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As the days get warmer and the flowers start to bloom, you may be thinking of Spring Cleaning, getting fresh air into your home to clear out the winter stuffiness. Take a few minutes to clean out your Facebook too, ridding it of the clutter you don’t need, in order to make your account sparkle again.
Facebook has had many updates in the past year, making it even more important for you to check on your account now. With nearly every change that Facebook makes, your settings are affected. By cleaning up your Facebook, you’ll be able to avoid annoying messages polluting your stream, restrict auto-play videos and make sure that Facebook works best for you!
Auto-Play Videos
Facebook recently updated its service so that videos in posts play automatically in your News Feed. This update affects not only Facebook on your computer, but also on your mobile device.
Nothing eats up your monthly data allotment for your cell phone plan faster than streaming video. If your cell phone is on a limited monthly data plan, make sure to change your Facebook settings on your phone so that videos only auto-play when you’re connected to Wi-Fi.
Here’s how to have Facebook videos auto-play on Wi-Fi only:
iPhone/iPad (3G or 4G enabled)
Go to Settings => Facebook => Settings => Auto-play on Wi-Fi only => On
Android
Open the Facebook app => Press the Menu button at the bottom of your phone => Settings => Auto-play videos on Wi-Fi only => Check
If you don’t see these settings on your mobile device, update your Facebook app to the current version.
So far, Facebook has not enabled the option for turning off auto-play completely, but at least you won’t be using up your precious mobile data allowance on auto-play videos.
Spread Joy, Not Sorrow
Check your status updates. Are you complaining more than celebrating? Are you lifting people up with your posts or bringing them down?
Think twice before you post a status update complaining about the weather, your smelly boss, a parking ticket or other minor grievance in life. What you post on Facebook can have a strong effect on the emotions of your friends, according to a recent report from the Public Library of Science (PLOS).
In Detecting Emotional Contagion in Massive Social Networks, the PLOS examined the effect that both positive and negative Facebook posts had on others. The study evaluated posts as being either positive or negative based on the language used and then calculated the resulting effects on the posts of the person’s friends.
The study found a direct correlation between the emotions of Facebook status updates and the emotions of subsequent posts by their friends. Positive posts generated positive posts from their friends. Negative posts resulted in an increase in negative posts from their friends.
Sure, if you have a valid reason to complain in life, posting about your travails may bring you the encouragement and support from your friends that you need. But if you’re just whinging about the weather, realize you may be bringing down the mood of your friends. Try posting about the rainbows more than the rain!
Manage Your News Feed
If your Facebook News Feed is a jumble of game requests, status updates from people you don’t care about (or who whine constantly), and other uninteresting posts, you need to do a bit of Spring Cleaning. The good news is that Facebook will become much more relevant to you with just a few tweaks of your settings.
You can block people, apps and more from your Facebook News Feed so you see more of what you want to see and less of the annoying noise you would rather avoid.
For a full explanation of how to manage your Facebook New Feed see, Fix Your Flooded Facebook Feed (Without Unfriending Anyone).
Review Your Privacy Settings
It’s a good idea to check your privacy settings every so often to make sure they match what you want. Between Facebook updates and your experiences, you may want to change your settings to make your Facebook account more or less private.
To check your privacy settings, click on the lock icon at the top of the page and choose the privacy setting you want to review. Best to look at all of them while you’re in there to make sure they reflect what you want now.
You can adjust settings such as:
- Blocking users, app invites, event invites, and apps
- Managing who can post to your timeline, tag you in photos, and see posts on your timeline
Also see, Twitter News and the Setting You May Want to Change Right Now, for information about adjusting your Twitter privacy settings.
Who Can Contact You?
Are you excited when you get a friend request from a long lost friend? That happened to me earlier this month when I was contacted by someone I used to work with many years ago. I was delighted to get the friend request and accepted immediately. We had no friends in common so I was glad to have my privacy settings set to allow friend requests from the public.
But if you’re getting friend requests from complete strangers that seem a bit, well, creepy, you may want to restrict who can contact you. Facebook lets you restrict who can find you and send you messages via Facebook.
