Mastodawn

I've recently turned into a blocker.

https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/55336396

I've recently turned into a blocker. - Divisions by zero

I always felt like it was wrong to block an account unless it was smth absolutely insane. Nazis etc. But now I’m blocking people who’s tone I dont like, or who are baiting or actingnin bad faith. I know I can’t do it as a mod. But i can certainly do it as an individual now. Judgy comment? Blocked. Unnecessarily confrontational? Blocked. This is new to me, literally 3 days. Wonder how this affects my feed. Only disappointing thing is they can still see and respond to my posts, just that I can’t see it. I wish they couldn’t see anything I posted either. What are your blocking habits? If you do block a lot of people, has that affected your experience?

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FaceDeer Oct 12

Only disappointing thing is they can still see and respond to my posts, just that I can't see it. I wish they couldn't see anything I posted either.

I've seen this view in discussions of blocking before and it really bugs me. You're desiring to unilaterally control what I can see and do on the Fediverse.

This is how it works on Reddit and it's a terrible mechanism. It means you can preemptively ensure that anyone who might refute misinformation will be excluded from your threads before you post them. It means you can step into a conversation I'm having with someone, derail it, and then prevent me from responding to your derail. Over on Reddit by far the most common use I see of the block tool is to get the "last word" in on whatever argument is going on, posting some sort of seemingly clever comeback and then instantly blocking me before I can point out the flaws.

For anyone wondering how the blocking feature has been weaponized to spread misinformation, in 2022 a redditor did an experiment: https://www.reddit.com/r/TheoryOfReddit/comments/sdcsx3/testing_reddits_new_block_feature_and_its_effects/

Testing Reddit's new block feature and its effects on spreading misinformation and propaganda.

[](##My submission does not run afoul of the submission guidelines.) Reddit recently announced changes to how blocking works. [Here is a link to...

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FistingEnthusiast Oct 12

I have blocked people on reddit who have stalked me.

You’re saying that they should be able to continue to do so?

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Azzu

Blocking is not an adequate defense to that anyway. If someone wants to stalk you, they can just not log in at all. You’re posting in q public place that everyone can see. Because of that, blocking only makes sense in one direction.