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I do not use The X Formerly Known As Twitter, but if I write a message that is intended to be public (regardless of what service it is on), I would intend that

I do not use The X Formerly Known As Twitter, but if I write a message that is intended to be public (regardless of what service it is on), I would intend that people I had blocked are still able to see the message (and make copies of it) if they wish; I would block them because I don't want to see their messages and I do not want to allow them to send messages to me. I would also not want the number of users who blocked someone to have an effect on moderation; if something is enough abuse to be reported that should be done separately than blocking, I think.

GenerocUsername 2y ago
This. There is no such thing as blocked on a public platform. Everyone has always known viewing the site incognito allows you to see blocked content.
- MintPaw 2y ago
  That was the case a few years ago, now there's an AI system that decides if you're allowed to view it or if you have to sign in.
  - WA 2y ago
    "AI system"? I think it’s if Referer != ''
    - vasco 2y ago
      "AI supported by expertly crafted heuristics for the edge cases" would be the slide title for the investor pitch deck about this if condition.
- _djo_ 2y ago
  You're not able to view profiles when logged out.
  - oytis 2y ago
    Which sucks honestly. I don't have an account on Twitter and don't want to have one, but people ofter refer to Twitter threads, and it would be great to see them. Not to say about indexing
  - bitlevel 2y ago
    You can use Nitter to view content - list of servers here: https://github.com/zedeus/nitter/wiki/Instances https://github.com/zedeus/nitter/wiki/Instances
    - _djo_ 2y ago
      True, but Nitter is a bit hit and miss, and wasn't working for a while. No guarantee that it'll always remain available.
  - maxlin 2y ago
    You can make alt accounts easily enough, there's no draconian "new internet" rules like forced SMS verification. I created a few for different reasons and haven't had trouble with them
- Jare 2y ago
  If something remains possible but with a little friction, a lot (not all, but a lot) of it actually stops happening.
- chii 2y ago
  a large portion of twitter posts actually require a logged in account to view.
throwaway290 2y ago
> X Formerly Known As Twitter Xitter for short. > I would intend that people I had blocked are still able to see the message (and make copies of it) if they wish; I would block them because I don't want to see their messages and I do not want to allow them to send messages to me I don't. There are different reasons to block and musk only sees the political one. On personal level I may want to have a public account for something but also don't want some person I know to see it and connect the dots that it is me. Maybe just because it's awkward or maybe be more than that Imagine you are in an abusive relationship or just have a stalker. If you are the victim you want to escape and built relationships with other people. You create an alt with another name and block your abuser in advance so there is no way of finding out whose account it is unless you are betrayed by a friend. But now twitter will betray you. Unless you go private account and then no one talks to you.
- ipaddr 2y ago
  They could use another account or no account. Remember your posts are public. If you are trying to hide from an ex or stalker posting your thoughts publicly will expose you by default. Trying to change names but keep a public friend list of contacts known to ex (and maybe stalker) is not going to turn out well.
  - throwaway290 2y ago
    > They could use another account or no account It's true they could also create an alt, it's a weapons race > but keep a public friend list of contacts known to ex Well in my case I add almost no one from the other life, very selective. But me is not about abuse or anything, just trying a new thing. If I could not block certain people fully I would not use that platform for this. I agree blocking can also be used in unseemly ways though
- pxtail 2y ago
  And now imagine that you are small city governor or fire department, person who manages profile blocked certain individuals because of inappropriate messages, spam, whatever - now potentially important local news cannot be delivered to that person. Yeah, I know, I know public institutions shouldn't use and empower private platforms but this is reality we live in.
Mashimo 2y ago
Reddit does it similar. When someone blocks you, you can't see their comments. You can't even respond to other people who wrote on your threads. For example if you would block someone, they could not reply on this/my post here, because it's based on yours. Helps things from escalating I guess.
- Seattle3503 2y ago
  I've found in some communities the most caustic, snappy, and prolific commentors will block you the moment you disagree with them. The result is that everyone who disagrees with them is eventually blocked, and their snappy comments sit at the top of threads, uncontested.
  - bugtodiffer 2y ago
    yeah on their screen? How can blocking influence the ranking?
    - ragazzina 2y ago
      I guess all the people that could disagree and downvote just do not see the comment.
      - chii 2y ago
        i think there should be an option, where you automatically downvote a blocked user's post/comment, even without seeing it. If that user doesn't have many people blocking them, then this will barely affect the votes. If they have tonnes of blockers, then would indicate that they probably deserved it, and the downvotes would make sense anyway. It would prevent echo chambers from forming.
        Mashimo 2y ago
        On small sub-reddits even something like -5 votes will have a huge impact. If you are on a bigger forum, block a few because you just don't want to see their posts. Or they are bots. Suddenly you have huge problems on small subreddits. And I don't see a huge benefit to it. People clean up their block list maybe? But for what.
twelvedogs 2y ago
agree, plus since it's trivially easy to get around the block it's almost pointless that person no longer exists to me, their opinion of me doesn't exist, whether non-person reads my posts or not is uninteresting to me
- nkmnz 2y ago
  It's not about others reading your posts. It's about stuffing the posts of people you have blocked down your throat.

