There's something like 500 million Facebook users around the world, which means that at any given second someone is probably receiving a notification message in their inbox. And if this is correct, that means that the servers at Gmail, MobileMe, and University email accounts are flooded with notifications announcing the arrival of a new comment on a photo, video, or hilarious post that you published on a friend's page.
Simply put, those emails are really annoying. And we're sick of them flooding our inboxes and distracting us from getting any work done around here. Chances are you're also sick of having your inbox look like an ad for Facebook. We're here to help by showing you how to stop, reduce and organize those emails.
If those emails are seriously annoying you, all you have to do is head to Account Settings > Notifications and uncheck each and every box so that Facebook stops sending you emails. 
Similarly, if you do want Facebook to send you some notifications about certain things--say, for instance, someone posts on your wall--then you can opt in so that you only receive emails about Facebook activity you care about. 
Also, in the sidebar you can select the notification settings for different sections and set what kind of emails you'd like to receive from Facebook features like Walls, Places and Events. 
We'd suggest that you uncheck the "Comments after you on a Wall story" option, because do you really care about what some other guy said after you on your friend's wall?
We like to think that the point of Facebook notifications is to constantly remind our awesome selves that the world really does revolve around us. Also, everyone likes to see that they have new messages in their inbox after a few hours of work. But sometimes you can't get to all of those notifications and your cluttered inbox suddently becomes a tad overwhelming.
Fortunately, using rules and filters, there's a way banish this clutter and get back on track to a Facebook-free inbox, while still having your notifications sent to you.
Create a New Label
In Gmail, this is simple. Click on "More" under your labels sidebar, and then select "Create New Label." Then, this dialog window will pop up:
Label it whatever you like; we stuck with the generic and very obvious "Facebook Notifications."
Create a Filter
Then, it's time for you to create a new filter. You'll be using this to send emails sent to you by Facebook to your Facebook Notifications label. You can use this procedure to filter any emails you get. To find out who the email was mailed by and what information you'll need to properly filter your messages, go to "Show Details" and copy down the address that sent you the notifications.
In this case, it's facebookmail.com.
Go to Settings in the upper right-hand corner, select Filters, and click on "Create a new filter." Now, you'll be asked to input certain search criteria to keep those pesky Facebook notifications from tempting you while you're at work. 
In the filter criteria, put that you want to redirect emails that come from the address facebookmail.com, and this will catch any type of Facebook email that comes to you and funnel it directly to the folder that you set up for it.
When you click "Next" and head to the last page in the Create a Filter walkthrough, make sure to select "Skip the Inbox", "Mark as read" and "Apply the label" to get everything squared off, then select the check box that says "Also apply filter to the conversations below" so that you can easily scope out the Facebook emails that have been sitting in your inbox all this time. When you're all finished, select "Update Filter" and voila! Now, you have a designated folder for all of your Facebook notifications.
MobileMe users, make sure you do the following via the web-based client rather than through a mail application that you have installed on your desktop. You want these folders and "rules" to apply to your MobileMe account across the board so that even your iPhone isn't infiltrated with Facebook noise. 
Log in to your MobileMe account at Me.com. Under Folders, click the plus sign and create a new folder called "Facebook Notifications." Then, click the settings icon in the upper right-hand corner and select "Rules." This dialog window will pop up:
Select "From" from the drop down and input facebookmail.com into the field and make sure your Facebook emails are headed to the Facebook Notifications folder. Don't forget to click "Save"!
When you're finished, click "Done" and your MobileMe inbox will have been saved from the tyranny that is the Facebook email account. Huzzah!
Follow this article's author, Florence Ion, on Twitter.
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