Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Technology Lesson: Hiding Sponsored Posts (on Facebook)

Not to overemphasize the importance of Facebook (wouldn't it be nice if we could all walk away?) but today's lesson is, again, about Facebook.

Sorry!

I think it will be extremely helpful. Facebook's Suggested Posts have inspired great ire among its users, and the uninvited posts are a distraction and sully the Facebook experience.

Luckily, hiding the posts is an easy process! It's just like hiding people or posts you don't want to read.

To start, log in to Facebook. Go to your news feed.
When you find an unwelcome Sponsored Post, hover your mouse over the post.





You'll see a small arrow in the top right corner of the post. (Not the page, the post.) Click it.


Click HIDE.


Facebook will congratulate you on this brilliant decision: "This story is now hidden from your News Feed."

You will be given the chance to Unhide the post. if you want to do that, click UNHIDE. You'll also be given the opportunity to unhide all posts from this company. This is not a bad idea, and you should consider doing that too.

Facebook says that its new Sponsored Posts program does not affect its usability. I disagree, if only because I constantly hide Sponsored Posts, and the program's existence is a thorn in my side.

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