Fediverse

Blocking is great. I truly wish more people would block. We would be able to all have a more enjoyable experience.

Been doing this with a warning system. I tag shitty people and block them if I see a person who is tagged acting shitty.

2 years in, no regrets.

I do wish Lemmy would fix the blocking system though. If someone who I've blocked responds to me, I don't see it. Fair enough, but I also don't see what people who respond to that say. I feel like it should just show the username as [blocked] and the content as [hidden] with an option for me to show that content/username, while keeping the rest of the child content fully visible.

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 understand. Lemmy users are divided on that issue because not only can these people see, comment and downvote your post, they can manipulate the situation to their advantage (feel free to use your imagination or search posts about blocking).

FWIW, I hear you loud and clear. Please understand that there are plenty of people in this world who are angry, unfulfilled and can’t/won’t touch grass whose only gratification is to try to make other people miserable. This mental instability coupled with current events is unfortunately unleashed here in Lemmy and you.

Block away and save your sanity. I’m here for the jokes and your memes. If I want to argue, I’ll go to work and get paid. Sadly, you are a volunteer and many people don’t realize that — they seem to think that it’s your job to take their crap. For that, I am truly sorry.

Two of my friends recently blocked .world and had good experiences with users from other instances. Recently, there was negativity in Uplifting News that had to be addressed; a .world mod left because they were burned out; some more drama recurring also at .world instance.

Please take good care of yourself and don’t take &#!+ from any of us!

I block people who are clearly trolls and that one moron who signed all their posts with an anti-ai signature that does nothing because it was either that or get banned by the mods on .world because “I’m harassing them”.

I have been working in IT for too long. First thought upon reading the title was you were obstructing someone’s work.

It's better to hurt old people's feelings than allow them to continue to debase themselves with the false belief that they're competent.

It's possible to have a readily applicable standard for polite interactions when we're not divided by fascist rhetoric.

The way feminists relate to men's issues is often founded in a universalizing noxious ideology of feminism. Men shouldn't be feminists, they should be allies.

What I'm trying to say is: blocking isn't the reason that our politics have entered into toxic polarization, fascism is the reason for that. There's nothing really wrong with blocking.

What are your blocking habits?

I made it through nearly two years and eventually caved after I made the mistake of arguing in favor of the truth, supported by video evidence and a fact check from an internationally recognized fact-checking organization only to be told to "fuck off", a second user said that they enjoyed pissing on my shoe(s) in their personal fight against truth, and some other catastrophically braindead takes. I generally don't like the blocking approach for opinions I don't agree with because everyone has differing views and also people have bad days and that's just life. However, being actively hostile to the truth and being extremely confrontational about it was a bridge too far for me and it was either blocking a few mouldy potatoes in an attempt to keep things tolerable or getting off the threadi/fediverse so I decided to give the former a whirl.

If you do block a lot of people, has that affected your experience?

Thankfully haven't felt the need to block many, so the only thing I've really noticed is that occasionally one of the blocked users comments in the thread for something I've submitted (which I don't get a notification for and can't see) - but then someone unrelated replies to them and then I get a notification for a comment chain which I can't actually load. It took me a while to even figure out why I was getting these "ghost" notifications.

I recommend a client that allows tags instead. I only block really toxic accounts.

trolls just get a label and they're usually at the bottom of most threads anyway.

I just tag the worst assholes and then simply not engage next time.

You’ve no obligation to socialize with everyone in real life, why should online be any different?

If someone is consistently annoying, rude or spouting noxious stuff, you’re perfectly reasonable in blocking them.

Interaction in written text online is still a fairly unnatural way for humans to communicate. It’s missing the depth that physical and aural clues provide.

Add to that the evidence that humans can’t really manage more than about 50 relationships makes these global forums too much for a person to really handle.

Block away. Trim your interactions to a manageable level.

People who I notice just dont get jokes and are in 20 different meme communities being all serious? Blocked.

Haven't felt the need to block anyone but it's nice to have the functionality

I have blocked hundreds of communities to sanitise my ‘all’ feed, and a few foreign language instances. But only a handful of obnoxious users. The users I’m inclined to block often end up banned anyway

I'm more on mastodon and their filter system is so nice

I made a filter for "idiot did a thing" and every time the news has another article about how some idiot whose name is on my list did something again, as they do, because that's all they've been doing for 20 years, I no longer have to read it.

But I still get the little "something was blocked, click here to read it" thing, so it's very satisfying.

I don't block often, but I would expect it's a similar upgrade.

I have similar blocking habits. People who will not be enriching my life tend to announce themselves with brain-dead comments, hostility, or starting arguments just for the sake of arguing. I don't hesitate to block people like that.

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/

blocked

Kidding. I block BS and mean ness. If someone can express their point and let me express mine, I'm good. It's when people start insulting others to get their point out I just don't resonate with them and don't see a point of ever talking to them again.

I don't block unless it's excessive spam. Informational disadvantage, yadda yadda.

I just exercise the same muscle I use to restrain myself from responding to bait on modern day Reddit, since my account there is still active but not posting (yes, even lurking is technically contribution, but there's too much useful information there for me to justify completely cutting it out).

And for the record, I disagree with block features removing posts from the user on the other end. Public information -> only I get to decide what I do and don't see. Private information -> only I get to decide what I do and don't share. A bit idealistic, but we're talking about a web forum here.

I blocked like that on reddit but here there's fewer users so I have a higher block threshold.

Plus I want to give people credit for choosing to be on the fediverse - that earns almost everyone a "well maybe you just had a bad day".

I'd say there could be two styles:

• In one, you want to see the "real" unfiltered Internet, or try to not wrap yourself in information bubbles.
• In another, you make your Internet space more welcoming and inspiring.

Both have their merits, with the first improving your grip on real state of affairs, and the other stimulating you to be productive and positive, and being on the Internet as a place to enjoy life.

Personally, I go with the first, since I'm very concerned about how societal attitudes shift in the world. Granted, Lemmy itself is a bit of an echo chamber, but this is not the only place I hang around.