How to block social media on computer; Best methods and apps

Social media can be addictive. We’ve all experienced those moments when it was impossible to look away from YouTube or Twitter. You can block social media apps to save time, prevent distractions, and protect mental health. There are many apps, extensions and tools that you can use to prevent social media apps being blocked from you.

Reasons to Block Social Media on Computer

Social media can also have a negative effect on our lives.

• Our children have poor self-control, and are addicted to social media for long periods of time. This seriously impacts their ability to learn. The information available on social media can be confusing, which could have a negative effect on kids’ mental health.
• We spend way too much time on social networks, not just for kids. Two hours pass before you realize that you have been scrolling through videos on your phone for two hours. Addiction to the virtual world online can also lead us to neglect our loved ones.
• To ensure efficiency and productivity, some companies may also require that social media be blocked during work hours.

How To Block Any Website on Your Mac?

Here are some ways to block websites from OS X.

1. You must have administrator access to your Mac. Open Terminal. You can find it under /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.
2. Enter sudo nano/etc/hosts, and hit the enter key. When prompted, type sudo nano /etc/hosts and hit enter.
3. This will open the file “/etc/hosts” in a text editor. Type the name of the website in a new line in this format “127.0.0.1 www.blockedwebsite.com” (minus the quotes). Start a new line for each website that you wish to block. Type the same command, but with the website name. To save your changes, press CTRL+X and then Y.
4. Enter the command sudo: dscacheutil. -flushcache. Press Enter to restart your computer.

Block Social Media Apps from Windows Computers with Family Safety

Family Safety, a Windows computer application that allows parents to control screen time and limit app use, is available as an integrated feature. You can create a separate account for your child on Windows computers if your child is addicted and you want to block those apps from your child’s account.

1. Click the Windows icon at Desktop.
2. Choose Settings
3. Select Accounts. Next, click Family & Other Users from the popup window.
4. Click on Add a Family Member. You can add your child’s email address if they already have a Microsoft account. Click on Create one to create a child.
5. Set a password for your child’s Email address.
6. Enter the surname and of your child. You don’t need to enter your exact name here.
7. Enter your child’s birth data and hit the next.
8. You can see in the family and other users window that we have successfully created new child’s accounts. Click Manage your family settings online to manage child’s accounts.
9. Register with to create your Microsoft account at the Microsoft online site.
10. Select Activity under your child’s account. Click Apps, and game limits. Next, toggle the Time limits switch.
11. Turn on the toggle switch to the right and select the social media app that you wish to block.
12. The slide can be used to limit the time a member can use the app.

How To Block Any Website At Browser Level?

The easiest way to block a website is through any browser.

You can use Firefox’s add-on BlockSite to block websites.

1. After installing the addon press CTRL+shift+A and then click Extensions to the left. Click Options under BlockSite. Click Add in the pop-up and enter the name of the website to be blocked. You can repeat this process for any other websites that you don’t wish to access. Click OK.
2. These websites will now be blocked by Firefox. To prevent others from editing your blocked website list, you can also create a password in BlockSite. You can do this by using the options menu as described in the previous step.

BlockSite can also be found on Google Chrome.

Internet Explorer lets you block websites easily. Here’s how.

• Open your browser and navigate to Tools (alt+x). Click the security tab, then click on the red Restricted sites icon. Click the Sites icon below.
• In the pop-up window, type in the URLs you wish to block one by one. After entering the site name, click Add. Once you are done, click Close. In all other windows, click OK. These websites will now be blocked by Internet Explorer.

The best app to block social media on your computer:

Freedom (app)

Freedom is the most widely used social media blocking app right now. It is compatible with Windows, Android and Mac/iOS devices. A few browser extensions can be added to Freedom for more leverage.

Freedom’s greatest appeal is its ability to allow users to set their own limits. You can block specific websites, all websites except those you need, and block the entire internet. You can also schedule times when you are allowed to visit specific websites, and log how long you spend on each site.

For the first seven sessions of Freedom, you can use it free of charge. After that, you will need to subscribe to continue using it.

StayFocusd (browser extension)

StayFocusd, a browser extension, allows you to limit the time that you spend on certain websites per day. It is currently only available in Google Chrome. This means it will not work with other web browsers such as Firefox and Microsoft Edge. This has the downside that you can switch to another browser with StayFocusd not installed.

StayFocusd limits the amount of time that users can spend on certain websites. This is to keep you focused. StayFocusd will block users from accessing those sites for the remainder of the day, once they have reached their daily limit.

It’s powerful site-blocking capabilities are also quite impressive. You can use it to block specific websites, individual pages, paths and any content on a page (like videos or photos). It syncs with all your devices so you don’t have to bypass its software by opening unwanted websites on another device.

RescueTime (app & browser extension)

RescueTime is an app that tracks how much time people spend on websites, documents and other programs. It is compatible with Windows, Android, Mac/iOS and Chrome devices. The browser plug-in for Chrome, Firefox and Brave can also be used. You can add it on as many devices you like.

RescueTime does not just block specific websites for a specific time period, but it also offers other productivity tools such as goal-setting exercises, reports on time spent on each site and the Productivity Challenge coursepack. You can integrate it with other applications such as Slack or Calendar.

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