Facebook has made breakups way more complicated than they need to be. First you have to deal with the actual breakup, then you have to change your relationship status, and then you have to keep seeing your ex's name and face everywhere — at least if you're trying to take the high road and not unfriend him or her. But after years of agonizing awkwardness, Facebook has finally decided to do something about it.
On Thursday, the website announced (opens in new tab) it's testing a new way to avoid your ex in your news feed. It's currently only rolling out for mobile users in the United States, but it will spread elsewhere if user feedback is good. You can do nearly all of it manually already, but this process makes it way easier to focus on your rom-com Netflix marathon instead of fine-tuning your settings.
Here's how it works: Once you decide to stop being "Facebook official" with a partner, you change your relationship status as usual. Then, you'll have the option to change the settings around how often you see Chad's stupid face on the Internet. You can choose to see less of his name and profile picture, without having to unfriend or unfollow him. That means his posts won't show up in your news feed, and when you try to tag friends in photos, videos, or statuses, his name won't pop up as a suggestion.
And your settings can work both ways, without your ex ever knowing. You can also make it so Chad can't see your posts, unless they're tagged with his name or shared with a mutual friend. And you can sneakily untag yourself from all the statuses and photos you posted together during better days. That way, evil Chad won't keep showing up on those "At This Day" memory roundups. (Though if he does, here's how to fix that (opens in new tab).)
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