How Facebook and Google are trying to make breakups a little less painful
There are a million ways of dealing with the online fallout of a breakup, and the sites that we use most often are starting to take notice. While there’s no single best way to conduct online life post-split, it can be empowering to know that there are tools you can use to control your ex exposure. Here are some tactics to tame the dust as it settles online:
In November of last year, Facebook rolled out Breakup Tools for mobile users to address the ex issue more subtly than blocking. Upon changing your relationship status on mobile, Facebook will ask how much you’d like to see of your ex, and how much you’re willing to let them see. This means no uncomfortable re-friending if you decide to be friends again down the road.
Also tried and true: block your ex. You can find this by clicking on Privacy Shortcuts > How do I stop someone from bothering me? If you block your ex, they won’t be able to see what you’re posting on your profile, and they won’t be able to use Facebook to contact you, but they will see any of your activity in groups and other shared places.
For those that want a more far-reaching solution, Killswitch is an app that promises to scrub away all traces of an ex from your Facebook profile – wall posts, tagged posts, tagged photos and all. Pro: clean slate. Con: lost memories.
Up until October of last year, Google+ had a “Rediscover this day” feature that unintentionally caused a lot of heartbreak by highlighting old photos of you with people who were no longer in your life.
Now, if you use Google Photos or Google+, take heart that you can end the cruel reminders of better times with an ex by using the “Hide person” feature. No more unpleasant surprises and no need to delete photos, thanks to Google’s facial recognition technology.
There are no bells and whistles with this tactic, but simply unfollowing your ex could save you the pain of seeing who your ex is being tagged with, and whose photos they’re liking.
Snapchat
Here’s Snapchat’s step-by-step guide to blocking your ex (or anyone) from seeing your Snaps, sending you Chats, and viewing Your Story.
A High Tech Solution
If you’re looking for a one stop shop, the browser plugin Block Your Ex will help you ban all of their social media accounts from your browser-sphere.
A Low Tech Solution
And, of course, one option that you may want to consider is logging out from all social media for a short time to give yourself a break. It doesn’t have to be forever, but not having to worry about what you might see will do wonders for you and give you more time to spend time doing things in real life that you want to do!
How do you deal with your ex online? Let us know your suggestions!
