Blocking on forums should prevent interactions both ways

I disagree. Imo a big thing in SoT is that people are very passive aggressive and they like to yell at the clouds a lot in how they communicate.

This creates a situation where people block but then just carry on the drama by talking at people and about people rather than to them.

It's pretty common to open a thread/sot discussion and seeing people fighting against people that aren't even in the thread/talk, and the points haven't even been made. Social media is full of SoT people that block and then just talk about people nonstop. I don't think that's a healthy part of feedback. It's very self serving and not constructive.

I've never blocked anyone, it's just a part of being involved in feedback to see people we don't like or agree with imo. There are regs here that I've had little to no interactions with over the years, they aren't into my style and I'm not into theirs and we just coexist peacefully. I think coexisting peacefully is more difficult to learn and achieve when people separate and still carry things on.

Avoiding works better than blocking ever will online. Forums are heavily moderated, it's not like people are getting away with much here anyway, other than the passive aggressive jabs that make it through sometimes.

It's a public spot to talk policy and direction of something we share. Need less blocking and clique'ing up, not more of it.

@metal-ravage said in Blocking on forums should prevent interactions both ways:

I think the OP has a valid point. We are all aware of the times we live in and how public forums can be. Personally, I come here to discuss my favorite game with fellow gamers; not to engage in futile rhetoric or to revert to moralizing.

Blocking as last resort sometimes is a necessity and imo this is a reasonable solution for every social media outlet.

and how is it?

People aren't blocking disturbing stuff or inappropriate stuff or harassment or any of that because it isn't allowed here, and a lot of it either gets insta-deleted or doesn't last long.

People aren't protecting themselves with a block on SoT forums, they are entirely blocking based on disagreement or disliking someone or not wanting to have their ideas and views challenged in a moderated public space.

Changing the experience of others (in a space that is built for interaction and discussion and idea challenges) because people want to block mild posts and opinions is a power grab imo and would make the forums existing pretty pointless.

I've scrolled past some types of posts and posters for a long time, it's really really easy to do without any issue. It's not an area where wild and harmful/triggering stuff is happening. Even pretty mild stuff gets deleted/edited pretty regularly.

I get not liking some of the posts or the approaches of some regs. We all have our preferences. This is a place where they have as much of a privilege to participate without getting shut out as us, and vice versa. Otherwise there is no point to even having public forums.

@ghutar said in Blocking on forums should prevent interactions both ways:

@wolfmanbush

Sometimes I see topic and Im able to predict certain reaponses and Im like "wow maybe it's time to block that user couse Im kinda tired of same snarky responses that brings nothing into discourse" so I understend that sentiment of OP.

I think platform matters a lot. This isn't a private or a personal space. It's kind of the town square of SoT.

On something like twitter or other social media it's understandable that people wanna try to focus on their mental health and cut out things that are having negative impact. (Blocking people and then still carrying on about the drama is just a silly thing to do, it earns the criticism it gets)

Blocking without it directly messing with how others participate is totally fine.

Imo what happens way too much in sot is that people want to be the focus of attention without being challenged, without facing fair criticism, without accountability. It has become team sport in SoT because that's what social media and engagement farming and status chasing do, they create team sport.

Are some posts obnoxiously rude in a way that slips through the cracks? Absolutely, and the same goes for people being dismissed as original posters and posters that go against the grain. That's just a part of life. It's a part of participating.

Imo dealing with mildly annoying and obnoxious stuff that people do is how people improve in their own participation. Blocking is one way, another is just not letting mild stuff become a major focus and negative part of the experience. It's really not a lot of effort to just scroll right on by posts and people in a thread. Even when they are daily regs.

We all annoy someone. Every one of us. It's a part of life.

Block/ban and then still yapping has been a pretty destructive part of internet interaction, imo. I think that mild posting is not something that people need extra protections or features for. I think it makes public spaces worse.