# Only a month, and I hate Facebook **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 20, 2014, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-month-and-i-hate-facebook/705129 "2014-11-20T04:52:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-month-and-i-hate-facebook/705129/1 "2014-11-20T04:52:13Z")
I had an account on Facebook with nothing on it and no friends for a few years, I think I started it so I could look for someone. Anyway, when I retired at the beginning of the month I decided to use it to keep in contact with a few former co-workers. Now I get what everyone is complaining about. Why do people feel the need to post non-personal glurge all the time, or to forward “news” stories that promote their agenda but otherwise have no connection to themselves? I (naively) thought that Facebook was about one’s personal life and events. I guess I have to start organizing my 19 “friends” into groups so that I don’t have to see all that crap all the time. I’m not sure it’s worth the effort. I’m late to the party, I know. Mundanely and pointlessly late. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-month-and-i-hate-facebook/705129/2 "2014-11-20T05:01:09Z")
Try and get an invite to [ello](https://ello.co/). The posts I’ve read have a strong artistic and eclectic lean to them. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-month-and-i-hate-facebook/705129/3 "2014-11-20T05:20:24Z")
Just go to their profile and uncheck “following” so their stuff doesn’t go to your feed. I do also have one group that I simply labeled “real friends” of which 80% of my friends list is included, but when I click on that, it includes people from out of town that the regular newsfeed excludes, and IIRC, a lot fewer feed ads with those “suggested posts.” Oh, plus none of the posts from your “liked” commercial stuff. Like my regular news feed gets stuff from musicians I follow, and Cracked, and The Onion, and local news. The “real friends” feed excludes all that. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-month-and-i-hate-facebook/705129/4 "2014-11-20T05:47:06Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > Just go to their profile and uncheck “following” so their stuff doesn’t go to your feed. > > I do also have one group that I simply labeled “real friends” of which 80% of my friends list is included, but when I click on that, it includes people from out of town that the regular newsfeed excludes, and IIRC, a lot fewer feed ads with those “suggested posts.” Oh, plus none of the posts from your “liked” commercial stuff. Like my regular news feed gets stuff from musicians I follow, and Cracked, and The Onion, and local news. The “real friends” feed excludes all that. Thank you, I have unclicked “following” on the three worst offenders. That’s much better. Now, is there a function so that updates don’t go to my email (other than using a different email address for Facebook)? ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-month-and-i-hate-facebook/705129/5 "2014-11-20T06:06:38Z")
There must be, because my first thought was, “what notifications?” I do get a few, I get emails when I get tagged or mentioned in someone else’s post. I think that’s about it unless facebook contacts me directly about security setting changes or something. I also have a separate email address I use for all my social media. So, noodling around I find: Drop down arrow on farthest top right - click that Drop down menu that follows, “Settings” - click that Now you’re in “General Account Settings” and menu list along left margin, “Notifications” - click that And there is a whole list of things you can change settings for, including email. Hope that helps! ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-month-and-i-hate-facebook/705129/6 "2014-11-20T06:20:13Z")
I don’t even use Facebook anymore ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-month-and-i-hate-facebook/705129/7 "2014-11-20T06:27:24Z")
> [@SeaDragonTattoo](#): > > There must be, because my first thought was, “what notifications?” > > I do get a few, I get emails when I get tagged or mentioned in someone else’s post. I think that’s about it unless facebook contacts me directly about security setting changes or something. I also have a separate email address I use for all my social media. > > So, noodling around I find: > > Drop down arrow on farthest top right - click that > Drop down menu that follows, “Settings” - click that > Now you’re in “General Account Settings” and menu list along left margin, “Notifications” - click that > And there is a whole list of things you can change settings for, including email. > > Hope that helps! Thanks, this is also much better. And **PSXer** , thanks for sharing. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-month-and-i-hate-facebook/705129/8 "2014-11-20T07:05:51Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > I don’t even use Facebook anymore Yeah, but do you have a TV? ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-month-and-i-hate-facebook/705129/9 "2014-11-20T07:07:56Z")
