I block, you block, we all block Twitter shock schlock Twitter has introduced a feature that allows users to share their block lists with others to help single out abusive users. Beginning on Wednesday, the 140-character gab service has enabled Twitter users to share data on who they have blocked from following their own feeds, with the idea that others will use the information to …
Probably not that simple.
I was blocked by someone on Twitter because I replied to something they Tweeted, agreeing with them. It wasn't exactly a flame-y thread either!
My point is, blocking isn't a precise science. There's probably much more blocking going on because "You're talking what I think is bollocks. Why can't you admit you're completely wrong and I'm totally right" than the more instructive "You're an offensive, nasty troll that's made death threats and might have tried to follow me home the other night".
"There's probably much more blocking going on because "You're talking what I think is bollocks..."
My experience also. For example, when WAM got their hooks into Twitter's account suspension processes a few people I follow got suspended almost immediately. None of them were harassers, they just had different opinions to the radical feminists running WAM. One woman got a permanent ban for quoting Jessica Valenti - the Twitter feminists didn't believe one of their own could say anything so stupid, so they got together and banned the messenger! Claims of "trolling" tend to be about censorship rather than safety, and a claim of harassment often turns out to be nothing more than harassment itself. The abuse problem is way overstated and shared block lists is just going to create a filter bubble within Twitter.
"One woman got a permanent ban for quoting Jessica Valenti - the Twitter feminists didn't believe one of their own could say anything so stupid,"
Jessica Valenti is the anti-feminists' secret weapon. She is the moment we hit peak feminism. After her every Graun groan, I'm left defending the tatters of feminism. ("Hey, don't throw the baby out with the bath water!") And I'm not a feminist.
Everyone gets blocked on Twitter, I'm talking about a single account being blocked multiple times triggering a flag. If one guy blocks you, he might just be a bellend who doesn't want to hear an opinion from outside his echo chamber. If ten people block you in a month, someone at Twitter needs to take a look at what you're posting.
No, that's what the report abuse feature if for. Blocking is for accounts you find annoying or offensive, not necessarily accounts that have done anything illegal or objectively wrong. If I were to start replying to @SundayGospel's tweets with "Wake up! God isn't real." I would fully expect to get blocked, and they can now easily recommend their religious friends do the same, which is fine by me. But it's not Twitter's job to intervene in something like that.
If people want to put themselves in a "filter bubble" as another comment put it, I say let 'em. It might even cut down on false abuse reports somewhat.
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Most of the folks on my block list tend to be people or companies whose Promoted Tweets have appeared in my timeline. In fact, my first (and pretty much only) action on seeing a Promoted Tweet is to block the sender.
I'd guess that some other folks do the same.
So...if we all exchanged our lists of blocked users, could we come up with the beginning of a global Twitter spam block list? Pretty sure that wasn't Twitter's intention with this feature, but it sounds like a very useful application for it.
I'd like to think that would work considering some of the "So wide of the mark it hurts" style of targeted" ads I get.
Unfortunately the Marketing department are one step ahead of you. I've seen tweets being promoted where the tweet is by random person with probably a fake account set up by Marketing who "...simply loves this product and now you can get it at a discount through this partner retailer" but the actual tweet promoting is done by the manufacturer/supplier. The kind of Marketing droid behaviour that walks up to the line, stands on it, leans over it and blows a massive raspberry; but never crosses it.
Pic -> Marketing department caught doing this.
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