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On X, the Definition of ‘Blocking’ Is About to Change
A change in how the site works will allow people to see posts by users who have them blocked. The company claims it is for “transparency,” but some people are worried about abuse.
A lot has changed on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter since Elon Musk bought it two years ago. The company, renamed X, is on the verge of yet another major shift, with changes coming for what happens when one user blocks another.
The block function, a powerful tool which makes your account effectively invisible to anyone of your choosing, will soon let those people see what you are posting. The difference, according to a thread posted by X’s engineering account, is that blocked users will not be able to engage with the post in any way.
“High time this happened,” Mr. Musk wrote on the site last month when news broke of the impending change. “The block function will block that account from engaging with, but not block seeing, public post.”
As usual, critics have chimed in on X, with some saying that the change allows for voyeuristic behavior on the site. James O’Brien, an author and podcaster in London, summed up the feelings of many with a post that compared the change to Berthold Woltze’s famous painting “The Irritating Gentleman.”
Mr. O’Brien believes the block feature, as it currently exists, has two functions: It allows users to control access to their own posts and mute others whom they may find toxic.
