Facebook allows users to customize the stories that appear in their News Feed by hiding, snoozing, or unfollowing people or Pages. When you customize someone’s posts, they are not notified and won’t know that you adjusted their content in your feed unless you tell them directly. There are a few key ways you can customize the stories you see on Facebook:
Hiding a post
If you want to hide a specific post in your News Feed, you can click on the three dots in the upper right hand corner of the post and select “Hide post.” This will remove that particular post from your feed. The person who originally shared the post will not be notified or know that you hid their content.
Snoozing a person or Page
If you want to temporarily snooze someone’s posts from your News Feed, you can click on the three dots at the top of their post and choose “Snooze [name] for 30 days.” This will hide all of that person or Page’s content from your feed for 30 days. They will not get any notification that you snoozed them.
Unfollowing a person or Page
You can also unfollow someone directly from their profile. This will permanently remove all of their posts from your News Feed unless you choose to refollow them later. People are not notified when you unfollow them on Facebook. The only way they would know is if they looked for your name under their list of followers.
So in summary, no one will get a notification if you hide, snooze, or unfollow their posts on Facebook. The actions you take to customize your News Feed are private and unseen by others.
Why Facebook doesn’t notify people
There are a few key reasons why Facebook designed it so that people are not notified when you customize their content in your News Feed:
Privacy
Facebook prioritizes user privacy when it comes to the News Feed. Who you choose to hide, snooze, or unfollow is considered your own personal information that should remain private. Facebook only shares information back to users when necessary or appropriate.
Avoiding hurt feelings
Getting a notification that someone hid your post or unfollowed you could potentially hurt someone’s feelings or cause offense. By keeping these actions private, it reduces the chance of social friction or unnecessary drama between connections on the platform.
User control
The ability to customize your News Feed is intended to give you more control over the content you see on Facebook. Notifying people of your actions would take away some of that control and defeats the purpose of giving you tools to personalize your experience.
Encouraging honest feedback
If people knew they would be notified, some may refrain from hiding posts or unfollowing friends for fear of social consequences. Keeping the actions private encourages people to honestly customize their feeds.
| Reason | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Privacy | Your News Feed preferences are considered personal information |
| Avoiding hurt feelings | Getting a notification could offend some users |
| User control | Notifications reduce user control over News Feed |
| Honest feedback | Privacy encourages honest use of customization tools |
How to know if someone customized your story
While Facebook doesn’t directly notify users, there are some signs that may indicate someone has hidden, snoozed or unfollowed you:
Sudden drop in engagement
If you notice a significant decrease in likes, comments, or overall engagement on your posts, it could mean someone with a large reach previously interacting with your content has now unfollowed you or snoozed your posts. Look at your list of followers and views on posts over time to see any noticeable dips.
They stop commenting on your posts
If someone who used to consistently comment on or react to your content suddenly stops, they may have customized your posts to no longer show in their feed. Check on your mutual friends to see if they are still actively engaging with others.
Your content doesn’t show up in their feed
One way to check if someone has unfollowed you is to log into a mutual friend’s account and view your own profile or posts through their perspective. If your content doesn’t show up, that likely means you’ve been unfollowed.
Ask them directly
There is no Facebook notification, so the only way to know for sure if someone has hidden or snoozed you is to ask them directly. They may be honest if you inquire casually orphrase it in a non-confrontational way.
| Sign | What it could mean |
|---|---|
| Drop in engagement | Someone with large reach unfollowed you |
| They stop commenting | They hid or snoozed your posts |
| Posts not in their feed | They may have unfollowed you |
| Ask them directly | Only way to know for sure |
Should Facebook add notifications?
There are reasonable arguments on both sides of whether Facebook should implement notifications when someone hides, snoozes, or unfollows your content.
Reasons to add notifications
Here are some potential benefits of Facebook notifying users when their content gets customized in someone’s feed:
– Increased transparency – People would have insight into how their posts are being received.
– Ability to improve – Getting notifications could help users adjust their posting strategy or style to increase engagement.
– Reciprocity – Users may be more inclined to refollow someone if they knew they unfollowed them.
– Confront bad actors – Could help identify accounts that repeatedly hide lots of content.
Reasons to keep notifications private
Here are some of the reasons Facebook may want to maintain their current policy of not notifying users:
– Maintain user privacy – Notifications would reveal people’s reading preferences.
– Avoid social friction – Alerts when someone unfollows or hides posts could cause drama.
– Preserve user control – Takes away user’s ability to silently customize feed.
– Reduce spam risk – Public notifications could enable retaliation or repeated posts from hidden accounts.
– Focus platform on connections – Highlights Facebook’s goal of connecting friends and family.
| Notify Users | Keep Private |
|---|---|
| Increased transparency | Maintain user privacy |
| Ability to improve | Avoid social friction |
| Reciprocity | Preserve user control |
| Confront bad actors | Reduce spam risk |
| Focus platform on connections |
The case for limited notifications
As a balanced approach, Facebook could potentially notify users only in certain scenarios. For example:
– Notify on post hides after a certain threshold – Only notify users if a post gets hidden by X number of people. This would indicate widespread dislike while avoiding notification spam.
– Notify on Page unfollows only – Unfollowing of public Pages could be made more transparent while keeping friend unfollows private.
– Notify on rapid unfollows – Detecting and alerting users of sudden drops in followers could reveal potential issues.
– Optional notifications – Let users opt into notifications for hides, unfollows, etc. if they choose to.
With a selective and limited notification system, Facebook may be able to enhance transparency around how people interact with posts without compromising privacy or user control.
Conclusion
Facebook intentionally does not notify users when someone hides, snoozes, or unfollows their content in order to respect people’s privacy and maintain an optimal platform experience. While increased transparency would have some benefits, mandatory notifications could also create unnecessary social friction between connections.
As Facebook continues to refine their News Feed algorithm and controls, they should be thoughtful about any changes that may diminish users’ ability to silently curate their feeds. Though the platform has faced scrutiny over transparency and data practices in recent years, keeping certain News Feed actions private seems to be one area where Facebook has made the right call for users.