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Elon Musk Plans to Remove Option to Block People on Twitter

tripsync said:
You're ignoring the things you think blocking solves but are easily bypassed.


Why so you can leave 1-star review?

I'm not doxxing myself. :)


Have you considered blocking doesn't solve your problem like you think it does?


Blocked accounts can switch accounts and still see your feed, harass you, share with their friends, etc.



Line is an all in one app popular in Japan and gov doesn't really control the citizens' use of the Internet.
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Harassment. This is the one thing you and several other's defending the block feature's removal don't/won't acknowledge. You mentioned that harassers could circumvent bans anyway by making alternate accounts, but doesn't that become tedious after a while for them? Why make it easier for harassers by removing the #1 way for other users to prevent their harassment?

But even then, how does this benefit users who are experiencing (or have experienced) harassment? Is there anything positive in it for them?

Because as far as I can tell, all this move does is benefit the harassers.

And if there is no benefit for the victims of harassment, then it seems like a move made to benefit harassers (which wouldn't be surprising coming from Elon).
 
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tripsync said:
You don't just say "don't talk about the crappy users" and treat it like base level interaction is polite and awesome. That's ridiculous.

"More often than not" agree to disagree.

"every single twitter-like" well then move on to a new platform if you're comparing X to another

and fyi, you're forgetting that mute is changing. won't be the same.
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”agree to disagree” you’re not great at paying attention to other people’s actual lived experience. Bit of a red flag. You can’t realistically have 20 people say something is useful because of the way in which they’ve used it and explain at length how it’s better and then reply with “nah, it just seems useful!” We’ve all used block and had it work as intended. I’ve never once, having blocked many many people, had the blockee come after me with other accounts.

I am not forgetting that mute is changing at all, and without knowing the details, that’s a moot point. If they make mute work a lot more like block then.. yes, that will be a lot more useful.

Many of us already have moved, ages ago, that doesn’t mean we can’t comment on this total clusterf***. One interesting thing I find with the sort of response to “who needs blocking” .. not everyone is there to debate. At all. Making it a place predominantly where tech bros go to argue and post memes at the expense of all other types of interaction limits its appeal to everyone other than the type of person who thinks “X” as a rebrand is a good idea.

Twitter wasn’t supposed to only encourage one type of interaction. Academics have left in droves, alternatives are rapidly gaining momentum while it’s spiralling the plughole. Musk is an egocentric manchild and an embarrassment. Watching him vandalise something valued by so many (I mean, he paid a lot for *twitter*!) is compelling in a car crash kind of way though. :)
 
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ThaGoochiestMane said:
What we really need is a social network that requires users to upload a license/ID and educational background to create a profile.

Then you're only able to follow accounts of people who have completed more schooling than yourself.

Your crazy conspiratorial uncle who dropped out of HS? If you completed more schooling than him, won't have to see any of his posts.
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Plenty of well-educated people including doctors, lawyers, and PhDs have made what some feel are "controversial conspiratorial" claims/posts.
 
PBMB said:
I find disturbing that news like this generate 15 pages of responses in the forum.
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Forums like this can thrive on polarizing figures and topics, Musk being one of those figures. These types of articles can lead to a lot of discussions/debates and therefore generate a lot of posts and traffic (which equal revenue) for the sites.

Unfortunately, polarization can equal money for news, social media, etc.
 
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pig pile said:
Blocking is dumb. Muting is the way to go. If somebody posts something I should have the right to respond to it. If you don't like the response or any of my responses by all means mute me, to include the original "tweet"er person, they can choose to mute me as well. But in a free speech environment, I should be able to comment on a post meant for the public. If its abusive, there are other rules that come into play that could result in that offense meaning you risk account suspension or termination or even criminal probes if the offense reaches a certain level.

Just the idea of someone making a point, counterpoint, comment, or statement shouldn't give that person to control what responses are valid (in their eyes). Like it or not, Twitter/X is a public forum, so when making a post, you need to understand there are a myriad of views and responses coming your way. Thats the way it should work.

For those saying Musk is running Twitter/X into the ground, I disagree. I find it way more useful and engaging now. Especially the "For you" section. I've found so many more interesting subjects to pay attention to from that.
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You don't have a right to anything in regards to twitter. Allowing people to block abusive accounts is essential for social media to work. How is this so foreign an idea to some people? There is no right to free speech on social media because it is a private company, and allowing people to protect themselves from abusive people helps promote conversations that aren't one sided because the bullies have driven off their critics via abusive bullying actions. In case you haven't noticed, there are fascists out there on twitter who will harass, bully, intimidate, and even threaten people who don't acquiesce to their hateful views. Being able to block them and other bullies is the only way to have proper conversations and help people feel safe enough to actually join in the conversation. Anyone who has any empathy can see that.
 
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MacRumors said:


Twitter or "X" owner Elon Musk today said that the option to block people on Twitter is going to be "deleted as a feature" in the future, as it "makes no sense."

Twitter-Feature.jpg

Musk made the comment in response to a tweet asking whether there was a reason to block someone instead of muting someone on the social network. Mute and block are two fundamentally different features on Twitter. Mute prevents you from seeing content from Twitter users, while block prevents other people from seeing your content, following you, and interacting with you.

