While most of us are planning ahead, social media is keen to inform us of the past. Year-end lists of trends and popular news items congest our timelines, each major triumph and tragedy condensed into a short blurb — the footnotes for a passing year.
Instead of bogging us down with our personal shortfalls, Facebook (more than any other social network) wants to celebrate our happier moments. With its annual Year in Review photoset now available, the social network is taking that approach a step further by filtering out sad moments altogether. Additionally, it is offering users the ability to edit the set of ten photos, because after all, you know your own memories better than any computer algorithm does.
In the past, Facebook had upset some users by displaying images of unhappier times in photosets. It has now realized that there are certain moments (breakups, deaths, accidents) that people do not want to relive, let alone share. Consequently, this time around Facebook has applied a set of filters to eliminate the gloom and keep things joyous (are we the only ones who think this is all too reminiscent of Inside Out?).
“We won’t show you photos where memorialized accounts or exes are tagged, or photos with people you’ve blocked or added to your On This Day preferences,” a Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch.
If you choose to edit and personalize your Year in Review photoset, you can add both your own images and pictures you are tagged in. Simply click “share” when you’re done and your photoset will display atop the News Feed for all your friends to see.
This isn’t the first time Facebook has introduced a filtering system to your posts. Recently, it created a set of tools that essentially allowed users to hide their exes from the platform in order to maintain privacy after a breakup.
