The only thing worse than breaking up with the love of your life is stumbling across old posts of you both in happier times on Facebook.
If it wasn’t bad enough to deal with the heartbreak and, sometimes, betrayal, nowadays we’re also forced to make big decisions about whether to block, “unfriend” or continue to be tormented.
So praise the Lord that Facebook has now stepped in and is trialling new tools to make it less painful to be reminded of relationships which are kaput.
Don’t want the new guy you’re dating to snoop on your previous relationship? Hey presto - you’ll be able to digitally erase that part of your life. The optional feature will allow us to edit who can see our past posts with an ex and untag ourselves from posts with that person.
Here’s how it will work: when users change their relationship status to reflect a break-up they will get a prompt to try certain tools. Once implemented, your ex will no longer be suggested when you write a new message or tag photos. The new tool will also let you limit the photos, videos or status updates that a former partner will see.
‘We are testing tools to help people manage how they interact with their former partners on Facebook after a relationship has ended’, wrote Facebook product manager, Kelly Winters, in a post published on the company’s site. ‘When people change their relationship status to indicate they are no longer in a relationship, they will be prompted to try these tools.’
She explained the work is part of an ongoing effort to develop resources for people who ‘may be going through difficult moments in their lives.’
‘We hope these tools will help people end relationships on Facebook with greater ease, comfort and sense of control,’ she added.
The feature will be tested on mobile devices in the US before Facebook decides whether or not to roll it out to its 1.5 billion users worldwide.
So, if you’re not quite ready to hit the “block” button but you like the sound of eradicating any proof that your previous relationship existed from Facebook, this tool might just help ease that broken heart.
- By Anna Silverman