How to see less politics on Facebook

1. Turn off suggested political content

Facebook counts content that mentions governments, elections or social topics as political. By default, it suggests political content from profiles you don’t follow. To stop it, on a computer:

1. Click your profile picture at the top right of Facebook.
2. Click Settings & privacy, then Content preferences.
3. Click Political content.
4. Switch it off.

In the app, tap the menu, then Settings & privacy, then Settings, then Content preferences (under Preferences), and choose your setting next to Political content. You can also get there from the three dots on any post in your feed.

Ads about social issues, elections or politics have their own setting, in your ad preferences.

2. Quiet politics from people you follow

The switch above doesn’t touch posts from friends, groups and Pages you follow. For those:

• Not interested. On a political post, click the three dots and choose Not interested. Facebook shows you fewer posts like it. Do it a few times and it adds up.
• Snooze for 30 days. For the friend who posts nonstop during an election, choose Snooze [name] for 30 days from the same menu. They come back on their own afterward.
• Unfollow. For a Page or person who only posts politics, choose Unfollow [name]. You stay friends, and they aren’t notified.
• Favorites. In Content preferences, add up to 30 friends and Pages whose posts you want higher in your feed, so there’s less room for everything else.

More on these in how to snooze or unfollow someone on Facebook.

3. Use the Feeds tab

Feeds shows the most recent posts from people, Favorites, Pages and groups you follow, newest first, instead of Facebook’s ranked mix. On a computer, click See more in the menu on the left, then Feeds. It’s built only from what you follow, so it’s a calmer way to catch up.

What these controls miss

Even with all of the above, a lot of politics gets through:

• Friends and family. The political switch is about suggestions. A cousin sharing election takes is out of its reach.
• What Facebook doesn’t recognize. Facebook only stops suggesting political posts “when we recognize it”, and you can’t tune what counts.
• Comments. A post about a recipe can still turn into a political fight underneath.
• One person at a time. Snooze and unfollow don’t scale to a topic that half your friends are posting about.

Facebook has no muted words either: see can you mute words on Facebook. For a wider break from the news cycle, see how to take a break from politics.

Questions