Virtually every social media platform has the option to follow and unfollow other users or pages – and Facebook is no different.
Despite its emphasis on ‘Friends’ and connecting with other users as friends, users can also choose to follow pages and groups on Facebook – and even unfollow those who are listed as friends.
Let’s take a closer look at what this means and how to do it.
What Does Unfollow Mean on Facebook?
When you unfollow a page or group on Facebook, you stop seeing its posts in your newsfeed. Unfollowing a page means that you will no longer be connected with that page while unfollowing a group means you won’t see any updates from that group (but will still remain a part of it).
The same is true when you unfollow a friend on Facebook – but with one key difference.
On Facebook, you can unfollow someone who you are friends with, without actually ‘unfriending’ them. This means that while you will no longer see their posts in your feed, you are still connected on the app – and crucially, they will not know that you don’t want to see their content.
NOTE: You can temporarily unfollow a friend, page, or group, by snoozing updates from them.
How to Unfollow a Friend
To unfollow a friend on Facebook and to stop seeing their posts and updates in your feed, navigate to their profile page and click on the ‘Friends’ button underneath their profile picture.
Tap ‘Unfollow’ to stay friends but to stop their posts from appearing in your newsfeed.
How to Unfollow a Page
If you follow a page that you are no longer interested in, head directly to the page and click on the blue ‘Liked’ button underneath the profile image.
From here, you can change the settings relating to how much of that page’s content you see, or unfollow the page completely to remove all posts from your feed.
How to Unfollow a Group
There are various actions you can take when you are part of a group.
Clicking on the three dots next to any post in your newsfeed from the group will open a list of options.
These include snoozing the group for 30 days, hiding posts from that specific user, and unfollowing posts while staying in the group.
You can also leave the group completely.
In short, unfollowing on Facebook is not the same as it is on other apps – because it does not cut that user off from you experience. On Facebook, unfollowing means that you no longer see a person or group’s updates in your feed but remain friends or connected with them.