According to Musk, muting will be the sole way to filter content on Twitter in the future, though there will still be a blocking feature for direct messages. Removing block will allow spam accounts and harassers to interact with people that would have otherwise blocked them as muting is far less restrictive.

If you mute an account, for example, that account can still follow you, see your content, reply to it, and favorite, retweet, and quote your tweets. Their replies to tweets won't be visible to you, but they'll still be able to reply. You won't get notifications for their replies unless you follow them, but if someone replies to the reply from the muted person, you will see that notification and be alerted to the conversation. For many users, the loss of the block function would be detrimental.

It is not clear if Musk will follow through on plans to remove the blocking feature, especially with the backlash that Musk's announcement has created. As with many of Musk's announcements, there is no word on when blocking might be removed.

Article Link: Elon Musk Plans to Remove Option to Block People on Twitter
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Elon Musk has some stellar ideas. ( extreme sarcasm )
 
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ThaGoochiestMane said:
Harassment. This is the one thing you and several other's defending the block feature's removal don't/won't acknowledge. You mentioned that harassers could circumvent bans anyway by making alternate accounts, but doesn't that become tedious after a while for them? Why make it easier for harassers by removing the #1 way for other users to prevent their harassment?

But even then, how does this benefit users who are experiencing (or have experienced) harassment? Is there anything positive in it for them?

Because as far as I can tell, all this move does is benefit the harassers.

And if there is no benefit for the victims of harassment, then it seems like a move made to benefit harassers (which wouldn't be surprising coming from Elon).
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Not to mention most of what we’re talking here is “casual harassment” if you will, it’s opportunistic. blocking Works most of the time. Sure, there’s going to be more targeted harassment, and that kinda requires admin intervention of some kind, but that’s less common. The argument of a lot of the folks who are pro-musk on this thread seems to be “if it wont work in *every single case* it’s pointless”

There’s a phrase that comes to mind for this: “perfect is the enemy of good”

Blocking doesnt have to literally stop every single case of harassment to be a good deterrent most of the time. And it frees up admin resources for things that are more serious
 
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Calaveras said:
I seriously wonder if he isn't tanking twitter on purpose.
Everything he does with it drives people away and makes the few that remain complain.
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I think that gives him too much credit. This isnt 4d chess, charitably I’d say he just legit doesnt understand the industry he bought his way into with twitter, more caustically I actually suspect he’s kinda a moron, surrounded by yes men, who’s managed to buy his way into success so often that he believes his own hype.

/also he’s a massive troll
 
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seek3r said:
I think that gives him too much credit. This isnt 4d chess, charitably I’d say he just legit doesnt understand the industry he bought his way into with twitter, more caustically I actually suspect he’s kinda a moron, surrounded by yes men, who’s managed to buy his way into success so often that he believes his own hype.

/also he’s a massive troll
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I think you nailed it with your comment/opinion. I think Twitter is just a toy to him, and he's the type of kid that breaks all his toys.
 
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Calaveras said:
I seriously wonder if he isn't tanking twitter on purpose.
Everything he does with it drives people away and makes the few that remain complain.
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While he does seem to want to do things his way even if it goes against industry "logic", can turn off customers, etc., what would be his motivation to purposely tank Twitter? Wouldn't he come out looking worse and prove his detractors right?
 
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ThaGoochiestMane said:
What we really need is a social network that requires users to upload a license/ID and educational background to create a profile.

Then you're only able to follow accounts of people who have completed more schooling than yourself.

Your crazy conspiratorial uncle who dropped out of HS? If you completed more schooling than him, won't have to see any of his posts.
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I'm fine with the first part, that social media would be vastly improved if everyone had to post under their own name, verified with an I.D. And have their employer or school attached to their account bio, if that applies. So much of the trolling and aggro trash we see online is because people post anonymously.

But the second part of your proposal sounds classist and, to me, unnecessary. I have gotten further in my education than a lot of people I know, and I completely respect their opinions and points of view. I'm eager to talk with them. Likewise there are plenty of people who have more advanced degrees than I do, and they're crazy & I want no part of their social media commentary. ;)

This has been posted by someone whose profile here on MR is not related to my name or employer, but on Twitter/X it is.
 
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ThaGoochiestMane said:
What we really need is a social network that requires users to upload a license/ID and educational background to create a profile.

Then you're only able to follow accounts of people who have completed more schooling than yourself.

Your crazy conspiratorial uncle who dropped out of HS? If you completed more schooling than him, won't have to see any of his posts.
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so essentially, linkedin?
 
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ThaGoochiestMane said:
You mentioned that harassers could circumvent bans anyway by making alternate accounts, but doesn't that become tedious after a while for them?
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Nope. Because the harasser enjoys frustrating others. When someone thinks a block suffices, quite often the harasser would switch accounts and leave "oh you thought you could block me. well (insult here) you." I would know since I've been on the receiving end.

ThaGoochiestMane said:
Why make it easier for harassers by removing the #1 way for other users to prevent their harassment?
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Why make it more enjoyable?


ThaGoochiestMane said:
But even then, how does this benefit users who are experiencing (or have experienced) harassment? Is there anything positive in it for them?
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By making the option of muting, the harasser will never know if the other person read their messages or not. Makes it less fun to troll.


ThaGoochiestMane said:
And if there is no benefit for the victims of harassment, then it seems like a move made to benefit harassers (which wouldn't be surprising coming from Elon).
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Disagreed
 
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