If you’ve been a victim of social media doom-scrolling while working on your desktop or laptop, don’t worry because you’re not alone. We’ve all told ourselves that we will scroll one or two times. When suddenly, we are one hour scrolling and moving through the social media loophole where productivity comes to die.
This is where News Feed Eradicator comes in to help you escape the endless cycle of social media scrolling and do something productive for once.
Table of Contents
- What is News Feed Eradicator?
- How to install News Feed Eradicator extension in Google Chrome
- How to install News Feed Eradicator Firefox extension
- Which social media websites does the News Feed Eradicator work?
- How to use News Feed Eradicator
- How to add News Feed Eradicator
- How to remove or temporarily disable News Feed Eradicator
- How to add or delete quotes in News Feed Eradicator
- Can I still use social media while the News Feed Eradicator is active?
- Is there a News Feed Eradicator for Mobile?
- How does News Feed Eradicator make money?
What is News Feed Eradicator?
News Feed Eradicator is a project created by Australian Jordan West in 2012 to combat his procrastination. At that time, Facebook was still mostly used on personal computers (PC), which became very distracting because he needed it for school. There even came a time when he would subconsciously type “facebook.com” into his browser’s address bar due to force of habit.
He realized that the news feed is the most distracting and addictive function of social media, so he started to develop a solution to take users’ power back from these sites, which has increased even more in recent years, leading to the creation of News Feed Eradicator.
News Feed Eradicator is a web browser extension (Chrome and Firefox) you can install to “eradicate” your news feed and replace it with an inspiring quote, which hopefully can help. This Chrome extension works to remove the most addicting and distracting aspect of social media – the news feed.
Despite the loyal following of the extension, it has remained and will always be free and open source. He also promised that this tool will never be used to track you.
How to install News Feed Eradicator extension in Google Chrome
Installing News Feed in your Google Chrome is pretty straightforward. Here are the steps you need to do to install it on Google Chrome.
Note: You must sign in to a Google account before installing and managing extensions.
Step 1. First, go to the Chrome Web Store at https://chromewebstore.google.com. You can search for various extensions and themes here, including the News Feed Eradicator.
Step 2. Search for News Feed Eradicator in the search box.
Note: You will notice there are several extensions with the same name, but the real one is the one with the logo below.
Step 3: Click Add to Chrome.
Note: After clicking “Add to Chrome,” you will receive a pop-up message asking if you want to ‘Add “News Feed Eradicator.”
Step 4: Click “Add extension.”
Once you successfully add News Feed Eradicator, it will appear on your Chrome extension list. You can also pin it for easy access if you need to change your permissions.
Step 5: You’ll be redirected to News Feed Eradicator’s simple interface, where you can turn the permissions to modify the sites on and off.
Important: Whenever you want to enable the News Feed Eradicator, you’ll have to allow the additional permissions to modify which social media site you want to remove the feed from.
How to install News Feed Eradicator Firefox extension
If you don’t like using Chrome and prefer to use Mozilla Firefox as your primary web browser, you can still use the News Feed Eradicator.
Step 1: Go to the Firefox Add-Ons website at https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/extensions/ or click the Extensions icon on the top right side of your Firefox browser.
Step 2: Search for “News Feed Eradicator by jordwest.” You can quickly find this, as it is the top result.
Step 3: Click “Add to Firefox,” then click “Add” on the pop-up message at the browser’s top-right corner.
Note: You will receive a notification that the extension has been added. Click Okay.
Step 4: You’ll be redirected to News Feed Eradicator’s simple interface, where you can turn the permissions to modify the sites on and off.
Important: Whenever you want to enable the News Feed Eradicator, you’ll have to allow the additional permissions to modify which social media site you want to remove the feed from.
Which social media websites does the News Feed Eradicator work?
News Feed Eradicator has grown from only eradicating Facebook to eradicating most social media sites on your desktop. They now include some of the largest and most popular social media sites in the world, including the following:
- Twitter / X
- YouTube
- Y Combinator News (HN)
- GitHub
Currently, TikTok, Meta’s Threads, and Snapchat are not included in the list of websites that News Feed Eradicator supports. This is probably because most of its users are on smartphones or tablets.
