6 upvotes, 2 direct replies (showing 2)
View submission: Safety update on Reddit’s follow feature
Blindfolds aren't really safety features.
I'm not an expert, and I have no inside or detailed information, but my understanding is that, to some extent, you cannot prevent people from chasing you on the internet (well, you could by not enabling this follow feature at all but we know that ship has sailed with Reddit). Due to this, for some people, the notifications of being followed are traumatic as it forces them to think about their stalker/harasser/abuser. It also encourages the idea of doing things like following under specific usernames that might reference something that would be upsetting to the survivor.
In cases like those, removing the notifications can be helpful. I am also somewhat aware that notifications can be unexpected and intrusive, and for some survivors they find that they are able to confront past abuse on their terms, but find the idea that anytime they hear a notification on their phone and it could be an abuser as particularly anxiety inducing. I think this gives more control in those situations.
Also... in general I think more control for users is always better than less. I'd really rather, as many others have said, that you could just turn this off altogether, but if Reddit isn't going to allow that, I'll at least take the ability to remove it from my experience as much as possible. Again - I'm not an expert on stalking or abusive online behavior and I have no special knowledge of this or Reddit's thoughts, just trying to give another perspective.
Comment by OneTurnMore at 14/07/2021 at 23:03 UTC
11 upvotes, 2 direct replies
you cannot prevent people from chasing you on the internet (well, you could by not enabling this follow feature at all but we know that ship has sailed with Reddit).
This ship has sailed a *long* time ago for Reddit, due to the existence of /user/ pages. I can pull /u/CorpCounsel.rss[1] into a feed reader to get notified of every post and comment you make without telling Reddit who I am.
Changing this would require a fundamental change in the way Reddit works.
Comment by freet0 at 15/07/2021 at 01:17 UTC
-3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Due to this, for some people, the notifications of being followed are traumatic as it forces them to think about their stalker/harasser/abuser.
If this is you then you need to see a psychiatrist and not use reddit until your mental illness is better controlled. You might as well expect every building to remove all their doors because you have trauma related to being trapped in a room.