In an effort to curb harassment and bullying on its platform, Facebook might soon allow users to block words, phrases and emojis that contain some specific keywords. Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) tweeted about the feature and going by a screenshot Wong shared, the new option to hide comments with specific words could be added to the moderation option that is currently available in the comments section. Additionally, if someone bans certain words, phrases and emojis, they will not appear in the user’s own timeline but will still be shown to the person who posted the comment and their friends.
The new moderation system might be able to filter out uninvited comments for a user. However, as per the screenshot uploaded by Wong, a comment will still be posted as it will be visible to the one who sent it and their friends. While a user might be shielded from an unruly comment, the person who posted it might think that their comment has been posted and reached the intended recipient. It is not known yet whether Facebook will notify a person if their comment was automatically moderated.
In April, Facebook rolled out a downvote feature for comments, which hides a comment for a user. They are then asked whether the downvoted comments are "offensive", "misleading", or "off topic". While the feature is helpful to a certain extent, it is not the “dislike” button that users desired. Additionally, to help users track and manage how much time they spend on the social media platform, Facebook rolled out “Your Time on Facebook” feature that will show people the time they have spent on Facebook each day, and over the course of an entire week. It will also allow them to set a daily time limit on their use of Facebook.
A user can access the feature by tapping on the Account Settings icon (three horizontal lines) on the top right corner in Android and bottom right corner in iOS. They will need to search for “Settings & Privacy” and tap on “Your Time on Facebook” sub-option. Tapping this option will show a graphical representation of the time one has spent on Facebook. They will see seven towers representing each day’s time spent on the platform, along with the average time, which is display automatically above the graph. You can read more about this feature here.