To change these settings go to Facebook Privacy Settings and choose:
- Public,
- Friends or
- Friends of friends
See, Your Secret “Other” Facebook Messages to find out how to see messages from Facebook friends and strangers. Hint: those messages are not in the same place as your Facebook messages.
App Permissions
Every time you sign into a website or app using your Facebook account, you’re giving them permission to access all sorts of information about you and your friends. If you don’t need these permissions anymore, you should get rid of them. Outdated permissions are often a gateway for hackers to get into your Facebook account.
See, Clean Up Your Permissions! to find an easy way to discover which apps have access to your Facebook and other social media accounts and delete the permissions you no longer need.
Use Facebook Lists
If you want to post to a certain group of friends or want to check in with them to see what they post, use Lists to organize your friends. By using lists you can easily post to friends from your work, school, neighborhood, book club or other set of friends.
See, Manage Your Relationships the Easy Way with Facebook Lists for tips on creating Facebook Lists.
Check Your Profile and Cover Photo Pictures
Is your profile picture up to date? Is your cover photo current? If your profile picture is still you in your Halloween costume from 2010, then it might be time to update it. Choose a new cover photo from your Facebook photo albums or take a new one and upload it to your profile.
See, Your Essential Guide for Social Media Design [Infographic] to find the proper dimensions for your profile and cover photos.
You may have always wanted to do something clever with your cover photo. Now may be the time to change it to something creative, eye-catching and clever.
Check out Hongkiat’s Facebook Timeline Cover: 40 (Really) Creative Examples for ideas and inspiration for your Facebook cover photo.
Also see, Scrub Your Facebook Clean! for other ideas on optimizing your Facebook experience.
Your Thoughts
Do you try to clean up your Facebook account regularly? What do you do to clean your account? Do you enjoy auto-play videos on Facebook? Let us know in the Comments section below!
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*Facebook flower image courtesy of Start Blogging Online
** Facebook rainbow image courtesy of Start Blogging Online
*** Halloween costume image courtesy of Don Urban (Editor’s note: as far as I know, this is not Don Urban’s Facebook profile picture)
Hi Carolyn,
That was indeed a lovely list 🙂
Yes, with Spring in the air, it surely is time to get the house cleaned, but your post was a good reminder to clean up our social media accounts too, just like Facebook and our other profiles. You gave some lovely tips on how we can do most of the things.
I haven’t really touched my profile picture and Facebook cover in ages, so that’s a good reminder, while the rest of the things, I keep a check on, on a regular basis. And thanks to FB Purity, a lot of the things are streamlined and in place, so I am not really troubled by uncalled for videos, game request and other such things. I guess regular cleaning does help 😉
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead 🙂
Hi Harleena, You’re exactly right, if you stay on top of these settings, you will have a much more enjoyable News Feed on Facebook and see the posts you really care about. If you ignore these settings, your News Feed will be cluttered with items you really don’t want to see and then Facebook will be more of a chore than an enjoyable site for you.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying Facebook because you’ve been regularly cleaning it, Harleena!
Much needed info as I’ve cleaned my account…never…
Plus, I tried a new Avatar but every time I take the picture this old dude keeps showing up and so I just gave up on it; do you think it would be ok if I borrow yours?
Hey Bill, I’m thinking you should go with the famous picture of your nekkid backside that you used in a blog post a few years ago. Unless, of course, that you’re still denying that was you????
I definitely needed this post Carolyn!
I haven’t logged into Facebook for a while and I don’t think I’ve done some of the things you’ve covered before.
I didn’t realise about the videos and I dropped down to a fairly low data usage tariff with my iPhone as I mostly use it when I’ve got wifi now.
I’ve just been into my settings and updated that one straight away.
My profile image could do with a makeover too. I’m still an astronaut on my image I think from an image taken in the National History Museum of Scotland!
I rarely update my status on Facebook now but I’m be mindful not to moan about the weather :-).
Hi Tim, Wow, you’re right, it sounds as if you did need this post! Yes, those auto-play videos are annoying enough on your computer, but when they’re eating up your monthly data on your cell phone, well, that’s just not right.
