I've never felt compelled to use the block tool but I like the way it works (not mutual, no notification, lists blockers).

I think it's actually more mature to remove yourself from a situation than sticking around for all the associated drama. Let's be real, blocking prevents more problems than these scenarios where people supposedly work things out. Also, this is a site where real money transactions occur. That alone is an area where blocking can be useful.

I'm seeing a lot of egos and superiority complexes, and I don't agree with the holier-than-thou reasoning behind why blocking is bad. Blocking can be temporary and can allow people to deescalate situations as well.

@ Aztec I don't think anxiety is exactly the term I'd use here. Maybe stress is the more appropriate term, but not anxiety. (@ kbbob didn't we talk about the difference between stress and anxiety not too long ago or somethin'?)

In any case, yes, I am able to ignore those who bother me, because I have had to learn how to reach that point (thank you years of therapy). It isn't easy, but anyone can do it with practice and learning from mistakes, regardless of anxiety disorders or not.

When you learn to not let emotion or stress rule your life and decisions, you can become a happier person and handle the negative Nancies in this life a lot better too. Maybe even educate each other about the various physical and psychological afflictions out there as well.

Blocking has a place, I'm not saying it doesn't. But I think we need to acknowledge the human element as well, and learn to go about better ways of handling disagreements among each other, despite the difficulty in trying to communicate that over the toneless, faceless Internet.

But, we can agree to disagree. ^-^ I'm sorry to hear others have been unkind to you, even when you try to confront them about how their messages appear from your perspective. You made the effort, but unfortunately, people seem to be forgetting other players are human too, which is saddening. =/

Except blocking someone else rarely ever stays just temporary. o.o;

Definitely. I've heard of many, many people that block temporarily, just to let themselves calm down from a situation. Then they'll unblock, and move on from it.

It's interesting that I'm being pinged here for opposite opinions, but I think that just goes to show how different people use blocking and respond to it. I'll just say that people block and are blocked for a variety of reasons and their responses to it range as well.

Just a question: hypothetically speaking I could block users because I don´t want to read posts from people with anxiety issues? Because I don´t want to run into people who are mentally and emotional unstable. I don´t want to tolerate their existence on site because I can´t stand caterwaulers. because... well... I find them offensive with their childish all day whining about "we get triggered by every little thing! Kindly acknowledge us and change alllll of you behaviour!"
I can just block them out of existence? Good to know.

Hypothetically speaking of course. ...

And people with actual anxiety issues and actual triggers are likely to block you back, or have already blocked you for your insensitivity.

Kind of funny you find blocking them insensitive. In fact it´s the same procedure you have spoken of. You don´t want to deal with a certain kind of people and their interactions for whatever reasons, you block them. Even if you don´t know them or haven´t spoken with them personally. So, how is blocking them insensitive? After all the user won´t even know why he is on the block list. No harm done by blocking right?

It's not the act of blocking that would be insensitive. It's your attitude towards people with anxiety and triggers.

please enlighten me about my attitude. You don´t know me, yo know anything at all. You don´t know if I have those issues myself. We haven´t talked once. So please tell me.

But please remember the topic. It´s about the blocking. Maybe, just maybe, my post wasn´t about people with anxiety issues at all but about how senseless blocking is. To rile you is a method to get you talking and facing a problem. And the problem is that blocking doesn´t solve anything.

You judge people and their character without any knowledge about them by one opinion, one statement or one discussion maybe something that doesn´t even concern you. (look to your own post). And you´ll misjudge very, very often. Problems won´t get solved by pretending they aren´t there. Talking about them and facing them does.

Not facing problems is not healthy in the long run.

Why did I post like that? Because it shows that not talking means not understanding the other person. People with anxiety issues and other problems won´t be understood if you simply block them out of existence. And the same is true for all other kind of people. Your reaction (and I knew you would react that way, I wanted you to react that way) shows exactly what the problem is.

A better way would be a neutral arbiter who helps the users to deal with a problem.

Lol @ you trying to play the moral high ground here.

What I don't understand is you people assuming that the ONLY reason someone blocks another person is for petty arguments. When, in most cases of blocking, that's not at all what happens. And even if it is, so what? Why do you care so much? What effect does it have on your life? Who died and made you the 'maturity' police of subeta?

You claim it's immature and petty to block someone over an argument, and yet you brush off the reasons why someone may block this or that person. They could be transphobic, they could be homophobic, they could be xenophobic/racist. They could have done something heinous off site that would not get them punished on subeta. Those reasons are all valid. And even if someone blocks because the person's username bothers them, again why do you care? It doesn't effect you in any way at all.

There's nothing insensitive or immature about blocking someone for your own safety/comfort/whatever. You don't owe anyone anything, especially if something they do or say makes you uncomfortable or upset.

Starting petty arguments and provoking people with intentionally rude remarks, though? Super immature and insensitive. Imagine that.

If you- general you -don't like blocking people, great. More power to you; that's the fun of an optional feature is that you don't HAVE to use it. You're 100% welcome to never block anyone and talk out any and all problems you might have with someone instead or just will yourself to ignore them. If that works for you, then that's fantastic. But some people don't have the luxury of ignoring people or the desire to talk to people that are rude or proudly share rude or hurtful thoughts/opinions. And they shouldn't have to.

