Subeta -

October 31, 2008 2:45 pm

Greetings, Subetans! 
A while back, we told you that we wanted to involve all of you more in the decision-making process when it comes to the way the site is run, so we are presenting you with just such an opportunity today! 
As you may well know, we recently instituted double-blocking, a feature that automatically blocks anyone who has blocked you. We have received a lot of feedback on it; some has been positive, some has been negative, and all of it has been carefully considered. We have arrived at the conclusion that you, the users, should be the ones who ultimately decide whether or not we ought to keep this feature. However, before you head off to the <a href="/explore/polls.php">Polls</a>, you should carefully consider the pros and cons of the double-block system. 
Pros include a potentially marked decrease in the amount of drama onsite; if two people who normally fight and argue at every turn no longer exist for one another, the opportunity for the altercation to continue onsite is dramatically reduced. You don't have to manually track who has blocked you so that you can avoid posting on their threads, making responses to them that they'll never see, or bidding on their forum auctions with no chance of winning. It can greatly simplify what can sometimes become a complicated situation, particularly for those who find themselves frequently blocked by their peers. 
On the other hand, some people find that the Cons outweigh the benefits of the system. You cannot, for example, keep an eye out for users breaking rules to report to the moderation staff. Users may find their forum browsing experience significantly reduced if they are frequently blocked because they are unable to see posts from people by whom they might not personally be bothered or otherwise have no interest in blocking in return. Stickies, particularly those written by non-staff, may not be visible if the author has blocked you. Some unscrupulous users may even attempt to "cheat" out forum auctions by blocking all other bidders, effectively making their bids invisible to all but the auction-holder. 
As you can see, there is a lot to consider, and we hope that you will give this matter some serious thought before arriving at your final conclusion. After all, the future of Subeta is in your hands! 
Now <a href="/explore/polls.php">GO VOTE!</a>

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I would also like to say for a negative, people block randomly, and also people will block so that THEY can control what you see.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I am really impressed that we have user input in an administrative aspect of the site. Once again, Subeta really takes into account the opinions of the users, which is an amazing aspect of the site.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

this is just fair.- Libre Alberdrio for everyone.-

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

oops an error --- should read "operates within a real world" not "with a real world"

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

IN THE REAL WORLD - if you are in a situation where you are being harassed - you can file a complaint with your local PD. If the person/s continues to harass you, and you have already filed a complaint, then you can go to the courthouse and request a restraining order. If that does not work and they violate the restraining order, the police can and will issue a ticket/s, where the harasser/s either pay a fine or go to court. If the option of court is chosen then the consequence could be a fine or jail. If it continues then the charge is changed from harassment to stalking and the consequence is more severe.

Subeta is not the real world, however it operates with a real world. While our words to each other may be pixelated, don't dehumanize the people that are creating those pixelated words, for they are living breathing beings.

I personally think the double blocking is a good idea in the situation of harassment. Better to have the blinds drawn than to allow the drama to continue ad nauseum. The old addage "Out Of Sight - Out Of Mind" seems an apporpriate notation for this.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Has the drama REALLY been reduced by double-blocking? It's going to happen. Period. Double blocking only hurts those who don't do the blocking.

And for those that have ever been blocked, think about if you would like someone else making your forum decisions? Why on earth should someone else be able to dictate what I see?

Think about this for EVERYONE, not just for yourself. Vote NO on censorship.

Also, if you want privacy, then stay out of the public eye. Not a hard concept to figure out. :|

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thanks Keith. Regardless of which option wins, its still nice that you actually gave us a chance to vote on it.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Whatever the outcome, it's really interesting to see how the votes are laid out.

I'm kinda surprised there's only a 300 vote difference right now. It seemed like there was a lot more people against double-blocking, but perhaps we're just that much more vocal on the boards.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

uch. i get sooo pissed at double-blocking h8 it so much! u should b able 2 decide if u want to block someone it your choice! and its SOOOOO anoying when ppl cheat anyway thabks keith 4 letting us choose

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Look I'm not here to argue with you. Don't make this about what I say. You've voted and posted your thoughts. Why not let others do the same?

