Facebook announced today that it will provide its over one billion users with two filters that let you block memories that you would rather not remember.
Spokesperson confirms the news
In March of this year, Facebook added the “On This Day” feature designed to remind users what they were doing on a particular date. After a few public missteps, Facebook has responded to feedback and added two filters to the algorithmically generated portraits of life that it puts together for its fans. Users can now choose to exclude certain dates as well as names by accessing Facebook for desktop. The most notable example, or at least the most public, of this need occurred earlier this year when Facebook user Eric Meyer was shown an automatically curated “Year In Review” which showed a picture of his recently deceased daughter (cancer) surrounded by others dancing in the background.
“We know that people share a range of meaningful moments on Facebook — from celebrating good times like a birthday to getting support in tough times like the passing of a friend or relative,” a Facebook representative told ABC News. “As a result, everyone has various kinds of memories that can be surfaced — good, bad and everything in between. So for the millions of people who use On This Day, we’ve added these filters to give them more control over the memories they see.”
Facebook now listening to users?
The announcement made is just one of many recently that suggest that Facebook is no longer doing what it feels is best and is actually listening to its users. For years, Facebook users have been suggesting the addition of a “dislike” button only to be rebuffed by the company and the suggestion that it would make Facebook more like Reddit in the latter’s notorious negativity. Recently, Facebook announced that it was going to begin testing something akin to a “dislike” button so users would not be forced to like a tragic post made by a friend.
In September, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spoke to the issue:
“I think people have asked about the dislike button for many years. Today is a special day because today is the day I can say we’re working on it and shipping it,” Zuckerberg said during a Q&A at Facebook’s headquarters, according to reports from Business Insider and CNBC.
“What they really want is the ability to express empathy. Not every moment is a good moment,” Zuckerberg said.