April 29, 2010

Disable Google Reader's Social Features

If you don't like Google Reader's social features and you only want to read your subscriptions, you can now switch to the antisocial asocial Google Reader interface:

1. Go to Google Reader

2. Type this JavaScript code in the address bar:

javascript:antisocial('true')

3. Google Reader will reload and you'll see a simplified interface that removes the section "People you follow" and no longer shows shared items from your friends.


The setting is saved to your account, even if the toggle is not included in the interface. To go back to the standard interface, type this code in the address bar:

javascript:antisocial('false')

{ via George Moga }

25 comments:

  1. Well I like the existing options and I like the Explore search, but I do want a way to block some of the more offensive feeds that appear in 'Explore' by site and maybe category.

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  2. THANK YOU!! I have some friends that mark so much stuff to share it clutters my reader. AWESOME!

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  3. Is this cookie based setting?

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  4. Thank you!
    Thank you!
    Thank you!

    I cannot thank you enough for this. I've always hated those features.

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  5. No, the setting is not saved in a cookie, it's saved to your account.

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  6. Finally. But why must it be called 'antisocial'? Why not just 'private'? We're not all 13-year old girls who can't spend two minutes online without needing to interact socially with six hundred strangers. Hasn't the Buzz fiasco taught Google anything?

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  7. Cool. I feel like getting my trusty AK-47 from under the bed and running through the streets killing ppl and stuff.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-social_behaviour
    In common parlance antisocial is often used to describe those perceived to be excessively introverted, an incorrect though increasingly common usage.


    'Asocial' is the right word.


    Nonetheless, thanks for the js trick.

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  8. @anonymous I thought it's just good-fun-coding by the coders themselves. You don't have to take this personally. :D

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  9. This seems very handy for me since all of the posts from my friends end up in Buzz anyway!

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  10. I never look in the sidebar anyway. I always keep it minimized. It does the job.

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  11. I the term should be asocial, not antisocial. In any case thank you.

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  12. I agree that the term should be asocial not antisocial, but nevertheless, thank you!.

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  13. Hi,
    I liked this shortcut for changing setting. I was searching similar kind of code for other services , but I couldn't get. Do you know more. It will make life easier.
    I just wanted to collect some on my blog http://xpressabhi.com

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  14. Wow, that is so much nicer. What is with Googles obsession with making me ram everything I do down my "friends" throats?

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  15. This is helpful thanks. I'm a freelance journalist. One of my jobs involves reading a large number of feeds all day, the last thing I need is people asking me "why did you read the story about the drugged midget wrestler's sexual fantasy?".

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  16. That was a life saver. Thanks so much!

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  17. is it possible to turn off showing my google reader shared items and my gmail status in buzz?

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  18. Of course. Click on "X connected sites" in Google Buzz and uncheck Google Reader and Google Chat status.

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  19. Can I get rid of "recommended items" completely from my reader account? I don't want it.

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  20. Didn't work for me. Removed the quotes around the boolean parameter and then it worked.

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  21. Is there any way to restore it? The script does not work now.

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  22. Yeah, this no longer works for me! Please help!

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