Matt Colville's Community

[Micah Sweet]

I think the logic for having it mutual by default is stronger, because the block is probably less about opinions, and more about interaction style.

If you have had negative interactions that call for a block, knowing that they may continue to interact with your posts, even when you cannot see them, may tempt/lead you to drop the block to check... thus negating the usefulness of the block.

Ok, that is alien to my experience, but fair enough I guess. Not my site.

 

[Scribe]

My point is you're not just making their presence disappear from your experience (which IMO should be all that matters to you when you move to ignore). You are making your presence disappear from their experience, as well as any interactions you have with anyone who isn't also ignoring them. Since that second effect doesn't affect you, I see it as punitive.

I disagree, because if I wanted, I could continue to 'engage' with them by continuing to educate them on their wrongness, even if I never saw them.

A full on ignore removes that need, and so I avoid getting in trouble.

 

[Morrus]

They're called safety and privacy tools. Every social network has them, and I'd be wary of using one that didn't.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I disagree, because if I wanted, I could continue to 'engage' with them by continuing to educate them on their wrongness, even if I never saw them.

A full on ignore removes that need, and so I avoid getting in trouble.

If they don't see you, that should be all that matters to you IMO. There's a difference between deciding to ignore someone (which everyone I think should be able to do) and forcing someone else to ignore you with no recourse. You are harming their experience of the site when it doesn't affect your experience not to do so. That feels punitive.

 

[Morrus]

If they don't see you, that should be all that matters to you IMO. There's a difference between deciding to ignore someone (which everyone I think should be able to do) and forcing someone else to ignore you with no recourse. You are harming their experience of the site when it doesn't affect your experience not to do so. That feels punitive.

You're just repeating yourself over and over. You have made your feelings about the safety and privacy tools very, very clear. Do not worry. Not a person here needs you to explain your position to them again. Let's drop the subject, and the giant thread derail, please. Thank you.

 

[Umbran]

You are making your presence disappear from their experience, as well as any interactions you have with anyone who isn't also ignoring them. Since that second effect doesn't affect you, I see it as punitive.

The feature isn't about the person being blocked, it is about allowing the person who is blocking to curate their experience and feel safe.

Broadly speaking, if someone is clueless, or jerkish, enough to get blocked, their opinions on the right way to manage social interactions ought to be considered suspect.

Edit to add - Apologies. Morrus posted while I was typing. Leaving this here so as to not pretend I didn't say it.

 

[MGibster]

This is why I make such a big deal about people not presenting their opinions as opinions. All it does is get people's back up if they don't agree.

Whereas I don’t understand why anyone would need for someone to state their opinion is in fact an opinion.

 

[cbwjm]

Ok. The way I see it, anyone who's so bad I don't want to see their posts will get kicked altogether soon enough, but everyone has a different line.

Hasn't happened so far, or maybe it has, I have no way to tell!

 

[Micah Sweet]

Whereas I don’t understand why anyone would need for someone to state their opinion is in fact an opinion.

Because when they don't, it looks like they're saying their opinion is objectively true. If you disagree, all that does is lead to otherwise avoidable conflict.

 

[MGibster]

Because when they don't, it looks like they're saying their opinion is objectively true. If you disagree, all that does is lead to otherwise avoidable conflict.

I might be the odd man out here, but I remember in 4th or 5th grade completing quizzes where I had to determine whether a statement was a fact or opinion. Discerning a statement of fact from opinion is something I expect the listener to automatically do.

If someone tells me GURPS is the greatest, most balanced system ever devised, I don’t need then to tell me it’s their opinion. (We all know it’s a factual statement.)