Facebook Follows Whither Thou Goest

Tests ‘break-up’ tools

Oh, my love, my darling
I’ve hungered for your touch
A long, lonely time
Time goes by so slowly
And time can do so much
Are you still mine?
I need your love
I need your love
God speed your love to me.

The Righteous Brothers – Unchained Melody

Facebook is seeking to come to the rescue of broken hearts by testing a tool that will make it less painful for those who have had relationships that have gone sour or south.

On the social network platform, currently one cannot get rid of a person from one’s contact list without the person’s knowledge of him or her being blocked or unfriended.

The fact is when a relationship is over, in some instances, one may not be interested in seeing or wish to be updated on a former lover’s profile or status.

“Facebook is a place for sharing life’s important moments, which for many people include their romantic relationships. When a relationship ends, we’ve heard from people that they sometimes have questions about the options available to them on Facebook,” wrote Kelly Winters, a Facebook product manager.

Now, relationship on the world’s social network is a big deal as this is one of the places that many people maintain social contacts and relationships with friends, families, and loved ones.

In fact a judge in New York has recently reportedly said using Facebook to send a divorce summons was completely legal.

Facebook’s new break-up tool is about altering what an ex can see, but without them knowing you’ve done anything.

The tool allows people 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 untagged themselves from posts with that person.”

“This work is part of our ongoing effort to develop resources for people who may be going through difficult moments in their lives,” Kelly noted.

“We hope these tools will help people end relationships on Facebook with greater ease, comfort and sense of control,” she added.