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Not too sure about this,Why can't people just be big enough to Ignore the Drama on here if someone has a problem with another person why must their friends jump on the bandwagon. I have been blocked by one person I have not spoken to or had any contact with as far as I know so I do not know why they blocked me, another has blocked me because I called them a scammer.As for blocking someone well I have done it because the were begging me for sp i dislike beggars.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Quote:

; border: 1px solid ; font-family: georgia; font-size: 10;">This isn't about censorship is about your right for privacy and protecting yourself.

Yes, and you're completely welcome to block/protect yourself all you want. However, "I can't see you, you can't see me." doesn't work in reallife and it shouldn't work here. You dont want to see me.. fine. But you don't get to decide what I see also.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I voted no. The cons do outweigh the pros.

If you want to black someone, it's not hard to go to your preferences and type a username in. Even easier... copy and paste a username in and press a button.

I'm sure everyone who wants to can do that simple task.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Quote:

; border: 1px solid ; font-family: georgia; font-size: 10;">You can't come to my home and read my mail, if I get into a fight with someone there isn't 1-1000 people standing around taking sides. It's between us.

We can't read mail on here, blocked or otherwise. Bad comparison.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

It's a bad idea IMO.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

someone blocked me for no reason aswell, I didn't even know the person existed until I just checked the people who blocked me o__o and they're the only person blocking me, aswell... I voted no on the double-blocking, regardless, because if people can't see posts on threads such as debate or probably any thread then they might not get what's going on when they're looking at, even if it's just missing one post.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

In real life you have the right not to have contact with someone you don't wish to. Why should be Subeta be any different. You can't come to my home and read my mail, if I get into a fight with someone there isn't 1-1000 people standing around taking sides. It's between us. This is a pet site and yes it's pixels but we are dealing with real people, people get hurt by words and actions. This isn't about censorship is about your right for privacy and protecting yourself.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Though I've never been blocked, I voted no. I see the potential for this system to be abused (though I'm sure it wouldn't happen often, I'd rather it not happen at all). While of course I hope that no one has a reason to block anyone else, I know that isn't the case. But I'm also hoping that people who've been blocked by others will just go and manually block that person themselves if they don't want to deal with that person. I'm guessing it's not that hard to block another user. And then we don't have to have a forced double blocking but users CAN have the option of creating their own "double block" if they want it.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

well i voted but the auction hasnt been working since forever.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Wow, I have to say that the poll is a bit closer than I thought it would be with this idea. =/

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Voted yes. But then I don't really know anyone here to worry about blocking or being blocked. Yay.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

i voted no. recently ive been blocked by 2 people for no reason. i havent even directly spoken to either of them. one i knew was a very block-happy user. the other, i dont even recall even addressing their existance in any way shape or form. they just blocked me one day for no reason.

its stupid, and the last thing users need is to have their forum experience hindered by random block-happy users. it would really suck if people that constantly block people post in topics like "ToT the person above you", because they would just fuck up the posting order if the post above/below them is someone they blocked.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I voted

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I voted no. An event should suffice. I'm not blocked by anyone, myself, and I've never blocked anyone on this site, regardless of annoyance factor. I can't imagine I ever will. I'd like to make that decision on my own, thanks.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I have to say that I agree with a lot of the pros. I agree that it is annoying trying to talk with people you forgot have blocked you, and autioning with no chance of winning. The cons, however, seem to outway the pros. Is there a way to add a feature so that instead of automatically blocking back, the people who have blocked you are marked in a noticeable way? Like, an exclamation point by their name, or something? I think, in that way, it would keep the pros and avoid the cons, but might be a lot more work... Sorry!

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Sweet has a wonderful point!!! This is why, I just wonder, why do we need to see names of people who blocked us.. if I contact them, and cant.. the dur I know that I have been blocked.. isnt that how most places work..

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I voted no, as I don't want to be controlled by what I can and can not view just because someone has gone and blocked me over the silliest of things. As said before, I think it would just encourage for abuse of the blocking feature. I don't block because I don't like missing posts, and I try to be more open minded about other's opinions, depending on what the issue is about. I don't want to have a feature tacked on me just because one or two users are upset over how they're being treated on the site.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I voted no. Just recently someone I had never heard of blocked me. I had no idea why. So I wanted to check and see if maybe they had posted on a thread I had, or vice versa. I couldn't.

