Everyone is tired of the reminders to "Register to Vote" constantly appearing on social media timelines -- especially when you know you're registered to vote and it's after you've cast your absentee ballot.
The good news: there's a way to disable them on Facebook. You can do this on either mobile or desktop and it will apply to the other platform. Here's the step-by-step.
1. On the left-hand side of your screen, under your name, click "See More." In the app, tap the "menu" icon (three horizontal lines) on the bottom far right, then scroll down to "See More."
2. Then scroll down to "Town Hall."
3. On the right side, find "Voting Reminders" and toggle it to "off." In the app, tap "Settings," and then toggle the "Voting Reminders" button to "off."
The information is also removed from Instagram, which is operated by Facebook, but it does not appear that the notifications themselves will go away completely in that platform.
If only it was that easy to stop listening to politically charged commercials. But while you're turning off the voting reminders, you might want to see what other information Facebook has on you, and who can see it.
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In that same "Town Hall" section you may also want to remove the address where you're registered to vote, which will also remove the "Constituent Badge" which appears next to your name when you have interacted on Facebook with a representative in the area in which you live.
By removing your registered voting address, you might see it replaced with your physical address. Facebook's Help Center says "If you choose not to provide your street address and/or state, you might receive voting and election reminders based on your primary location."
Your primary location is determined by the city you've entered on your profile, your IP address or activity such as check-ins, even if you have not allowed precise location collection.
Another area to check is the "Voting Information Center" located under the "Explore" subhead on the left-hand side. There you can also remove your address. This section may give you some helpful information if you haven't yet mailed your ballot or need to check on registration deadlines for elections.
Keeping information safe online should be a priority for all military families, while you're checking to see what's available in these two areas, take some time to check your security settings on all platforms and make sure the things you are posting are seen by your intended audience only.
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--Rebecca Alwine can be reached at rebecca.alwine@monster.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebecca_alwine.
