the “Social” heading.

Ditto. I also block Twitter for the same avoidance of useless connections reason.