I only have a TV so I can watch PBS ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-month-and-i-hate-facebook/705129/10 "2014-11-20T13:20:14Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > I don’t even use Facebook anymore I don’t use computers anymore. It gives me more time to cook Olive Garden quality food at home. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-month-and-i-hate-facebook/705129/11 "2014-11-20T13:28:54Z")
> **[F.B. Purity - Clean Up + Customize Facebook](https://www.fbpurity.com/)** > > F.B. Purity is a browser extension / addon that customizes and cleans up facebook from all the application spam and other extraneous information Allows you to get rid of all the ads, the pokes, the games, all the crap, so you can just read the stuff you want to. I also have everything turned off and all the privacy settings at their highest. Makes for a much less hectic and intrusive catching-up-with-friends session. ---
**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:** [November 20, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-month-and-i-hate-facebook/705129/12 "2014-11-20T16:29:24Z")
The little gray arrow in the top right of a post is very important. Use it for 4 things: 1. If you post to a thread that keeps getting replies and you’re tired of being notified every time someone else replies, click the arrow and choose “Turn Off Notifications.” (Especially useful for congratulatory threads. 2. If someone posts something you don’t want to see - a big spider, a poopy baby, an aborted fetus, a sick dog, Glenn Beck’s face - use the arrow and choose “I don’t want to see this.” It’ll hide that particular post from your feed and not permanently do anything to your friend’s ability to show up on your newsfeed. 3. But if they keep posting that shit, use the arrow and choose “Unfollow [friend]” without having to go to their timeline to do so. 4. The most important thing is using the arrow to stop game notifications and links from places you don’t want to see. If you see someone post something about Candy Crush, use your arrow to “Hide all from Candy Crush.” You can do this for any game. You can also do this from any link source. If someone shares something from “Stupid Thing I Hate” you can use the arrow to “Hide all from Stupid Thing I Hate.” You can undo anything you do with the arrow, so try it out! It makes Facebook much less frustrating. If they didn’t have this feature, Facebook would be a ghost town after the Great Bitstrips Reckoning of 2013. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-month-and-i-hate-facebook/705129/13 "2014-11-20T17:46:17Z")
The good thing about Facebook is that people can find you. The bad thing about Facebook is that people can find you. So far the goods have outweighed the bads, but the bads have been horrid. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-month-and-i-hate-facebook/705129/14 "2014-11-20T17:55:24Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > The little gray arrow in the top right of a post is very important. Use it for 4 things: > > 1. If you post to a thread that keeps getting replies and you’re tired of being notified every time someone else replies, click the arrow and choose “Turn Off Notifications.” (Especially useful for congratulatory threads. > > 2. If someone posts something you don’t want to see - a big spider, a poopy baby, an aborted fetus, a sick dog, Glenn Beck’s face - use the arrow and choose “I don’t want to see this.” It’ll hide that particular post from your feed and not permanently do anything to your friend’s ability to show up on your newsfeed. > > 3. But if they keep posting that shit, use the arrow and choose “Unfollow [friend]” without having to go to their timeline to do so. > > 4. The most important thing is using the arrow to stop game notifications and links from places you don’t want to see. If you see someone post something about Candy Crush, use your arrow to “Hide all from Candy Crush.” You can do this for any game. You can also do this from any link source. If someone shares something from “Stupid Thing I Hate” you can use the arrow to “Hide all from Stupid Thing I Hate.” > > You can undo anything you do with the arrow, so try it out! It makes Facebook much less frustrating. If they didn’t have this feature, Facebook would be a ghost town after the Great Bitstrips Reckoning of 2013. Six years with an account and I didn’t know any of this. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-month-and-i-hate-facebook/705129/15 "2014-11-20T20:15:43Z")
The bad thing about facebook is that everyone, every business, every website has a facebook button. Including this site. As if it were required. “Waht…? you don’t have a facebook page?” “Well harrumph, I won’t be visiting your site until you get a FB page.” ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-month-and-i-hate-facebook/705129/16 "2014-11-20T20:48:18Z")
OP, welcome to 2010. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2014, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/only-a-month-and-i-hate-facebook/705129/17 "2014-11-20T22:25:09Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > I don’t use computers anymore. It gives me more time to cook Olive Garden quality food at home. You better give up something else if Olive Garden quality food is all you have time for. 😃