Finally! Block Applications on Facebook
I have a lot of friends gushing over popular social networking site Facebook but I can't for the life of me figure out what's so great about it. It's cluttered, difficult to navigate and then, there are the applications. I've written about my dislike of Facebook apps earlier and was looking for a way to stop receiving invites for them.
Well, my prayers have been answered somewhat. I can't stop receiving invites but I can block them so I don't have ten friends sending me invitations for the same app over and over again. To do this, head over the 'Requests' page on your Facebook profile. There, you'll see a list of all the invitations you received. Under the 'Accept' and 'Ignore' buttons is a small option that says 'Block this application'. Click on it and you're done.
Considering the sheer number of invitations I've received, It will take me forever to block them all. I think a better option is to ignore all invitations from friends who keep sending you rubbish. This way, you cut it off at the source.
Has the Facebook application madness driven you crazy yet? What's your strategy on dealing with them? Does it want to make you abandon Facebook altogether? Let me know in the comments.
If you never use applications on Facebook, and also do not use the site for verification purposes on third party websites, you may be interested in how you can disable apps on Facebook completely. Just follow the link to the guide that explains to you how to do that. This blocks all application requests that you get on Facebook automatically, which may be a welcome change if you happen to get bombarded with app invites on the social networking site. Remember that this is only a feasible option if you do not use apps at all.
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I love the fact that Facebook has become a standard where I can reconnect to most people who want to be found.
I really enjoy the ability to glance at my own wall and see the snippets of what they and their families are up to. Yes, even the self indulgent, self inflated ones.
BUT I HATE THE APPLICATIONS. And the gifts. And the requests. And any of the rest of it. I block and ignore them all. It’s too much and, as someone else noted, too meaningless.
I may be wrong but it is my assumption that these apps contain spyware.
Regardless, they are a clutter, and I feel paranoid if I don’t accept someone’s gift/heart/cookie/whatever I’ll hurt their feelings. (I feel the fear and ignore them anyways…)
I also could do without people “instant messaging” me out of the blue when I’m online. Especially since no one ever starts with “Do you have a sec?”
OH, and while I”m on a rant — this is not an app and maybe my friends are more oblivious that everyone else’s — but I really hate it when someone posts something vague but dramatic on their wall and then others comment on it as if they all know exactly what they’re talking about — and even after you ask them for details they never tell you.
An example: “We’ve had so much pain and loss this year…” WHAT HAPPENED? Should I be sending flowers? But the responses from everyone else seem to already know “You are so strong, you’ll get through this…” Why didn’t I get the memo? Are they trying to tell me something?
PS – Rand — enjoyed, and agreed with, your rant.
BTW — please add ARE and OUR to your list of mixed up words. Not only are they spelled differently, they’re supposed to be pronounced differently too. Oh, and sports fans — you don’t loose a game. You lose it. Arrggggggg!!!
i, too, hate all facebook applications. i don’t play farmville, i’ve never poked anyone, the quizzes bore me, and the exercise in vanity that is the “how well do you know so and so?” quizzes are such a feckless sojourn in narcissism that i dare say i think of deleting the people that send them to me.
(as a side note, i know far too many performers, singers, drag queens, and club promoters, so my feed is usually cluttered with the 15 events that each one of them throw, everyday. i digress…)
i use facebook to keep a mass storage of old friends that i have an interest in being pithy with without ever living the danger of reconnecting with them on a more personal level. (whom is the narcissist, now?…) what i pray for is that one day there will be a way to block ALL applications. i can categorically say that i have never done anything but block applications and requests (even the noble, if comPLETEly innefective subscriptions to various causes.) it would save me time and worry. my close personal friends know better than to bother sending me these things, favouring instead to send links to videos with maria bamford or weird commercials (a hobby of mine) which is great. it’s the rest of them.
i want a “block all applications” button. …then a block all causes one… …and one for requests… …quizzes…
forget it… maybe, you’re right. maybe i should just go ahead and use that “block facebook” button.
(i also wish that there was a way to inform people when they are using their horrific internet spelling or malign them for the misuse of then and than, their there and they’re, to too and two, over and underestimate, and the proper use of me myself and i. IT IS CORRECT TO ASK “DO YOU WANT TO GO TO THE STORE WITH JOHN AND ME?”!!!)
as a part of my own narcissism, i forgive such things as punctuation and capitalization. …or i just want to be e.e. cummings. ha!
rant over.
What Facebook needs is two choices for users:
A) You can choose to block individual applications
B) You can choose to block ALL applications, except for those you explicitly add — an opt-in option, so to speak
It’s great you can block applications, but there are so many new apps sprouting up all the time, it’s like pulling a couple weeds per day blocking the apps, while 20 more weeds are growing over there. For those who have lives outside of the computer, it just does not work.
I have about 100 apps blocked already and right now I have 600 — yes, that’s right, SIX HUNDRED invitations waiting for me to take action. Lovely.
Facebook isn’t popular with Slavic bloggers. When I falled in reading IT news sites, I even created filter in Feedreader for quick killing all news related to some companies, and Facebook among them.
Man, I was waiting for something like this to start. I’ve got a ton of useless apps.
Hey. I love Facebook because everyone I know is accessible there no matter where they are physically in the world.
I HATE facebook because of the applications. I don’t even go to peoples profiles any more if I can help it. One guy I know has literally 50 applications on his page. What a mess!
I was waiting a long time for the ability to block application requests as well.