Facebook tests the option to temporarily unfollow

Facebook tests the option to temporarily unfollow

When on WhatsApp you are fed up with notifications from a group - or from someone in particular - you limit yourself to a very simple gesture. What is to  silence the conversation for 24 hours (if you know that the notification revolution will have a very limited effect in time), a week or a year, in the most extreme cases. It is useful, right?

Well, this is exactly what Facebook is working on right now. If you are fed up with your friend filling your wall with photos from their vacations . If you do not have the slightest intention of supporting the repeated publications of a company that launches a new product ... This feature will not come to you.

It is a Mute button, which will allow users to stop following what their friends - or certain pages and groups - say for 24 hours, 7 days or 30 days, which is the maximum period that Facebook has decided to grant.

temporarily stop following

You can also temporarily unfollow on Facebook

TechCrunch media was in charge of revealing the news, because it had noticed this function, available only to some users. Later, Facebook has confirmed that it is a functionality in test mode.

This spokesperson indicates that they are testing different formulas to get people to have more control over their news feeds . In short, it is about being able to select what interests them in a detailed way and adapting over time.

Currently, when you stop following someone, you do it irreversibly. Well, you can reverse the action, yes, but you also have to remember to re-enable the follow button . If you don't, you will most likely miss that person's posts forever.

And although in many cases it is a real advantage, you may be interested in following that particular person. Even if it is from a certain moment: in 24 hours, a week or a month.

How to temporarily mute someone on Facebook

The procedure will be as simple as before. If at this precise moment you want to stop following someone, all you have to do is go to that person's profile (be careful, it is also valid for pages) and click on the Following button. Then, you just have to choose the option Stop following.

This does not imply or stop being friends with someone, or abandon your "I like" the page. What you're saying to Facebook is simply that you don't want to keep seeing that person's or page's posts on your news feed.

If at any time you want to follow that person or page again, all you have to do is press the Follow button again . It will be automatic.

And how will we do it in the future, when Facebook allows us all to silence the publications? Well, very easy. You just have to go to the publication of our page or friend and display the options, clicking on the upper right arrow .

We will have two options: Stop following (as before, to stop seeing the publications) or Mute. Click on this second option and choose how long you want to stop following their publications : one day, one week, one month, or permanently.

mute facebook

Control the frequency of updates

Facebook allows you to control, even a little, the frequency in which certain publications appear . You just have to click on the Following button and choose if you want to see them first or if you prefer the default way of showing them, which is the standard way.

Then you can also indicate if you want to receive notifications, especially about events or when a live broadcast begins.

The option to mute will not be available, for now, until Facebook decides to launch the update for all users. For now the feature is still in testing.