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Block Party’s Twitter product is on indefinite hiatus as of May 31

17 points by carride 3y ago

carride 3y ago
Discussed in recent article as well. https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/30/block-partys-anti-harassment-tool-for-twitter-is-going-on-hiatus/ https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/30/block-partys-anti-harassme...
bluefishinit 3y ago
It's not exactly the same thing, but I've been using Blue Blocker to make Twitter somewhat bearable post-blue check sorting algorithm change: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/blue-blocker/jgpjphkbfjhlbajmmcoknjjppoamhpmm https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/blue-blocker/jgpjp... It really does seem like a dying platform though, I wasn't a fan of pre-Musk blue checkmarks, but there were less of them and they weren't sorted to the top of every thread.
suddenclarity 3y ago
I'm curious how their block list with "millions of trolls" worked in practice. I can't seem to find any details. I recall it being big news in 2017 when an activist in control of @sweden attempted a similar thing and ended up blocking thousands of people, including well-known journalists. Who decides what is trolling and what is opinions going against your own? It seems like the whole service would quickly turn into an echo chamber with aligning views. Musk seems to be struggling with the same issue. Blocked users was an attribute in the algorithm. Naturally people began abusing it. So he made a tweet about resetting his own list and urged people to follow. I doubt many listened though.
- adamckay 3y ago
  I hadn't used it, but I looked at it in the past. They didn't control the block lists, it was entirely up to you. Basically it had "lockout filters" which would mute people you didn't follow/hadn't interacted with/new profiles/not in your follower network/etc, you can still see those messages and those people can still see you, they just don't trigger notifications. It also had the ability to block people based on a Tweet's interactions - so if someone writes a Tweet attacking you or your identity you can not only block the author, but everyone that liked or retweeted it (and by associated supports those view points). On another note, I don't think it's necessarily wrong to be in an echo chamber with peers, if the alternative is exposure to constant arguments, disagreements, trolls and toxicity causing damage to your mental health, so long as you're aware. One persons echo chamber is another's supportive environment.

17 points by carride 3y ago

Discussed in recent article as well. https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/30/block-partys-anti-harassment-tool-for-twitter-is-going-on-hiatus/ https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/30/block-partys-anti-harassme...

bluefishinit 3y ago

It's not exactly the same thing, but I've been using Blue Blocker to make Twitter somewhat bearable post-blue check sorting algorithm change: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/blue-blocker/jgpjphkbfjhlbajmmcoknjjppoamhpmm https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/blue-blocker/jgpjp... It really does seem like a dying platform though, I wasn't a fan of pre-Musk blue checkmarks, but there were less of them and they weren't sorted to the top of every thread.

suddenclarity 3y ago

I'm curious how their block list with "millions of trolls" worked in practice. I can't seem to find any details. I recall it being big news in 2017 when an activist in control of @sweden attempted a similar thing and ended up blocking thousands of people, including well-known journalists. Who decides what is trolling and what is opinions going against your own? It seems like the whole service would quickly turn into an echo chamber with aligning views. Musk seems to be struggling with the same issue. Blocked users was an attribute in the algorithm. Naturally people began abusing it. So he made a tweet about resetting his own list and urged people to follow. I doubt many listened though.

adamckay 3y ago
I hadn't used it, but I looked at it in the past. They didn't control the block lists, it was entirely up to you. Basically it had "lockout filters" which would mute people you didn't follow/hadn't interacted with/new profiles/not in your follower network/etc, you can still see those messages and those people can still see you, they just don't trigger notifications. It also had the ability to block people based on a Tweet's interactions - so if someone writes a Tweet attacking you or your identity you can not only block the author, but everyone that liked or retweeted it (and by associated supports those view points). On another note, I don't think it's necessarily wrong to be in an echo chamber with peers, if the alternative is exposure to constant arguments, disagreements, trolls and toxicity causing damage to your mental health, so long as you're aware. One persons echo chamber is another's supportive environment.