Talking through the Ignore Feature

[Sadras]

Not me.

I'll put up with the 99% just to get to that 1%; as everyone sooner or later has something useful to say and I want to hear it when it happens. And I'm used to people being rude and am - if I have to, say in an unmoderated forum - perfectly capable of giving back what I get.

Thus, I never - and will never - block anyone. In fact, I'm a bit disappointed that the option even exists.

This is 100% my feelings on the issue and that is another reason why I also do not report posts. I'd rather thrash things out over discussion than have a thread or issue come to a grinding halt.

 

[Raduin711]

The people I have ignored... I am not worried about them coming up with some brilliant observation that would make up for the dreck that they have shown. I see enough of it in my daily life, tyvm.

 

[Dausuul]

I find that good moderation makes the Ignore feature redundant. If a poster is so obnoxious, and their posts so devoid of interesting content, that I want to nuke them from orbit with a blanket Ignore, they usually run afoul of the mods in short order. (In unmoderated or poorly-moderated forums, I use Ignore very liberally.)

I wish that we had thread-specific Ignore, though. It's common for two posters to get into a fight about who said what 15 pages ago, and then we have 10 pages of "you said X" and "no, I said Y," and I. Do. Not. Care. Those same people often have plenty of interesting things to say in other threads, and I don't want to put them on blanket Ignore, but I would really really like to be able to filter out just that one exchange.

Likewise, in threads devoted to more sensitive topics, I want to be able to step away from certain folks that I'm happy to engage with in other areas. It's like the family member that you're happy to chat with but everyone knows to keep the conversation away from That One Topic.

 

[glass]

If I find I am arguing with a poster and I feel myself getting angry with them, I put them on IL for a few days, to allow myself some time to calm down. This generally avoids issues escalating to far.

I not not have anyone on permanent ignore, and do not expect ever do so, but I would not judge anyone who does so.

_
glass.

 

[CapnZapp]

I don't think it has been said (in this thread), but previously the ignore feature also made your posts invisible to the ignored party.

(That implementation also had it's fair share of bugs, notably that you were entirely shut out of any thread started by someone who you had ignored (or someone who had ignored you).

You didn't just not see their posts. The fact the very first post was hidden made the entire thread inaccessible.)

I also believe the current stance of the admin team is "our ignore feature works in a certain way because that's how it works in the underlying forum software", that is, the time for special site customizations has passed. (The previous implementation discussed above was such a custom mod).

 

[CapnZapp]

That said, there is real value in an Ignore feature that works both ways (not only are the ignored party's posts blocked for you, but your posts are also blocked for them).

It is no coincidence other major forums offer this form of Ignore/Block functionality.

Seeing how popular and well-used Xenforo is, it surprises me they don't offer two-way Ignore as an easily implemented official function.

Edit: I went back and checked the earlier thread. Apparently Xenforo does support two-way blocking. However, apparently there's a compatibility issue with the app (Tapatalk) that at least then prevented Morrus from enabling the feature.

Edit II: I accept that there's value in the current implementation as well, especially the way ignored people can't know they are being ignored. With two-way ignore, obviously the ignored party can find out they're being ignored (such as when a third party replies to a post you can't see). Allowing each user to choose how their personal ignore list works (switching between one-way and two-way ignores) is the best way to handle this.

 

[ART!]

I have a personal system I use to try to govern my own behavior. It’s a 3-peat. In any conversation, if we’ve gone 3 posts without any productive discussion, I disengage and don’t respond. This prevents me from needlessly continuing bad conversations or side-tracking good conversations too far from the main point.

The last word isn’t important to me. If I’m right, I’m right, regardless of who spoke last. Same if I’m wrong.

Yeah, I use Ignore on users who as far as I can tell just want to fight, even if it's not with me. What I might miss in good content is not worth the anxiety of the bad content.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

I have been here a very long time (came here to learn about the soon to be released 3e everyone was buzzing about) and I don't believe I have ever ignored another poster. I would find it frustrating if they were a prolific contributor and I kept getting gaps in discussions that made them hard to follow.

That being said, I do have a 10-20 user ignore list in my head, and when one of those posters says something that I might engage in discussion about I just move along and don't interact with them by choice. This way I can properly follow the thread of discussion they are involved with but be choosy with who I reply to and discuss with.

I have a similar "Don't talk to PosterX about certain topic Y" list in my head for those that are good contributors to discussion but are just a little too strongly opinionated when it comes to certain topics.

 

[CapnZapp]

I should add that the Tapatalk app is already way behind in feature support.

To just take a single examples: it doesn't recognize polls. But this hasn't stopped EN World from allowing polls and generally adding new features (through Xenforo upgrades or otherwise). And rightly so - if I want to participate in a poll, I simply have to access the site in a browser.

So I'm curious: in what way doesn't the app handle two-way ignores?

If the app crashes, or threads become inaccessible, I understand the reluctance. But if two-way ignores are handled the way regular ignores are handled (=the app treats ignored posts like spoilers) or even aren't recognized at all (=the app displays posts from members who have ignored you like normal) then I'd say that's a price not unreasonable to pay.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I've very rarely uses Ignore functionality over the years (and I've been a forum user one place or another for a long, long time) but when I did do so I was very glad it was there. There are simply people who've demonstrated to me that either they're very unlikely to say something I feel I really need to hear, or alternatively just irritate me enough that the net benefit is to small for the aggravation.

Regarding the fact that people can still comment on what you've said--eh. That's a variation of not being able to stand other people having the last word, and while I'm not immune to that pathology, I recognize its a pathology, and if anything its something I strive to deal with (as I've commented to others a few times who accused me in threads of insisting on the last word "If I'm done talking I stop. If I'm not I don't. I don't expect other people to do it first.")