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

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. 

Trevor Dayley's picture

Trevor Dayley (www.trevordayley.com) was named as one of the Top 100 Wedding Photographers in the US in 2014 by Brandsmash. His award-winning wedding photos have been published in numerous places including Grace Ormonde. He and his wife have been married for 15 years and together they have six kids.

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14 Comments

WTF? REally? A how to on blocking people from facebook?

I thought those bags reviews were useless but this is major league content filling!

Who is he!? Who is this sonovabitch who is making you read articles against your will!?

Glad the article was helpful Simon.

Wish I could have that option right about now :D

Oh, looks like Simon just got himself blocked by Trevor!

Super handy in deed. Always welcomed approach for dealing with trolls.

I do think this is helpful, but the role of a group admin/moderator is to moderate these groups, encourage members to alert them of problematic members, and make the hard decisions to ban people when necessary. In my opinion you will lose more members by allowing these people to stay in a group rather than making a blanket suggestion to block people who are trying to cause fights. These people have no place in groups where we are trying to help each other, and if a moderator doesn't have the guts to ban people then that person shouldn't be moderating any facebook groups.

I agree completely. I immediately delete any negativity. Most groups are total anarchy. You can treat people any way you want and it becomes a troll feeding frenzy. I created a new group to get away from that. I was selective about who I invited, I try to scope out new members before approving, and I have specific rules against the things I see in other groups. I delete the negativity so fast most people don't even see it. The result is the only Red Dead Online group where everyone is friendly and helpful and you can talk without being ridiculed. That's what a group admin is supposed to be doing. The decisions are hard to make sometimes but usually it's an easy decision. And avoiding the hard decisions isn't a solution to anything. It only makes things worse.

Considering Facebooks terms take the right to sell, re-sell, change and repurpose for profit anything you put on their site - including your personal information - why would you use it?

Yes, I totally agree. My block list is huge because of the many many egotistic abusive idiots on FB. Great article. . . .

Another option you may want to cover for those that aren't annoying but you don't want viewing certain things you can make a 'friend' an 'acquaintance' this blocks them from seeing things you allow your friends to see but allows you to keep tabs on them,,,

I think people see when you block them, I believe your name in their feed changes color (not sure tho)

If I block somebody are they still able to request membership into my group?

I block people who I see acting like assholes in other groups similar to mine partly so I don't forget who they are and approve them to join later if theu try. But I don't know if this actually works.

I belong to a work group With several subgroups where a person who is either the admin or moderator(depending on group) has blocked me. I feel that this has a detriment effect on my work. Any suggestions?