You Need To Start Using Facebook's Best Feature More Often

As an admin in a few photography Facebook groups about once a week I receive a private message from someone complaining about another member in the group. While I can appreciate the complaints and am sorry to hear about the situation it really is not my right to ban people from a group because of a personal feud they have with someone or because another group member doesn't like what they are posting. Instead, I always recommend using the best feature on Facebook that far too many people are not yet using: block people. 

Before I get into the feature I want to add that often what I see is some member will go months actively participating in a Facebook group and talking about how much they appreciate it as a place where they can be inspired and learn from others. But then after a run in with one member they immediately will throw their hands up in the air and say something along the lines of, "It's not worth being here if __________________ is here! I can't stand that person." I get it. Trust me I do. There are people that I can't stand as well. One in particular sent me private messages trying to attack my family life. He knew it was the one thing that mattered most to me and so he decided to try and go after it. It is those type of people that really get under your skin and can drive you crazy... if you let it.

So stop letting it happen! Instead start using Facebook's block feature. By using the Facebook block feature you prevent people from seeing things you post on your profile and in groups, tagging you, inviting you to groups or events, starting a conversation with you or adding you as a friend. Even more important though is you completely block them from your Facebook experience. In other words, you will no longer see what they post or their comments in threads and what's even more fun is they won't see what you write either. It is actually quite entertaining. I've participated in threads in Facebook groups in the past in which someone I blocked was participating as well. It really bothered him that people were responding to what I was writing and he could see what they were writing (since they hadn't blocked him) but he couldn't see what I was posting. 

If you were worried about blocking someone because you don't want to upset them, well no worries Facebook will not notify them when you do it. As I mentioned previously they might eventually figure it out if people are mentioning you in a thread but they are unable to see your comments, but I have a feeling you'll be laughing about it just as I was at that point. 

It's easy to do. Here are the steps.

Step 1. Click on the lock icon in the top right corner of Facebook from any page and choose "How do I stop someone from bothering me?"

Step 2. After clicking there you will see a box where you can type in a name. Type in the name of the person you want to block and click "Block People." Don't worry it won't do anything at this point. It will just present to you a list of names that are close matches to the name you entered. 

Step 3. Find the person you want to block on the list and click the button "Block" to the right of their name. 

If for whatever reason you cannot find their name on the list you can scroll down and see other options. Or the other option is to go direct to their personal page and click the three dot icon to the right of their name next to the "Message" icon. When that opens just scroll down and click "Block."

As you can see Facebook has made it easy to do and given you a couple different ways to do it. It's one feature I wish more people would take advantage of so they don't let the people that bother them affect their experience or even their personal life. I've heard from a number of people that have let online strangers affect them emotionally where they have found themselves in tears because of the constant "trolling" of that person. Friends, don't let it get to that stage. If someone is a nuisance and you don't care to hear from them then take the step to block them and move on.

Lastly, please don't message admins and ask them to ban people. Unless that person is taking actions towards trying to damage the group in whole or spam everyone, admins should not be having to police personal lives or make judgement calls on "controversial" posts to decide who stays and who goes. It puts everyone in an uncomfortable position when you ask. If we don't do it we are letting you and your supporters down. But if we do ban the person we are letting others down as well. We might absolutely agree with you that what the person was out of line but why make us be judge and jury. Instead take the power for yourself and ban whomever you wish on your personal account and encourage others to do the same. By doing that you can enjoy the Facebook groups you are already in without having to keep running from one to another to get away from "that one person" that bothers you.