Facebook Inc (FB): Adblock Plus Now Turns Off Read Receipts

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Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) users will now be able to turn off read receipts with a new feature from Adblock Plus, which is an open source content-filtering and ad blocking plugin for all major browsers. Users will now be able to hide if they have read their messages or not, and the sender will never know.

Facebook Inc (FB): Adblock Plus Now Turns Off Read Receipts

Adblock–is it a useful app?

A user who has Adblock Plus installed will need to hit “Add.” Once the user presses the Add button, it will activate the “Message Seen” Remover for the Facebook” filter in the Adblock Plus preferences.

“If you’ve ever wanted others not to be informed about when / if you’ve read their Facebook messages, Adblock Plus has a new solution for you,” reads a blog post from Adblock Plus.

Although the read receipt is an important feature, there are some disadvantages to it. With Adblock Plus’ feature, Facebook users can turn off receipt confirmations, but it would have been better if there “was an option to flip that switch on the fly (manually removing and adding the filter would be tedious),” says a report VentureBeat. This is because most of the time, people don’t mind friends reading their messages.

For users who do not want to give a hint to their contacts when have they read messages, Adblock Plus is a useful app for them. However, at present the feature is available only on the desktop browser, as Adblock Plus is not very efficient on mobile devices, says VentureBeat.

Facebook (FB) still to comment

Users still have the option to block around 21 different users from seeing their message being read. Other things that can be blocked include promoted posts, sponsored stories, sidebar targeted ads, upcoming events, requests to rate media, and “people you may know.”

Presently Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is working on enhancing its privacy settings to address users’ concerns, but this new feature from Adblock Plus might not go well with the company’s policy. As of now, Facebook has not taken any step in this regard, but the company could respond if a large number of users adopt this feature.

On Tuesday, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) shares closed up .48% at $75.46, and year to date, shares are up by over 38%.

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