If you’ve ever had someone spam your Facebook wall with a fake RayBan ad or similar, or are just fed up of political arguments, a new Facebook test may provide a solution …
The company is currently testing the ability to ban particular words, phrases and even unwanted emoji from your wall.
The test was spotted by Jane Manchun Yong, a computer science student who has turned reverse-engineering app code into an art. Her previous finds include:
- time-tracking in the Facebook app
- hidden hashtags and geofencing options on Instagram
- encrypted DMs on Twitter
- Bitmoji-style avatars on Facebook
- time-tracking in Instagram
She notes that her latest discovery isn’t quite as comprehensive as some would wish. It is closer to a mute function than a true block.
So blocked phrases would still be visible to mutual friends, and the owner of the timeline wouldn’t even know it was happening, which seems less than ideal. However, this is just a test, so it’s possible Facebook will strengthen the feature if and when it is rolled out.
TNW notes that Instagram – owned by Facebook – already offers a more comprehensive filtering feature.
Facebook yesterday opened up Watch Parties to all, in a bid to make video watching more social.
Facebook is working on letting users to ban words/phrases/emojis from showing up on their personal timelines
Tip @Techmeme pic.twitter.com/9WpfDXEEu7
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) November 27, 2018
Image: Shutterstock
