How to Mute Someone on Facebook

It seems as if everyone has experienced “The Oversharer.” This is a family member that complains too much or a friend that’s giving a blow-by-blow of her kid’s potty training habits (sorry) or any other account that simply talks too much. Our difference in communication styles has a way of spoiling relationships but there’s a way to salvage them and your social networking experience. Did you know you can mute someone on Facebook? It’s true.

Why mute and not unfriend?

Sometimes keeping people in our circles is the smartest choice. I’m not going to delete an in-law even when they annoy me. If you’ve recently disagreed with someone you care about and know it’s temporary, unfriending is a step that may inflame a situation that simply needs time to cool off. I support unfriending toxic people and I don’t think it’s a good idea to be friends with colleagues (especially bosses) but you do what’s best for you.

How to Mute Someone on Facebook

Look at your NewsFeed and you’ll notice that in the right hand corner of each post, there are three dots. Click on the dots and you will see a lot of options (see an explanation for the rest below.) There are two options that will meet your muting needs.

The first is Snooze for 30 days. Consider this a trial period. If they’ve just started a diet and you figure they’ll stop talking about it soon, this is the option for you. Their posts will start appearing in your feed again after that timeframe. If we’re waaaay past that point, choose Unfollow. This allows you to effectively mute that person’s posts but you will remain friends. No, they won’t receive a notification that you don’t get their posts in either case. There’s no way for them to tell at all. They will still see your posts (that is if they haven’t unfollowed you) and all will function the way it did before. You simply can no longer “hear” them.

Awkward Conversations Coming

Now, if this is a family member and a holiday or group function comes around, there’s a pretty good chance they’ll make reference to a post that you haven’t seen. Prepare your answer now. I say things like, “Oh, I must’ve missed that one”, because #internet, and they’ll never know the difference. You can always navigate to their Profile and catch up on what you’ve missed at your convenience (or ahead of that big holiday gathering.)

Imagine that YOU are the Oversharer. Think twice about what you post. Is it too much? Is this better as a private text or phone call? Post wisely.

Other settings for posts:

• Save post is to keep for later. See this blog about how to save content on Facebook.
• Turn on notifications is a great feature! It allows you to listen in on a conversation without putting your paws on it. You don’t need to comment or react but you’ll get updates as the conversation unfolds. Great for rubber necking drama or political posts. This also doesn’t affect your algorithm or News Feed. You can turn it off again using the three dots if it becomes too much.
• Hide Post is if just that one post bothers you. Facebook’s algorithm is supposed to remember to show you less of these but I don’t know how truly effective that is.
• Report it if it violates FB policy or is unsafe, violent, or inappropriate.
• Block (person’s) profile means they are effectively blocked from each other
• Hide All from This Page is only offered when your friend shares from a page. Maybe you don’t like that page and never want to see their content again – there you go.

Pages sometimes have more functions in the gray drop down arrow menu, like Embed, so you can put it in your blog or other website. But you can use most of these functions with pages or friends.

Now that you know how to mute people on Facebook, go enjoy your Feed again!