I love my friends on Facebook. I love your status updates. I love the pictures you take. The more, the better. When you post to Instagram and share it on Facebook too, that’s really cool. If you write a clever tweet, I want to see it. If you write a blog post and share a link to it on Facebook, I want to see that, too.1
In other words, if you wrote it, created it, or photographed it — I want to see it!
Conversely, your links to news, your links to politics, your quiz results, your game invites — I’m not so interested.2 But if you post all those things, don’t worry. I’m not asking you to change.3
Instead, I’m taking charge of my own Facebook news feed.4 When someone shares a link to something they didn’t create,5 I click the “V” at the upper right and then select the “Hide all from this website” on the drop-down that appears. I won’t see links on Facebook from that source again. Ever!6
I started this experiment by hiding one of Buzzfeed’s quizzes. Since then, I’ve hidden scores of viral story sites, radio stations, news organizations, sports sites, recipe sites, etc. The effect on my newsfeed has been dramatic. I see more of my friends and less “stuff.”7
And the satisfaction from hiding stuff? That just can’t be beat! :-)