The fix is simple if you know where to find the setting. I’m glad you took care of this straight away, Tim.
Yes, profile pictures can be fun and funny but the joke may get old after a while. You may just want to use your Gravatar photo until you choose another one.
Here in Pennsylvania we had about 893 snow storms this winter. Some people on Facebook tend to complain about them but they may not realize that they’re bringing other people down who aren’t anywhere near Pennsylvania. That’s what the report said. But I think it made people in warmer climates secretly happy that they weren’t living here!
Wow! This is a lot more insightful than most Mashable/LifeHacker articles showing “Facebook Hacks”. I just subscribed Carolyn 🙂
Also I would add a section for those who have multiple Facebook Ad campaigns running. I have about 12 campaigns and each campaign has various creatives – somewhere around 50-60 creatives right now. It’s easy to forget to go through the creatives and turn off the ones that are receiving a low CTR.
Cheers!
Hi Jesse, Wow, thank you for your very kind words and for subscribing to The Wonder of Tech.
Excellent point about the Facebook advertising campaigns. No need to spend money on ads that aren’t generating a return on your investment. You can also analyze which ads are doing well and try to figure out what makes them successful.
Hey Carolyn,
I wish we could turn those videos off period, I hate when they play and I don’t want them to.
I keep my profile pretty clean. Of course I post all positive things anyway but I use the FBPurity extension so I don’t have to deal with anything I don’t want to. I love that extension now
I don’t have a lot of weird people friending me but mostly those who have run across my blog. It still makes me sad that they don’t email me because I do run across a LOT of people on a daily basis so for me to remember everyone is just hard sometimes. Of course if they don’t know that they should be doing that by now then I guess they don’t need to be friends with me.
I create a new timeline cover for both my profiles once a month and although I’m not that creative I try. Just trying to spice a few things up I guess.
For the most part though mine is pretty clean, yay!!
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, Yes, people can follow the excellent advice you give in your latest article to create new Facebook cover photos. You’re right, you don’t have to be a creative person in order to make the most of your Facebook profile page.
You’re right, invitations from complete strangers on Facebook can be a bit disconcerting. Sending a message along to remind you of a connection is helpful but some people don’t bother with that. I agree with you 100%, if I get a friend request from a total stranger without any note about why we should be connected, I won’t accept. Some people just want to increase their Facebook friend count, but having a real connection is what matters to many people.
No I don’t like videos that auto-play. When this happens on a website I almost always hit the back key. I generally like to surf in silence.
A lot of people go online secretly when at work. I don’t think these people will appreciate a booming video playing automatically either.
Hopefully Facebook will get data that shows it doesn’t keep people on the site longer, and change back.
Hi Jon, Yes, I read that Facebook was going to start auto-playing videos in your News Feed but I found that hard to believe. Generally auto-play is considered bad netiquette for websites, specifically for the reason you gave: people getting caught surfing the Internet at work.
It sure would be nice to have the ability to turn off auto-play on Facebook, but at least we can restrict them to play only over Wi-Fi.
I’ve already been using Facebook less lately, and this change will probably reduce that even more.
Facebook keep making small subtle changes to try and keep everyone on longer. They make it more difficult to sign out, show your friend exactly when you’ve read their message etc.
I’m starting to get a trapped feeling when on there. I think you can sometimes over optimise a website.
Hello Jon, Good point. Change is not always a good thing and the change on Facebook seems constant. Some of the changes have turned out well but others just seem to be change for the sake of change. When Facebook keeps alienating its users, it will lose some who, like you, feel trapped by their experience on the site.
Fabulous tips Carolyn!
I’m usually good at changing up my profile pic and cover photo and checking the settings for updates. I’m also good at blocking things I don’t want to see in my feed, including people. I love the ability of using lists and have over a dozen already set up. It’s a fab feature imo.
Definitely passing this article along so others can take advantage of some Spring cleaning or some long over due winter cleaning. 🙂
Hi Bren, Great job! Staying on top of Facebook means you’re constantly optimizing your experience there. The more you do regular maintenance, the less Spring Cleaning you have to do!
