Facebook’s “On This Day” feature plays off nostalgia, showing people old photos and posts from previous years. That’s great if your memories are positive — but it can dredge up sad moments, which is why there’s now a tragedy filter.
If you’d rather not be reminded of a specific shitty day, ex, or dead friend, Facebook now lets you block those memories from appearing in its nostalgia generator. A Facebook rep explained the change to ABC News:
“We know that people share a range of meaningful moments on Facebook — from celebrating good times like a birthday to getting support in tough times like the passing of a friend or relative,” a Facebook representative told ABC News. “As a result, everyone has various kinds of memories that can be surfaced — good, bad and everything in between. So for the millions of people who use On This Day, we’ve added these filters to give them more control over the memories they see.”
If only Facebook had a way to filter keywords from “On This Day” in addition to days and accounts, we’d be safe from reminders that our loved ones once tried to digitally harangue us into participating in the Ice Bucket Challenge.
[ABC News]