As much as we may like to complain about it sometimes, social media is a very useful thing. It allows us to keep in touch with our friends, stay up to date with events or shows we may be interested in going along to or following along with, and - if you are so inclined - check-in on that cute person who gave you their Insta handle when you got talking to them at a coffee shop one time.

However, as with pretty much any great invention, it certainly has its flaws. Facebook is always reminding you of that person you regret dating with the "memories" feature, for instance, and Twitter is so often overrun with people posting weak variations of the same 280-character joke over and over again.

And, while there might not yet be a way to ensure that you don't continue to see a million retweets about the Royal Wedding on your feed, there is a way that you can filter out unwanted Insta content.

The people behind the app have finally created a mute button, meaning that you can avoid seeing content from certain accounts without having to unfollow. This is especially useful if you want to avoid spoilers for a recent TV show or movie without having to unfollow everyone involved with it, and also comes in handy for when you're just not in the mood for seeing your friend's 17 #fitspiration posts first thing on a Monday morning.

"When you mute an account, you can still see posts on their profile page and get notified about comments or posts you're tagged in," Instagram said in their latest blog post.

"The accounts you mute will not be aware that you've muted them. You can always unmute an account to get their posts back in your feed.

"To mute an account, tap the ... menu in the corner of the post. From there, you can choose whether to mute posts, or mute posts and stories from an account. You can also mute posts and stories by pressing and holding on a story in your tray, or from a profile."

At present, the new feature is not available to everyone - so don't start throwing a hissy fit if your app doesn't look any different yet. However, a small number of iOS users are currently being used to trial the mute button, so you might have it already if you're an iPhone user.

Once any kinks have been ironed out, the new update should be available universally over the next few weeks.

While, admittedly, it might seem a little strange for a platform based on "following" other people to now allow muting those very same individuals, it does make sense. After all, we're all familiar with the feeling of not wanting to see a particular friend's face for a short while after a disagreement, or perhaps having to impose a little self-restraint when it comes to viewing a certain celebrity's story as soon as they post an update.

All in all, it seems like the bonus feature can only be a good thing. That is until someone works out you've muted them...

Anyway, happy 'gramming everyone!

Anybody want to go back to MySpace? Facebook's been feeling kind of creepy lately. Last month we found out there are algorithms that label you "liberal" or "conservative," based on an analysis of your activity. And the website seems psychic with its ability to target users with relevant ads. Is Facebook listening to us through our phones? I just asked that question out loud, and a voice on my phone said, "Of course not." It sounded just like Mark Zuckerberg. The social media website now has two billion users, and there have been growing complaints about privacy. While Facebook refuses to give us that damn "dislike" button, they have tried to address consumer concerns. It's great that they're adding new features to protect people, but some of their ideas have been controversial. For example, recently they asked us to send nude photos. It seems crazy, but there was actually a good reason. Many users have been victims of "revenge porn" - when a nude photo of someone is posted without their permission, to shame them. Facebook said their feature would analyze your nude photo and create a "digital imprint," so other users are blocked from posting it. Still, though, do you really feel comfortable uploading a nude pic on Facebook? What if you hit on the wrong button and make it your profile picture? (And even worse, no one clicks "like"?) Now the company is rolling out a brand new feature. The website already uses facial recognition software to suggest friends to tag when you upload photos. However, now they will let you know when people upload photos of you, even if you are not being tagged. It also alerts you if you show up on someone else's profile picture, so other users cannot steal your identity. "We're doing this to prevent people from impersonating others on Facebook," says Facebook director of applied machine learning, Joaquin Candela, who I guess I can't impersonate any more. It sounds great, although people will still be able to impersonate you, thanks to Facebook's custom privacy settings. For example, I could create a custom audience that doesn't include you, steal your identity and Facebook message your all relatives telling them you're pregnant. And custom privacy settings aren't going anywhere. "We always respect the privacy setting people select when posting a photo on Facebook (whether that’s friends, public or a custom audience)," wrote Candela. "So you won't receive a notification if you're not in the audience." If all of this stuff creeps you out, there's some good news. The company is also rolling out an option to block facial recognition software entirely. To make this as annoying as possible, it is not the default option. You'll have to opt out, probably by clicking through a million tabs, but hey, at least it's there. If you already disabled tag suggestions, the new features are automatically turned off. And if you live in Canada or in Europe, you don't have to worry about any of this. These features won't be available due to strict privacy laws. But anything goes in America, apparently! See you on MySpace! Remember to put me in your top eight.  

