Facebook testing a feature that may ease post-breakup heartache

Facebook is trying to make breakups less hard to do and introduce a bit of nuance to its relationship management tools. The tool pops up if users change the relationship “status” on their profiles – and guides them through the options.

Facebook is testing a new feature that would hide your ex-partner from your timeline in the event of a breakup.

The good thing about this new feature is that the other person will not be notified of the changes that the user has made. After all, nobody wants to make their friends choose sides, so to speak.

So starting Thursday, Facebook began offering users who change their relationship status a few new tools for controlling the social experience going forward.

Facebook’s idea behind the feature is about “taking a break” from someone, without having to block or unfriend them.

These options will seemingly help users browse Facebook freely without taking the step from whence there is no return: Unfriending or blocking an ex. Drunk-dialing is still on you, though.

You can also limit what your ex can see about you on Facebook, or keep your privacy settings just as they are.

The tools restrict how much you see your ex and how much your ex sees you on Facebook.

The tool is still in the test phase, but Facebook said it hopes to roll it out to more broadly over time and after it receives feedback from early testers.

The more ubiquitous Facebook becomes around the world, the more likely you are to one day have anex-boyfriend, -girlfriend, or -spouse using the service. Also, you could “Edit who can see their past posts with a former partner and untag themselves from posts with that person”.