It’s OK to go ahead and admit it: social media is adding stress to your life. You’ve probably thought about taking a social media break, but the reality is, these platforms aren’t going anywhere.
If there are certain people or topics that you need a break from, there are ways to take control of what you’re seeing. Yes, indeed, there are ways to stop seeing posts without unfriending someone so that the next birthday party or Thanksgiving dinner isn’t awkward.
Here’s a look at ways to filter out the noise from trolls and keyboard warriors to help you avoid having social media rage:
Snooze, unfollow and more on Facebook
There are several options that can help you filter what you’re seeing on Facebook. You can also filter your own content by limiting who sees your posts. You can check out our previous post about your friends and “friends except” options, as well as making sure your posts aren’t “Public.”
If you want to take a break from seeing posts from a friend or page, it’s time to explore the three dots on posts.
The three dots (an ellipsis) are seen on every post on both the desktop and app versions of Facebook. When you tap on that, you have options.
Snooze for 30 days
When you select this, it’s like hitting snooze on an alarm clock. But it lasts MUCH longer. Unless you venture over to your friend’s page, you won’t see their posts for a month.
On that 31st day, their posts will return to your newsfeed as normal.
Unfollow
This option takes your friend’s posts out of your news feed for good, but you’ll remain friends. You can undo this option by going to their profile page and follow them again. They’ll never know you did this.
Blocking
If you choose to unfriend someone, you can also take the step of making sure they can’t even find you on Facebook. When you block someone, they won’t even see other posts that you are tagged in.
You can unblock someone in your privacy settings.
Muting, blocking options on Twitter
On each tweet, there is an ellipsis in the upper right-hand corner that will include several actions you can take. (Note: the experience will have slightly different looks in the Twitter app vs. Desktop.)
From here you have options – you can add people to a list so you can break out groups of people into separate lists for you to follow conversations.
This is an excellent way to find conversations you want to check in on regularly. (Find out how to use Twitter’s list feature HERE.)
The “Mute” option will filter that user out of your overall feed.
There is no time limit on this, so if you want to unmute that account, you have to go to their profile to change it or find your muted profiles in your Settings (which is shown in the screenshot below).
The “Block” option will unfollow that user and then also block them from seeing your posts.
If you get annoyed by a trending hashtag or phrase on Twitter, you can also mute those words. The platform has a dedicated page on how to do this, including ways to mute phrases, emojis and much more.
Muting Accounts on Instagram
If there’s a user on Instagram you need a break from, you need visit their profile and then click on the “Following” button to bring up your options. You can mute their posts and/or stories, as well as “restriction” options that will limit your interactions with a profile.
These options are available only in the app.
On the desktop version of Instagram, tap on the ellipsis of someone’s profile to block them or apply the restriction option. There is no “mute” option available here yet.
A final reminder: Watch what you say
One thing to remember when it comes to social media posts, anything you say has the potential to be permanent. Even if you’ve deleted a post, someone may have taken a screenshot of it.
If you feel rage about something or someone’s post, take a deep breath. Ask yourself if you REALLY want to type that out and hit enter.
This article was originally posted in June 2020. It was updated in July of 2022.
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