Annoyed with game/app requests/invites on Facebook? Block those apps!

This is something I've meant to blog about, for a long time, but kept forgetting.. I've just been reminded, so here goes.. =)

Every now and then, I see people posting on Facebook, that they don't want to receive game/app requests/invites, and they may be asking their friends not to send any.

Well, I completely understand them, BUT..

Most Facebook 'gamers' have hundreds of people on their friend list - often because the games might require neighbour activities, help with tasks, gifts, etc.. So, as much as we might like to respect our friends' wishes on not sending them any requests, it's just impossible to remember the individual wishes of hundreds (or thousands) of people! Also, sometimes it's out of our hands as those apps might just send requests without us even knowing..

So, if you are annoyed with requests or invites, please Block the app that is sending them!

It really is that simple. Block it, and there will be no more requests from that particular app.

Here are two easy ways of blocking games/apps on Facebook:

1. Go to the Requests page in FB app centre.. This page shows you all the incoming requests from Facebook apps. Next to the requests, you have a blue button to accept them, and a grey "X" button to deny them. Hit the X for a request you want to deny, and wait until the request box changes to sort of orange / salmon pink.. In that box, you will see a few links - one of them gives you the option to Block that app. Click on the block link, and you will never receive requests from that particular app again, unless you unblock it. (If you have several requests from a particular app, start by hitting the "Ignore all" link in the request box - then hit the Block link after the box has changed to give you that option.
2. Go to the Blocking page on FB.. Go to your Privacy page on FB.. Scroll down to see the link that goes to your block page.. (At the moment, it's the very last link on that page.) Click on the link to go and Manage Blocking.. Now, the top option on that page, is for blocking people. If you have blocked any people on Facebook, you might need to scroll down to find the similar option for blocking apps. Start typing the name of the app in the box, and it'll give you options with similar names - pick the one you wanted to block, and hit Enter. You will not receive any more requests from that app, unless you come back to this page and unblock it first.

For example, I really hate poker / slots type games, so I went to the block page, a long time ago, and typed poker in the box, and blocked all the popular poker games from the list of options.. I did the same with slots.. I haven't received any such requests ever since. (If you want to pre-block games, try using keywords such as vampire, mafia, sims, blitz, casino, quest, jackpot, puzzle...)

I only play a handful of Facebook games, and I'm not that interested in others, so if I receive a request from something else, and it looks like something I'm not interested in, I'll just block it there and then, and I never need to worry about it again.

I really recommend using the block option - it takes much less effort than typing a status update asking your friends not to send invites, and the block option actually works =)

(Edited in October 2013, to update the blocking page link & description. I've left the old version as smaller, greyed out & striked through text..)