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• The Unfollow button replaces the similar Hide All button, but has a less spiteful ring to it
• Friends you unfollow won't know and can babble on forever about their new casserole recipe, blissfully unaware you've ignored them

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 20:49 EST, 3 December 2013 | UPDATED: 21:31 EST, 3 December 2013

Facebook has replaced its Hide All button with a more to-the-point 'Unfollow,' letting users block all messages and posts from selected friends.

Like the previous button, it gives users the option of blocking content from certain people without offending them, say through de-friending.

The latter alternative severs ties with that person on the social network, without notifying them. This new one allows for more passive aggression.

Never do this: For demonstration purposes only, here is where to find the Unfollow button--which lets you mute annoying friends--on your Facebook News Feed

'This means you are still friends, but updates from that person won't appear in your News Feed. The goal of this change is to help people curate their newsfeed and see more of the content that they care about,' Facebook told Reuters.

The world's largest social network is constantly tweaking its newsfeed - the main page users look at on the network - often by reducing clutter, especially from advertising, and bringing to the surface or revealing the posts deemed most relevant to any particular user.

Facebook began rolling out the 'Unfollow' button and a related change to its users on Monday.
It added a 'Following' button next to the usual 'Like' button on a page or next to the 'Friends' button on a personal timeline, which will also enable users to block posts.

Dislike: When you've read one too many updates from a Facebook friend you can't stand, you may now mute them with the Unfollow button

The button may be accessed by clicking a dropdown menu beside a friend's recent update in your newsfeed.

When clicked, the selected update and all future correspondences from that person will placed out of sight and, thus, out of mind.

Facebook insists it's not about passive aggression, it's about tidiness.

'The goal of this change is to help people curate their News Feed and see more of the content that they care about,' a Facebook spokesperson told NBC News.