How to deal with Taylor Swift posts invading your social media feeds

Many find their Facebook timelines claimed by “swifties” sharing the latest news and updates about their beloved idol. Is there a way to tailor social media websites to show less irrelevant content?

“The short answer is that you can’t block Taylor Swift from invading your Facebook line. There is no escape unless you stop using Facebook,” a guide by Panda Security explains.

Over the years, Facebook has tested many features that allow users to mute specific topics from appearing on timeline feeds. However, none of them stuck around for long.

Unfollowing or snoozing specific pages used to be enough to avoid being overwhelmed by corresponding celebrities or topics, yet this trick seems no longer to work as every mainstream media outlet in the US covers aspects of Taylor Swift‘s personal or business life.

Taylor Swift has become an unavoidable topic for those living in the US. The highly-publicized millennial pop star was the number-one artist on radio for 2023 and won many music industry awards. This trend is continuing in 2024.

There are a few things Facebook users can do to limit their ‘swiftie’ exposure, as shared by Panda. The same applies to any other topic you would like to tinker with.

1. Unfollow/unlike pages that cover Taylor Swift: While not the most convenient way to handle it, unfollowing or unliking will eliminate some mentions from the Facebook feed. However, that may require unfollowing pages of some mainstream media outlets.

2. Hide comments containing the words ‘Taylor Swift’: Click on the three dots on your profile and hit ‘Profile and Tagging settings.’ Here, you want to go to ‘Profile and Tagging‘ and click on ‘Hide comments containing certain words from your profile.‘ Type ‘Taylor Swift,’ tap ‘+,’ and then hit ‘save.’ This will prevent you from seeing mentions under posts on your profile.

3. Snooze pages and friends: If you have too many friends who suffer from the ‘swiftie’ fever, you can hit the snooze button for 30 days. The activity might need to be repeated in 30 days if the fever persists. Other options are to unfollow or unfriend those who flood your timeline with irrelevant content.

4. Facebook page/group owners can ban the words: Like hiding comments from your profile page, you can ban words on your page and/or Facebook group. To do that, you need to click on ‘Settings‘ at the top of your page, enter ‘Page Moderation,’ type the words you want blocked, and hit ‘Save Changes.‘

5. Provide feedback: Facebook algorithms may adapt to your liking over time when you hide irrelevant content and stories from your feed. The easiest way is by hitting the ‘X’ on the post that covers the unappealing news. The more you hit X, the cleaner your timeline should be.

6. Use “show more” or “show less”: Often, under a social media post, you will see a question asking you whether you want Meta’s social media to show more or less specific content. Use that to provide your feedback.

While it is hard to tailor your Facebook timeline to your liking, this is not the case with X, another popular social media network that allows users to mute words.

On X, if you do not wish to receive notifications or see posts with specific words, choose the ‘More’ option in the Menu below your ‘Profile,’ then go to Settings and Privacy. Then go to ‘Privacy and Safety’ -> ‘Mute and Block’ -> ‘Muted words’ -> “+” -> ‘Save.’