Thanks so much for sharing this and making a difference for others, Bren!
Spready Joy Carolyn! We all have rough moments but spreading negativity does not serve us, or others. Share struggles 1% of the time if you must and positive stuff 99% of the time.
Power tips. Tweeted!
Excellent point, Ryan. If we were all following your advice Facebook would be a much more pleasant experience for everyone!
The point about the auto play videos is actually something that I didn’t think about until now, mostly because I’m not big on facebook app, in fact I currently do not have it in my phone but it is a good suggestion.
But I can’t get my head around the fact that facebook doesn’t consider these kind of flaws and problems when they are bringing new updates to the system. It’s one thing to change the UI or the way the news feed is shown but bringing such changes and imposing on your users, unless they opt out is something that really annoys me..
Hi Iqbal, Yes, if you don’t have the Facebook app on your phone, you don’t need to worry about the auto-play video settings. But if you add that app to your phone, be sure to adjust your settings right away. Nobody wants to use up their data plan on Facebook auto-lay videos!
Facebook must have thought auto-play videos would be more engaging but they should have added an option to turn off that feature completely for those who don’t want it. You’re right, Facebook imposing these changes on us without an option to turn them off is just plain annoying!
Hi Carolyn,
Interesting topic!
Yes, of course I clean my Facebook regularly, especially my profile picture.
Then, I also set some settings that will regulate anything that appears on my profile. 🙂
The most annoying is the invitation application, even I do not understand where it comes from. I’ll take care of it later.
Thanks for sharing these advices with us, Carolyn.
Have a nice day for you.
Regards,
Nanda
Hi Nanda, Very good that you take care of your Facebook settings regularly. You will have a much better Facebook experience when you monitor your settings to see what you you’re interested in on your News Feed. You can block apps from your Facebook, just follow the steps in this article to block that app you don’t want to see.
Hi Carolyn,
This is useful, I have changed my ‘autoplay’ setting for video. I don’t often switch data on, I use wifi most of the time. I am beginning to to use it more though. I checked the stock market when we were out taking photos yesterday! My data wasn’t working and had to be reset, so I can use it more now. I seem to be picking up more wifi services, I even have an account at the hospital now that I can log into. I get bored waiting and so being able to do something is helpful! I’m getting better at taking photos with my phone now too!
That’s great that you have so much access to Wi-Fi, Mike. But even then you should turn auto-play off for cellular data so you don’t use up even 1 KB of data on Facebook auto-play videos.
Fantastic that you’re getting better at taking photos with your phone. I will be over to see them soon!
Hi Carolyn,
Oh yeah, I have been doing this sort of cleaning all the time. I have variety of friends on my FB account and often the things shared do not meet the interests of all. So I have used Facebook lists to separate people into various groups.
The game request almost always get a ban. Profile pic though is not the latest because I have taken a good one recently but I have not uploaded it yet.
Lets hope I can clean it up or it may just remain like my desk :D, cluttered
Hi Ashvini, That’s great news you’ve been cleaning out your Facebook all along. Regular maintenance makes Facebook much better to use. Facebook Lists are handy when your friends come from a variety of places in your life. And blocking game requests can be important if you have friends who are intent on sharing the joy of their latest achievement.
You’re right, sometimes cleaning Facebook is easier then cleaning off your desk!
Hey Carolyn,
Facebook spring cleaning is much needed for me LOL
I definitely would like to turn off the game request. I’ve never played any of the games on facebook and it gets irritating when I keep getting them from the same people. So this definitely have to go.
I also have to agree that when you post positive message, you get tend to get more positive updates from your friends. I get more updates of friends having fun and being with family way than those that have the “negative nelly” syndrome. It actually does make a difference!
Speaking of lists, I made some list of people I met my first year on facebook. I had divided them up by what state they were from. Now I forgot all about them LOL… But I guess it’s never too late to start over right? Anyways, thanks for sharing the blog post and I hope you have a fantastic weekend!
Hi Sherman, What an interesting way to use Facebook lists! If you have a geographically diverse group of friends, then dividing them up into Lists may be very useful.