So can we stop demonizing people who use the block function? It's not like there's even anything to be gained by blocking a ton of people, so there's no incentive to do so. Even if someone wants to block the entire userbase for no reason, that's their prerogative, and the only person suffering for that is themselves.

Firstly,

a. I've never blocked anyone and as a mini-mod and past UA staff member I can't but, I doubt I'd block anyone if I was a normal user member on site either. That said, I do think the blocking feature is useful. There are, as others have stated some conflicts that talking it through simply won't suffice.

b. Secondly, a lot of the conflicts on site between users in the past would of probably been dealt with quickly if a block feature had been in place in the past. The block feature was implemented because when blocking rules weren't as all encompassing as they are now a lot of User Administrators spent the large majority of their time being mediators between user conflicts on site. It was an issue and eventually why the blocking system became more and more stringent and all encompassing because the job of a UA wasn't, simply to just mediate between user conflicts on site and yet, the large majority of the user issues they had to deal with ended up being just that.

It lessened the load for UAs and staff members in general and allowed them to deal with other aspects of the site and not just the mediation of user conflicts. If that feature was taken away; I guarantee that that part, the staff members spending the majority of their time being user conflict mediators would again be an issue.

c. As for c, at one point, I actually do remember that the blocking feature worked the way that original poster of this thread intended; that is, if a blocked b, then neither party could see any of each other's content. However, this also prevented the user being blocked from seeing any content that a posted in which also meant that sometimes they missed out on important posts or content on site.

Secondly, there's also the issue of as Sopheroo stated, why should user a be able to police what type of content that b sees.

WOW. This is a perfect example of when blocking should be used - this person is not technically breaking any rules, but they are clearly trolling and should be ignored, and blocked if they continue to try and provoke you, Aztec.

Calling people with anxiety issues "caterwaulers," "mentally and emotional unstable," "childish," and saying you "don´t want to tolerate their existence on site." Just wow.

I think was just playing devil's advocate to illustrate his point. No ill will intended.

But, getting back to the original post. It seems that the blocking system in place now is the best possible compromise. That blocking is not automatically mutual is a very good thing for all the reasons that and several others stated on the first page. If someone blocks you and you don't want to see their posts anywhere you should have to block them yourself. I definitely don't want to be blinded by someone else's dislike of my opinions or how I express myself.

One question though, I honestly don't think anyone has blocked me..., but where would I go to find out? My user dashboard shows my one warning (for an oversized signature if I remember correctly) but no info on blocked/blocking users.

You can go to this page, it's listed on your friends page.

Ah, thanks. Well, what do you know..., I do have one blocker...., I wonder why. Oh well. Funny thing is I have no clue who they are, don't recognize the name at all.

And again with the judging. I never said it´s immature or petty. I said it´s not healthy in the long run and doesn´t solve any problems. I care about blocking people because conflicts aren´t talked about and not solved. That´s dangerous because it only leads to hating and judging other people (permanently). You cannot gain understanding of other people, their behaviour or their reasons for doing/saying something. And that´s fundamental to get along with others even if they are different, strange, mean and sometimes aggressive.

It´s actually what I didn´t do. I do not brush off the reasons why someone blocks another. I showed you the consequences blocking has. People with controversial and not acceptable opinions (as pointed out I´m playing devils advocate here) won´t ever understand that they are hurting others if they aren´t confronted and called out on their behaviour. Reaching a mutual understanding why people are like they are, why they do what they do, is necessary to reach a better community.

Again: I didn´t call people with anxiety issues "caterwaulers," "mentally and emotional unstable," "childish," and don´t "want to tolerate their existence on site." It was a direct provocation to illustrate what the consequences of blocking are: Ignoring, judging and hating others. That won´t solve anything. The situation will only get worse.

I manipulated into her/his reaction. And for this I apologize.

I have some of those issues myself especially when child abuse is mentioned. I do understand you point. But I have learned from experience that ignoring, judging and hating other people is not the right way. And every instrument which supports that behaviour doesn´t sit well with me.

Edit I´m a "her" by the way. People always are confused about my gender XD

I don't understand why people care about being blocked. Someone doesn't want to interact with you, boo-hoo. Just go on your way.

Not everyone has unlimited free time to spend on someone they already know they don't want to talk to

some people have depression, no friends in real life and are really sensitive. To block them can destroy them.

It happened to me too few years ago.. I was blocked by someone who I never interacted with.. I posted "thank you" to a friend on a general topic, and for some unknown reason this person blocked me.. I had depression at that time and this stupid block made me feel bad, lonely, like I did something wrong, like I can't even make friends online and that everyone hates me.. Now I see it at something "stupid" like how could I even care about this user.. but when you have depression you're not really thinking right..

everyone talking about their anxiety, which is a correct reason to block and to avoid someone! I'm not judging! but there is the other side, the depression, the people who have social problems, that did nothing wrong and get blocked for no reason..

I'm not really sure why the dialogue has morphed into 'why have blocking at all?' It serves a purpose. I've never used the feature and I don't plan to, but I don't have any objection to it existing.

I think we've ascertained that we don't receive a notification when you've been blocked and that we don't want the blocker to control what we do and do not see. If you don't want to see their content, block them back. Crisis averted. I'm not sure how much further this topic can go.