Would it be possible to have something along the lines of Facebook's "unfollow" function for users? In other words, temporarily (or otherwise) being able to mute forum posts or shoutbox contributions without a full-out block of the user? It seems like it might be a way to avoid temporary (or not-so-temporary) dramatic episodes that might crop up without resorting to an actual block (also avoiding a bit of drama). Naturally, the other user would not know they have been unfollowed.

This is a weird Suggestion I do not understand it. if you can look at the situation with adult eyes like that, you can practice your ignoring-them skills and walking-away skills. If you find you don't wanna do this, you are more involved than you are telling us and you should block them. Unblocking later is easy enough.

I don't find this super necessary, but I'm not totally against it, as long as there are no consequences for those users still trying to talk to you while muted (since they don't know they have been). Alternatively, I could see lifting the 24-hour wait to unblock a user (or lowering it to an hour or something so that spam blocking/unblocking isn't really a risk but you still wouldn't have to wait the full day to unblock)

However, I do feel like the unfollow/mute/whatever feature sounds like it might be hard to implement

- While being tremendously technically underwhelming myself, I imagine that the code for it would be similar to that that goes into effect with a block, just not implementing the p2p communications ban. Your idea about no consequences is good and I agree 100% -- in my conception of it, it's a way to spare feelings while still de-escalating some of the drama that pops up. Keeping other channels of communication open allows for no real conflict (since the other user never knows he has been "muted"), but allows for avenues of conversation that might work better.

I can easily imagine users who have different shoutbox or forum personalities than in p2p communication. I also can imagine (and have experienced) situations such as where I might have User X full-out blocked, and Users A and B, while not at all doing "blockworthy" activity at all, only speak to User X in the shoutbox, so I end up getting a full report of User X and their doings. I would have no desire to block Users A and B, but I might rather not receive half of (essentially entirely personal, yet broadcast) conversations between a blocked user and their close friends, for instance.

I didn't really understand this suggestion until I saw this part. I thought you were asking for another form of a block that had all the same features, just without the part that tells someone they've been blocked. Leaving p2p communication intact makes it different enough that I can actually see it being a useful addition to the site.