GenerocUsername 2y ago

This. There is no such thing as blocked on a public platform. Everyone has always known viewing the site incognito allows you to see blocked content.

MintPaw 2y ago
That was the case a few years ago, now there's an AI system that decides if you're allowed to view it or if you have to sign in.
- WA 2y ago
  "AI system"? I think it’s if Referer != ''
  - vasco 2y ago
    "AI supported by expertly crafted heuristics for the edge cases" would be the slide title for the investor pitch deck about this if condition.
_djo_ 2y ago
You're not able to view profiles when logged out.
- oytis 2y ago
  Which sucks honestly. I don't have an account on Twitter and don't want to have one, but people ofter refer to Twitter threads, and it would be great to see them. Not to say about indexing
- bitlevel 2y ago
  You can use Nitter to view content - list of servers here: https://github.com/zedeus/nitter/wiki/Instances https://github.com/zedeus/nitter/wiki/Instances
  - _djo_ 2y ago
    True, but Nitter is a bit hit and miss, and wasn't working for a while. No guarantee that it'll always remain available.
- maxlin 2y ago
  You can make alt accounts easily enough, there's no draconian "new internet" rules like forced SMS verification. I created a few for different reasons and haven't had trouble with them
Jare 2y ago
If something remains possible but with a little friction, a lot (not all, but a lot) of it actually stops happening.
chii 2y ago
a large portion of twitter posts actually require a logged in account to view.

throwaway290 2y ago

> X Formerly Known As Twitter Xitter for short. > I would intend that people I had blocked are still able to see the message (and make copies of it) if they wish; I would block them because I don't want to see their messages and I do not want to allow them to send messages to me I don't. There are different reasons to block and musk only sees the political one. On personal level I may want to have a public account for something but also don't want some person I know to see it and connect the dots that it is me. Maybe just because it's awkward or maybe be more than that Imagine you are in an abusive relationship or just have a stalker. If you are the victim you want to escape and built relationships with other people. You create an alt with another name and block your abuser in advance so there is no way of finding out whose account it is unless you are betrayed by a friend. But now twitter will betray you. Unless you go private account and then no one talks to you.

ipaddr 2y ago
They could use another account or no account. Remember your posts are public. If you are trying to hide from an ex or stalker posting your thoughts publicly will expose you by default. Trying to change names but keep a public friend list of contacts known to ex (and maybe stalker) is not going to turn out well.
- throwaway290 2y ago
  > They could use another account or no account It's true they could also create an alt, it's a weapons race > but keep a public friend list of contacts known to ex Well in my case I add almost no one from the other life, very selective. But me is not about abuse or anything, just trying a new thing. If I could not block certain people fully I would not use that platform for this. I agree blocking can also be used in unseemly ways though
pxtail 2y ago
And now imagine that you are small city governor or fire department, person who manages profile blocked certain individuals because of inappropriate messages, spam, whatever - now potentially important local news cannot be delivered to that person. Yeah, I know, I know public institutions shouldn't use and empower private platforms but this is reality we live in.

Mashimo 2y ago

Reddit does it similar. When someone blocks you, you can't see their comments. You can't even respond to other people who wrote on your threads. For example if you would block someone, they could not reply on this/my post here, because it's based on yours. Helps things from escalating I guess.

Seattle3503 2y ago
I've found in some communities the most caustic, snappy, and prolific commentors will block you the moment you disagree with them. The result is that everyone who disagrees with them is eventually blocked, and their snappy comments sit at the top of threads, uncontested.
- bugtodiffer 2y ago
  yeah on their screen? How can blocking influence the ranking?
  - ragazzina 2y ago
    I guess all the people that could disagree and downvote just do not see the comment.
    - chii 2y ago
      i think there should be an option, where you automatically downvote a blocked user's post/comment, even without seeing it. If that user doesn't have many people blocking them, then this will barely affect the votes. If they have tonnes of blockers, then would indicate that they probably deserved it, and the downvotes would make sense anyway. It would prevent echo chambers from forming.
      - Mashimo 2y ago
        On small sub-reddits even something like -5 votes will have a huge impact. If you are on a bigger forum, block a few because you just don't want to see their posts. Or they are bots. Suddenly you have huge problems on small subreddits. And I don't see a huge benefit to it. People clean up their block list maybe? But for what.

twelvedogs 2y ago

agree, plus since it's trivially easy to get around the block it's almost pointless that person no longer exists to me, their opinion of me doesn't exist, whether non-person reads my posts or not is uninteresting to me

nkmnz 2y ago
It's not about others reading your posts. It's about stuffing the posts of people you have blocked down your throat.