Break-ups suck. There’s no way around it. But now, somewhat perplexingly, Facebook wants to make it easier by offering a tool that will block your ex’s name or photo from showing up and ruining your day.
Pro tip: You can also just unfriend them. That’s what all my exes have done to me, and it works pretty well!
That said, Facebook is offering a little bit more flexibility with its breakup helper tool. If you decide you don’t want to unfriend or block your former lover entirely, the “Take a Break” tool lets you “See Less of [Insert Ex’s Name Here].” So when you change your relationship status to single, Facebook will let ensure that you don’t see your ex’s name posts in your News Feed.
From there, you can also choose to prevent your ex from seeing your posts. And finally, you can review past posts with that person and untag yourself. Your ex won’t be notified of these changes.
Seriously, though, you can also just unfriend or block them. When my first serious girlfriend unfriended me, I didn’t even notice. (I’m also not much of a Facebook stalker.) When another serious girlfriend unfriended me, she emailed me to tell me so. (I thought that was kind of a weird strategy, but whatever.) Blocking is the nuclear option, of course. But hey, all’s fair in love and war, right?
The new “Take a Break” tool is being tested with a few users starting today. It also marks yet another assertive step in Facebook’s quest to manipulate your thoughts, feelings, and social interactions. Some of these tools, like Facebook’s suicide prevention tools, seem genuinely helpful. Others, like Facebook’s infamous social experiment to screw with your emotions, seem downright evil.
At least Facebook doesn’t make it easy to troll unsuspecting friends for your own enjoyment. Oh wait, yes it does.
[Facebook]
Image via Shutterstock / Facebook.