Facebook Will Spare You From Seeing Your Ex Online

New tools allow you to hide updates, keep your own posts on the down-low
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 20, 2015 11:09 AM CST
Facebook Will Spare You From Seeing Your Ex Online
Replace "Taylor" with your ex's name.   (Facebook)

Facebook's mission to ease the pain of breaking up (or, as a company product manager's blog post puts it, to "[improve] the experience when relationships end") has resulted in a new set of tools to help people deal with their defunct love affairs online. Designed for those "who may be going through difficult moments in their lives," the "Take a Break" features are brought to users' attention as soon as they check off that "Single" box, the Daily Dot reports. The lovelorn can opt to see less of their ex online, meaning the former flame's posts won't show up in one's News Feed, and that persona non grata's name won't be brought up as a suggestion when tagging photos or writing messages. Users can also restrict the photos, videos, and updates their exes can see (they'll be privy only if they're tagged or if content is publicly shared or on a mutual friend's Timeline).

In the past, the only options for the heartbroken to avoid unwanted trips down memory lane were to unfollow (meaning you stay friends with that person but don't see anything they do), unfriend, or block; TechCrunch notes the social network would also nix putting pics of exes in the "Photo Memories" section—"which was nice, but far from enough," TechCrunch adds. "We hope these tools will help people end relationships on Facebook with greater ease, comfort, and sense of control," the Facebook blog post reads. For now, Facebook is testing the tools in the US on mobile only, with plans to roll them out further after they get some user input, per the blog post. As ABC News notes, however, Facebook has a vested interest in easing the pain: If users can't escape unsavory reminders in their feed, they'll just stop coming, meaning the network will lose valuable data-mining opportunities. (Another thing you won't see on Facebook: links to a competing site.)

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