Breaking up is not an easy thing. Most of us know it. Especially when Facebook gets involved.
Who does not remember that feeling when you stumble across a picture of your ex chilling in a company of a new partner of an opposite sex? Or it gets even more brutal when you are scrolling down the news and notice your ex changing his relationship status to ‘in relationship’ or ‘married’. And then you realise you still have that old picture of you two living your ‘forever and always’ love story.
Facebook has announced the end to these weird moments of going through a break up. The world’s biggest social network is creating a new tool that will make your separation less painful.
From now on, if you wish to forget about somebody’s existence, you do not need to unfriend them. The worst part of unfriending has always been when the deleted person finds out what happened. The last thing we want is our ex to get the wrong impression. So Facebook blocking absolutely does not work for ‘playing it cool’.
Relationships on Facebook have become a big deal nowadays. It has been reported that a New York judge has confirmed the legality of sending divorce summons through Facebook. (Lee 2015).
Therefore, Facebook’s new tool filters what you and your ex can see without him/her knowing about it.
The tool allows us to:
“See less of a former partner’s name and profile picture around Facebook without having to unfriend or block them. Their posts won’t show up in News Feed and their name won’t be suggested when people write a new message or tag friends in photos.”
“Limit the photos, videos or status updates that a former partner will see.”
“Edit who can see their past posts with a former partner and untag themselves from posts with that person.”
(Winters 2015)
Facebook says that the new tool will be available globally soon. There already exists a possibility to try out the tool for US mobile users. If you are one, go ahead and share the experiences. But maybe breaking up with your partner is not really worth it.
“We hope these tools will help people end relationships on Facebook with greater ease, comfort and sense of control,” stated FB product manager.
However, are we really ready to face the fact that Facebook starts managing our emotions?
Social media knows everything about what we need.
Facebook can now share our pain and help us heal it.
But, do we want this interference?
Maybe it is too late to make a choice. Social media has already been pulling the strings of our relationships for quite a while.
But isn’t it time to think about the extent of its control over our feelings?
Bibliography:
Lee D. (2015), Facebook tests ‘break-up’ tools, BBC News, Available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34875474
Winters K. (2015), Improving the Experience When Relationships End, Facebook Newsroom, Available at: http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2015/11/improving-the-experience-when-relationships-end/
Young N. (2015), Facebook Wants To Help You Through Your Breakup, Refinery29, Available at: http://www.refinery29.com/2015/11/98040/facebook-breakup-tools