How to remove a nasty Facebook app

You saw the links showing up on several friends’ Facebook walls. It said that you had visited their Facebook pages more than anybody else, or some other intriguing message, and attached was a link to show you how they knew. So you clicked, just to see what it was all about. What you saw was not worth the click or worth much of anything, really. But now you’re seeing those messages showing up on more friends’ walls, and this time they seem to be coming from you. Awk-ward!

Trick links like these are terrible, and they catch a lot of people. It gets even worse though. Once you’ve given them permission, they can keep sending comments that look like they’re coming from you to your Facebook friends. Suddenly your friends may not be as eager to hear from you as they once were. You feel bad, but how do you stop sending those comments?

Good news! Getting rid of a nasty Facebook app is actually not too hard to do at all. In less than two minutes you can cancel the app’s ability to access your account in any way… as long as you don’t click on one of those links again, of course!

Here’s what to do:

1. In Facebook, up in the top right corner, click on Account and then select Privacy Settings.
   
2. Toward the bottom left, you’ll see “Apps and Websites.” Click on “Edit your settings” for using apps, games and websites.
3. In the “Apps you use” section, near the middle of the screen, click on “Edit Settings.”
4. You should see the problem app, probably near the top if you clicked on it recently. Sometimes they’re named a little bit differently than you expected, but you should see it there. On the right side of that, next to “Edit settings,” click on the little X.
5. A box will appear, saying, “If you remove _________, it will no longer have access to your data and be removed from your profile, bookmarks, and Applications Page.” If that’s what you want, and I’m guessing it is, click “Remove” and it will be gone!
6. You may then want to put a note on your wall telling other people not to be tricked, or write on the walls of the people it sent notes to, telling them you have removed the app and warning them not to click on the notes it sent them.

That should take care of everything. If you’ve been bothered by one of these apps, remove it now and then let us know how it goes. It feels good to take back your own space, doesn’t it?

Enjoy Facebook. Just be careful where you click!