How to use News Feed Eradicator
Once your News Feed Eradicator is installed, you can transform your typical news feed clutter with inspirational quotes to give you a boost.
How to add News Feed Eradicator
Step 1: Choose and click the social media site whose news feed you want to remove. For instance, I want to remove my Facebook news feed.
Step 2: It will ask permission to read and change your data from the social media site. In this example, Facebook. Click “Allow.”
Step 3: Refresh the webpage to see a checkmark beside your social media and that it is now “Eradicating.”
Step 4: Once you log in to your social media account, such as your Facebook profile, your news feed will be replaced with an inspirational quote.
How to remove or temporarily disable News Feed Eradicator
News Feed Eradicator is not permanent. You can still remove it completely or temporarily disable it. To do this:
Step 1: Go to your social media profile. At the bottom of the inspirational quote is the “News Feed Eradicator” link. Click it.
Note: You will be redirected to the News Feed Eradicator site, as shown in the installation instructions.
Step 2: Click the social media site whose news feed you are currently removing. For example, we’ll temporarily turn off the extension for Facebook that we initially activated.
Step 3a: You will receive a few options for how long you intend to deactivate News Feed Eradicator. It can be as quick as a five to ten-minute break or as long as a whole day.
Note: If you click 10 min, the eradicator will start a timer for 10 minutes. After the allotted time, it will once again block your news feed. This is to ensure that you can go back to your productive ways.
Step 3b: if you want to remove the Eradicator completely and stop it from blocking your news feed, you can choose “forever,” and the extension will be turned off completely.
How to add or delete quotes in News Feed Eradicator
News Feed Eradicator uses inspirational quotes to replace your news feed, which works for most. However, for some people, including me, I want to have a clean, blank page when I open social media. Here are some additional details you can do on the extension.
Step 1: At the top of the News Feed Eradicator Feed, click Quotes.
Step 2: By default, News Feed Eradicator shows quotes and enables the built-in quotes to be displayed. To add a new quote, click “Add a new quote.”
Step 3: Fill in the quote text and the quote source. Then, click save.
Note: You can also bulk add uploading a CSV File
Once you save it, it will be added to your custom quotes. You can also delete it as you wish.
Step 4: You can also disable built-in quotes by clicking “Disable” beside them.
- How to memorialize or close social media accounts of deceased loved ones
- Common TikTok scams and how to spot them
Can I still use social media while the News Feed Eradicator is active?
Once you install and activate the News Feed Eradicator, your news feed will disappear and be replaced with a quote. However, your other social media functions will work as usual.
For example, suppose you’re a social media manager and must use social media for a living. In that case, your main tasks are creating new posts, memes, and articles, managing your page or account, or engaging with visitors and potential clients. So, your news feed is normally a distraction instead of a help. Don’t worry. You can temporarily disable the extension if needed.
This is even better if you use social media to pass the time. Instead of mindlessly scrolling through Facebook, Twitter (now X), or Instagram, you can deliberately go to a page or account if you need to—this helps eliminate doom-scrolling.
Is there a News Feed Eradicator for Mobile?
As of this writing, Jordan West has not created or developed an official News Feed Eradicator for Mobile. However, you may notice some mobile apps for Android and Apple that use the same name. Its legitimacy and security are doubtful, as it was not announced on West’s official website.
How does News Feed Eradicator make money?
Jordan West, the extension developer, says he intends the News Feed Eradicator to be free and open-source forever. However, he still accepts as much support as he can get, which doesn’t always involve money. You can do the following:
- Tell your friends about it.
- Leave a review on the Chrome or Firefox store.
- Report or fix bugs via Github.
- Let him know how it helped you.
- Buying him a coffee through Gumroad.
News Feed Eradicator is a simple yet effective way to spend less time doom-scrolling on most of the popular social media sites on your PC, like Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit. However, it only works on Google Chrome and Firefox, but it can be extremely effective if you use it properly.
Have you tried News Feed Eradicator on your desktop or laptop? Please share your experience with us in the comments.