the mackenzy project: January 2010

Happy Monday to all and sundry.

Today, I have a complaint. I want to complain that I am tired of hearing (or rather, reading) other people complain that they are tired of reading/receiving unwanted Facebook Applications.

Today, I would like to empower you with a simple thought: YOU actually do have the power to end your misery, rather than to simply complain about it. Facebook has provided you with the tools to solve this problem, but to know that, you would have to have read the fine print. And I understand - clearly fine print reading is not something that everyone can be bothered to do - specifically not when they are supposed to be "having a good time." No. We'd rather complain. But, as the adage clearly states: "the Devil is in the Details." So, I'll give you a quick crash course - do pay attention!

1. REMOVE APPS FROM YOUR NEWS FEED

a. At the top of your home page, make sure you have clicked NEWS FEED. (See Example 1)

b. After you've changed your home page feed to NEWS FEED, scroll to the very bottom, and click EDIT OPTIONS. (See Example 2)

c. When your EDIT OPTIONS screen opens, it should resemble EXAMPLE 3. (See Example 3) If it does not, it means you are still in the "LIVE FEED" and you need to scroll back to the top and change over to your NEWS FEED and try again. If you have not blocked any person or application before from your news feed, this box will appear blank. As you can see, I have blocked numerous applications and some people (we wont even delve into the "persons" I've blocked). You will not see this unless you have already blocked someone or an application (and you have no need of this note!) At the top of the box simply switch between Friends or Applications to re-add the applications or friends back to your news feed.

d. The business of actually hiding applications (or friends) from your NEWS/LIVE FEED is thus: when you see the hated application (or person's status), simply mouse over it, and click the "HIDE" icon that pops up to the right of it. You will be prompted to confirm that you want said status or application hidden from your future news feed. (See Examples 4 & 5)

e. Voila! Pat yourself on the back you maestro of Facebook minutia! The next time you check your EDIT OPTIONS at the bottom of your NEWS FEED, you'll see that you, too, have blocked applications. Breathe deeply, my friend - that's the smell of an App Free News Feed. (The apps you want to stay, stay, of course!)

2. BLOCK UNWANTED APPLICATION INVITES

a. This one is easy peasy. In small print, directly below the application invitation, there is a link that says: BLOCK THIS APPLICATION or IGNORE ALL INVITES FROM THIS FRIEND. Click the appropriate link. (See Example 6)

b. At this point, you see the confirmation screens as shown in Examples 7 & 8. Simply click whichever works for you. (See Example 7 & 8)

Done, and done! Now, instead of being inundated with apps, you can literally DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. And because this is a one-sided fix on your end, you needn't even let your friends know you are annoyed with their pesky applications - you simply fix it, and no one is the wiser. Always a win-win solution! ;)

Enjoy your day!