You can block people from appearing in your News Feed so you don’t have to read updates from “negative Nellies”. But we also have to make sure that we aren’t overwhelming people with whining about minor inconveniences in life. You’re absolutely right, positivity does make a difference, as the cited study shows.
You can also block game requests which can lead to a much cleaner Facebook stream. I hope you enjoy your tidy Facebook account, Sherman!
Wonderful post, The picture of “time to change your profile pic” is really funny and it’s totally right that we need to change profile pic more often.
Thanks
Hi Nithin, Thank you. Yes, we all know people who put up funny profile photos but then forget to change them! If you’re going to keep a photo up for a while, at least make it a flattering one, right?
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts with us, Nithin.
Hi Carolyn,
How are you? That’s a cool list for FB clean up Carolyn. To be honest it’s been a while since I made cleanup my FB account though I maintain 2 for Personal & Mediacrayon.
I think your post bells me now 🙂 and time is up. If we follow up our friends and network through FB very closely, its kind of our virtual home and all above activities are very crucial to keep clean and well-ordered.
Thanks for the enjoyable post Carolyn. 🙂
Hi Manickam, You’re right, our online accounts really are like our virtual home. If they’re messy then that’s the view that we’re giving to the world. We also shouldn’t want the clutter in our Facebook. By spending a little time on maintenance, we can make our Facebook accounts nice and tidy!
Hi Carolyn,
Clutter the word itself create a kind of fear.
Wherever it is clutter should be removed in time otherwise it really give some kind of headache or pain.:-)
I have two accounts in fb and recently i did a clean up and in the process i lost some valuable friends and i put them back into my list, indeed that process war really a tedious one and i stopped midway. Carolyn, i really missed this post, anyways here you presented lot of dos and donts. I am keeping this as a guide book for my further use, i need to do some more overhauling work in my two accounts. thank you so much for this guide book for fb 🙂
I changed my cover photos but i haven’t changed my profile pic. As someone said if we change the profile pic quite often you may lose your identity, anyways i need to some try here in these ares. Thank you so much for your valuable and informative post.
Keep up the good work Carolyn. 🙂
May you have a blessed weekend
~ Phil
Hi Phil, Wow, you did a lot of hard work on your Facebook accounts. It’s a shame you accidentally deleted some close friends, but a Friend invitation with a message about how it happened should clear that right up!
You’re right about the profile pictures. If you’re using Facebook for business and your image is your brand you may not want to change your profile picture very often.
Thank you for your kind words. I am glad you found this guide to be helpful for you.
I haven’t really thought of cleaning up my facebook. I didn’t notice this auto play of videos though.
Hi Jeremy, Yes, you may notice auto-play of videos in your News Feed now that you know about it. While you can’t stop it completely, you can at least make sure that those videos don’t devour your monthly data allotment.
This is a very good list to clean up the Facebook. Honestly I never think to cleanup the Facebook. After reading your post I just changed my auto-play wifi setting. Thanks Carolyn.
Hi Bhavesh, I’m glad you found this helpful. You should enjoy Facebook much more after you take a few steps to tidy up your account.
That’s great you changed your auto-play setting to Wi-Fi only. No need to use your monthly data allotment on Facebook videos!
Hi Carolyn Nicander Mohr,
I am used to get so many notifications and messages regarding html,xml,css support from different people around the world. I want to filter these things according to my need, but don’t have much time to look around on facebook. So could you please tell me some ways to fix these kind of issues?
Hi Mrityunjay, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Excellent question. Are the notifications and messages you are getting from Facebook friends or from strangers? You can adjust the visibility of your Facebook account from public to private if you are bothered by these posts.
If you want to make sure you see these posts, add these Facebook friends to your Close Friends lists. Facebook us supposed to highlight posts from Close Friends in your News Feed.
Although Facebook has instituted Open Graph so you can search for keywords, so far it has not enabled users to block or highlight posts based on keywords. That’s a great idea for a future feature though, Mrityunjay! :-bd
I agree 100%. Clean up has begun 🙂