Double Blocking may reduce drama, but it also ensures that if you have a problem with someone and block them, that problem will likely NEVER be resolved.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I voted no because I have only ever been blocked once and it was by someone whom I had never spoken with, never saw a trade from, to my knowledge never posted on the same forum as or for that matter ever had even seen the name of before they blocked me. With the system as it is not being able to see their posts yet alone even their profile prevents you from even figuring out why the hell someone blocked you to begin with. If the double block is kept in place it should become mandatory that you have to give a reason when you block a user as sometime the blocked person is left scratching their head wondering why they where blocked or for that matter who the hell the person was that blocked them to begin with. As it is right now the double block is like a restraining order,only you can put it against someone for something as simple as you don't like the shirt on their HA.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I dont wish to see who has blocked me.. I could careless, most times I dont know why.. and I tend to block people I see causing drama with others.. and they dont really need to know I blocked them either..

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thank you for giving us a say in this. but I think it should be an individual choice. It seems that even if each other is blocked, the posts will still show to everyone else, so the drama is still there.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I voted no. ;3

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Just because someone blocks me, doesn't mean I want to block them. I voted no. you should to. Censorship = Bad

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Also, I don't see why anyone shouldn't vote. Even if you haven't blocked anyone or been blocked so far in your Subeta experience, doesn't mean the outcome of this poll doesn't affect you.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I support double blocking. The blocked users have no reason to see my post, and they can get the gist of the post without the posts from the users who have blocked them. I think it should be an option on users preferences. If you block someone, you can choose the double block feature, or just a normal block. I have no idea what that would include, but whatever. Again, why is it so important that blocked users need to whine about a few posts missing from a thread?

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Can't we all just get along. I think it's great that Keith is giving everyone a say in this though - just wish it didn't even have to be an issue and that everyone could just play nice and respect others feelings and opinions.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thank you for putting it to a vote.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Well, the downside of the whole ''we can block the users back'' is that we can't block all the users back. We can't block staff such as artists, writers, etc.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Even though I don't frequent the forums enough to be really affected by this, I voted "NO" just in case. I would like to be able to see everyone's posts unless I personally block them.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thank you. Thank you very much. If the majority of users support double-blocking, I'll try and stop complaining about it, but as I've said, I found it inexplicably unfair and heavy-handed to make any other user capable of hiding chunks of the forums from me without my consent, without even having to have a reason. It seems so out of keeping with Subeta's general attitude about free choice and censorship.

Again, thank you for putting it in our hands.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Making a poll for this is a great idea x3

I agree with several points from PROS, but I voted against. I can just manually block the other person :/

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I voted yes. Less drama is always a good thing.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Exactly, Night! That's why I really dislike that feature.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I don't like being kept in the dark - can't a user just block back? I don't like decisions being made for me. :|

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Long post might be long, but it's also informative.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Thanks for making a poll on it, it's nice to see this isn't going to be all "Well we decided this way and that's how it's gonna be, so screw you" xD

Anyway, I voted no. I don't like the fact that anyone can block me for whatever stupid reason they feel like and then just like that I won't be able to see their posts anymore. Plus, everything else mentioned in the cons list :p

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I just wanted to mention another point. For sure it might be anoying to track everybody who blocked you by yourself but isn't a short message like "XY has blocked you" much enough for these circumstances? I even think there's no longer a way given to talk about problems or say sorry if one recognizes his/her mistake because...it's blocked. Or did I get it wrong?

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

Voted against, even though I do agree with some of the pros.

However, I simply hate it when other people decide for me what I can and cannot see. Censorship blows.

Thanks for letting us users decide, by the way, regardless of the outcome.

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I vote jes, yay for less drama. =D

December 31, 1969, 7:00 pm by

I'm not sure that I should bother to vote at all, being as I have never blocked, nor been blocked by someone, and honestly doubt that i will ever be or will need to block someone. If/when that time comes, then I might have an opinion on this

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