Over the past several weeks I’ve been asked by friends of mine how they can hide friends’ posts on Facebook without actually unfriending that person. Fortunately, this is a very simple procedure that takes only seconds.
Note: Facebook has changed the method for achieving this. Please see this article for updated instructions.
Why Not Just Unfriend Them?
One may ask why you would have a friend on Facebook whose posts you can’t see? And if they are so annoying, why not just unfriend them? While I opt for the unfriend option often myself, there are times that hiding is a better route, especially when it comes to old friends and extended family members. During the political season, for example, many people tend to forget that not everyone shares their political views, and rant about their particular viewpoint. I’ve hidden many of those friends until after the election. Or you may have Aunt Martha who posts religious links all day long. I can’t tell you how many of my high school friends I’ve had to hide for one of those reasons. So there are lots of reasons why you may not want to actually unfriend a person whose posts you find annoying. The beauty of hiding their posts is that they don’t realize you no longer see them.
How to Hide a Friend From Your Newsfeed
The procedure itself is simple. Simply mouse over the person’s name, then mouse over the word “Friends.” This will pop up several options. The option “Show in News Feed” will be checked next to anyone you are currently seeing. Uncheck this option and your friend will magically disappear from your news feed, and they’ll have no idea that their annoying posts are being blissfully ignored.
Below is a screen capture of the option to hide a friend from your newsfeed.
Once again: Facebook has changed the method for achieving this. Please see this article for updated instructions.
Updated February 11, 2014