If getting straight up out of bed every morning at the first ring of the alarm was easy, everyone would do it.

It's common to find yourself wanting to hit the snooze button once, twice, or even more times before pulling yourself out of bed.

But here's the good news: there's actually a trick to combat that tempting snooze button.

A wellness expert has taken to USA's Medical TikTok page to reveal how to get out of bed right as you wake up - no matter how tired you may be feeling.

Watch the wellness expert's TikTok video right here:

The expert, Jake Crossman, claims the trick can be used for anything in life you need willpower for and takes just five seconds, calling the trick your "five seconds of power."

Crossman says that as soon as your alarm goes off, you have exactly five seconds to decide whether or not you're going to get up right away.

What's more, he also said you have this much time to make all the decisions in your life. "After five seconds have passed, your subconscious has already made its choice on any decision," he says in the video.

In order to get yourself up in the morning, he said: "The moment you hear your alarm, count to five and believe in your heart on the fifth second, you will get out of bed."

Credit: Anna Berkut / Alamy

"No matter how tired or groggy you are, if you make that decision, you will get out of bed," he continues. "For all of life's simple decisions, decide what you want, then count to five.

In the comment section, he wrote that he learned this hack from a college coach, but several users pointed out that this concept originated from motivational speaker Mel Robbins and her book The Five-Second Rule.

Robbins' book provides a unique approach to eliminating procrastination by counting down to hold you accountable. She often credits her discovery of the method to watching a commercial about launching a rocket ship.

Credit: Tero Vesalainen / Alamy

"The moment your instincts fire up but you feel yourself hesitate, that's when you use the '5 Second Rule.' You have five seconds. Start counting backward to yourself from five to one, then move," writes Robbins.

"If you don't move within five seconds, your brain will kill the idea and you'll talk yourself out of doing it."

Robbins makes it clear that the intent will lead to taking action. "Thinking about change won't change you," she says. "To change, you have to take action."

She describes that counting backward from five will awaken the prefrontal cortex and allow you to move forward: "Five seconds at a time, your life will change."

Featured image credit: Christian Delbert / Alamy

Why do we go on social media? That's the million dollar question these days. Whereas before, logging onto Facebook or Instagram used to be a relaxing detour into the online world, nowadays it's rife with stress at every twist and turn. Why, you ask? It can all be put down to the social media stars on our newsfeeds who make our casual scrolling a whole lot more eventful. You could say they are the people we love to hate - and you'd be right. But whether they're busy over sharing, destroying the latest episode of our favourite TV show or posting self-indulgent photo after self-indulgent photo, we can't stand them (but love them really). So in the spirit of good fun, join us as we go through 11 social media stars who drive us crazy - but who we still stalk at any given opportunity.

1. Over-sharenting

Everyone has, at the very least, 16 excessively proud mums or dads, on their Facebook news feed at any given moment. As happy as we are for them and as adorable as their kids’ bath times and potty pictures are, the root of the matter is that we don’t find little Mila’s nappy rash quite as interesting as them. And we never will - until we post our own pregnancy announcement, that is.

2. People who post inspirational quotes

Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice that quotes like these help you to feel more positive about things, but buddy, you gotta stop posting them. “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.” “Sing like no one is listening. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like no one’s watching.” "It's not the number of breaths we take, but the number of moments that take our breath away.” Get lost.

3. Selfie fanatics

Facebook, and Instagram are practically overrun with social media stars who post selfie after selfie these days and it’s wearing on our patience a little. No one minds a cheeky picture once in a while, but posting one every single day is more than a little much. Oh also, it’s possible you could have a Psychopathic Personality Disorder, so you might want to sort that out.

4. The person who ruined the latest Game of Thrones episode for you

Screw all the rest of them, this person is about 1,209,257 times more infuriating than the rest of them. They deserve to be personally victimised by the White Walker Night King. Or to be double teamed in the ring by The Mountain and The Hound. Or  to get eaten alive by the same starving dogs that went for Ramsay Bolton. Whichever is fine by me, preferably the most painful.

5. Budding politicians

People get rather het up when election time roles around and/or Donald Trump posts anything on Twitter. This is completely fair; we live in a society which values free speech and Trump puts his foot in his mouth more often than he redoes his fake tan, so please, tell me all about your opinions. But don’t subject me to a dissertation long rant and don’t do it every week.

