Facebook may be reluctant to remove the violence glorifying posts of one particular individual but it has no problem enabling every day users to bulk delete their own ill-advised status updates.
The under-fire social network has introduced a new Manage Activity feature that makes it easier to dispose of some of those embarrassing old posts and photos from years gone by.
Getting rid of the posts might help you clean-up your account after a break-up, or just remove some of the opinions you may have held a decade or so ago that may not reflect how you feel now. It could also be useful if you’re leaving college and about to start applying for jobs. Indeed, the company said the feature has been developed with the express purpose of ensuring your account will “more accurately reflect who you are today.”
Related: How to delete your Facebook account
It’ll be possible to batch delete items by searching through your posts, applying filters like text, video or photo updates. The idea is that you won’t have to scroll through the posts manually in order to purge you’re account of things you’d rather forget, or wish you’d never said to begin with.
There have been plenty of third-party tools that have enabled users to purge their accounts, but this is the first time Facebook has come forward with a tool to assist with the mass deletion of the posts.
“Whether you’re entering the job market after college or moving on from an old relationship, we know things change in people’s lives, and we want to make it easy for you to curate your presence on Facebook to more accurately reflect who you are today,” Facebook said in a post announcing the tool on Tuesday.
Some Facebook users will begin seeing the option within the Settles of the Facebook app, while it will begin reaching all users in the weeks to come. Facebook will hope this might ensure some users choose to remove posts rather than delete their accounts completely.
The company adds: “Manage Activity will launch first on mobile, and will be available on desktop and Facebook Lite in the future. We’ll continue building new functionality for this tool to ensure it meets people’s needs to manage their digital footprint on Facebook.”
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