6. Overly devoted couples

Excessive love-dovey posts on each other’s walls. Never ending make out selfies. Publicly celebrating their one month anniversary. No no no no no.

7. The person who isn’t okay but won’t tell you why

The classic “feeling a bit down today” status is inevitably followed by a whole host of “What’s up?” And “Hope you’re okays” from the caring people of the internet. What could have been a beautiful moment is instead crushed the moment the person puts “don’t worry” or “I’d rather not say”. Honestly, one of the most downright frustrating reoccurring instances to ever happen on social media.

8. The constant holidaymaker

When we’re sitting at our desks on a rainy Monday morning, there is truly nothing worse than seeing a post from that person who went travelling around to Thailand, Cambodia and Laos when they finished university, decided on a whim to hit up a bit of India and Nepal and is currently living the high life on the Australian beaches. Who are you and can you please share the pot of gold you miraculously discovered after graduation.

9. The one who falls for every hoax out there

Delta Airlines gives away one free flight to everyone who signs up in your dreams, not in reality. It’s a virus, quit falling for it.

10. The one who asks for money for ridiculous things

No matter how many begging videos you post, I will not donate to your vacation to Greece, your 50 grand a year drama school or your mission to read your own poetry to people in South America. I just won’t.

11. The perpetual hash tagger

#love #me #self #photooftheday #cute #blonde #hair #like #fashion #style #girl #instagood #nofilter #bored #photography #followforfollow #eyes #getmeoffsocialmedianow So, what do you think? Should we give up social media for good? Probably not, we love moaning about these people far too much. Keep on doing what you’re doing guys, you truly do make all of our extra curricular stalking worth it. Besides, things can get real nasty when people are shamed on the internet.

The new Threads app arrived with a bang on Thursday with millions instantly signing up - but users have found one pretty big flaw with the current version.

The new app from Meta has already been dubbed the 'Twitter-killer' due to its similar functions, and can only be set up by users with an existing Instagram account.

The launch of the app was preceded by a lot of hype, especially after recent changes to the Twitter user experience since Elon Musk bought out the platform.

Millions flocked to create their own accounts on the platform on July 6 as it launched - but some soon found out that there was no way to delete your account on Threads without also getting rid of your Instagram account, too.

Millions signed up to Threads as soon as it went live. Credit: Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Many had opted to try out the new platform after Musk announced the temporary introduction of "rate limits", putting a cap on the maximum number of tweets a user could read, depending on if they were verified or unverified, and how recently they'd set up their account.

It was cited that the reason for the limit was due to "extreme levels of data scraping & system manipulation" from AI companies.

After 10 million people signed up to Threads in seven hours, according to owner Mark Zuckerberg, some tried to leave the platform as quickly as they'd arrived and delete their account - only to find they couldn't.

According to Threads's Supplemental Privacy Policy and a Help Centre page, if a user wishes to delete their Threads account, their Instagram account will also be deleted as the two are linked.

When signing up for Threads, users must have an existing Instagram account and it allows them to then import bio information and followers from the same profile.

Within the Help Centre, it also stated that users can delete individual posts or temporarily deactivate their account, thus hiding their posts from other users, until they reactivate their account.

A Supplemental Privacy Policy also states, via Insider: "Your Threads profile is part of your Instagram account, and may be deleted at any time by deleting your Instagram account."

After users voiced their concerns, Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri confirmed: "I've been getting some questions about deleting your account.

"To clarify, you can deactivate your Threads account, which hides your Threads profile and content, you can set your profile to private, and you can delete individual threads posts - all without deleting your Instagram account.

"Threads is powered by Instagram, so right now it's just one account, but we're looking into a way to delete your Threads account separately."

Credit: Adam Mosseri

Some users took to Twitter to share their shock at being "trapped" with the app, writing: "The men trapped us. If you delete this, you also delete Instagram."

Others added: "why is the threads app telling me that if i wanna delete my thread account I HAVE TO DELETE MY ENTIRE INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT!?", and: "The fact you can’t delete threads once you get it (without deleting IG all together) is enough to never make me get it. Have fun y’all."

One even joked: "we can’t delete our threads account without deleting our ig?? they knew ppl would instantly hate it so they made it a saw trap"

For now, it seems the best thing to do if you want to delete Threads without losing your Instagram account is to just wait it out until the update comes allowing you to do just that - or deactivate it in the meantime.

Featured image credit: Onur Dogman/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images