271 upvotes, 13 direct replies (showing 13)
View submission: What we’re working on this year
Can you fix the new block feature? Currently it's being horribly abused to prevent disagreement in conversations, and that then preventing you from not only ever replying to the person that blocked but never being able to even reply to replies to them at any point in the future is awful.
You should be able to reply to people that have blocked you and they just shouldn't be notified or even see your message (unless they choose to).
For example here. I made a comment somewhere that someone disagreed with, so they responded to attack me and then immediately blocked so I couldn't respond at all. Now when new Pokemon news comes out, I can't even reply to a ton of comments in the thread because of some guy that I had never actually talked to in my life. How is this fair or promoting discussion in any way?
Comment by CTR0 at 02/06/2022 at 20:05 UTC
28 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Our subreddit is struggling with this right now. We moderators are having to speculatively ban people for block abuse, because we can't see when one user blocks another. Its users that come to us complaining about not being able to respond. Taking action on this requires us to trust user reports we can't validate and is prone to collateral bans because people get blocked from entire threads. I hope we mods and the admins can agree that speculatively banning people over a feature that is supposed to protect them is not a good thing, but right now this is our only recourse.
And when two valued contributors have each other blocked for whatever reason, its even more problematic because we can't do anything about it. We are having people leave our community over this.
This change has caused us nothing but headaches.
Comment by AigisAegis at 02/06/2022 at 19:42 UTC
45 upvotes, 1 direct replies
preventing you from not only ever replying but never being able to even reply to replies at any point in the future is awful
This is seriously the single worst feature on Reddit. Part of what defines this platform is nested threads, and nested threads result in conversations several levels down from an original comment that often have nothing to do with the OP. The fact that you can't participate in any of them at all if OP has you blocked is absurd.
All this, and yet blocking somebody still fails to correctly hide what they post. When I block somebody, I don't give a shit whether they reply to people who replied to me, I just don't want to see them anymore!
Comment by [deleted] at 02/06/2022 at 19:37 UTC*
45 upvotes, 2 direct replies
[deleted]
Comment by kriketjunkie at 02/06/2022 at 21:00 UTC
75 upvotes, 17 direct replies
This is valuable feedback—thank you! Since the blocking update we’ve heard some similar feedback and have made some updates to stop abuse. There are new restrictions that prevent people from being able to manipulate the site by blocking at scale. There’s also a limit, so people can’t unblock someone and then block them again within a short time frame. We’re keeping a close eye on how people are using blocking, so this additional example is really helpful, and so are the others who have commented here; thanks again.
Comment by portablebiscuit at 02/06/2022 at 21:00 UTC
17 upvotes, 3 direct replies
To piggyback on this, the self harm reporting tool is being abused like crazy. Can't win a debate? Cool! Report the person for self harm.
If reddit were to enable an Uno Reverse Card of sorts, it would be cool of we could report the person who files a false report.
Comment by Prannet at 02/06/2022 at 21:06 UTC
10 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Currently it's being horribly abused to prevent disagreement in conversations
Not just that, it's also being abused by catfishes and nonce baiters. Report them and nothing happens. Call them out and they just block you.
I also had someone prevent me from correcting them because they blocked me, gained a follower, and then a downvote in the space of 5 or so minutes.
I get the idea and tbf it's sound, but it lets an awful lot of fuckwittery slide, too.
Comment by RxBrad at 02/06/2022 at 20:25 UTC
24 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Another flaw in the blocking system... Spam.
There are dedicated accounts to warn people about the countless spambots selling stolen art on t-shirts, mugs, etc... The spambots just block the watchdog accounts so they can't warn people anymore.
Comment by N8CCRG at 02/06/2022 at 20:18 UTC
17 upvotes, 1 direct replies
The way the block feature works feels like it was designed *for* exactly that kind of abuse. And if you *do* attempt to respond, somewhere in the thread you only get a "failure" message with no explanation why. I see many comments (usually edits on comments) of users confused about what is going on.
Comment by MarlboroCappuccino at 04/06/2022 at 04:59 UTC*
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
This. 100%.
Reddit is a public forum. Blocking someone shouldn't mean they can't reply to posts and comments they've made in public. I'm not even going to get into how stupid it is that a blocker can control entire threads, because that's a given.
The old system was fine the way it was and should be reintroduced. The person didn't even know they were blocked, so if they were being annoying, they were just ranting into a void. That's adequate for dealing with 90% of annoying users.
If there is a concern about stalking/harassment, fine, don't allow the blocked individual to see your username when you comment/post or access your profile. Make them appear as deleted accounts do. [Deleted]
Although I actually think the previous system was probably safer. The current system just notifies a serious stalker/abuser they're blocked and encourages them to set up new accounts, including secret accounts.
Subreddit mods should be dealing with the most toxic users anyway.
I have mostly seen the new block system being used in bad faith. To control discourse, by petty trolls wanting the last word, as a weapon in petty feuding where people block and unblock each other as soon as they can or block with one account and abuse with another, etc.
Comment by clanzerom at 02/06/2022 at 20:53 UTC
7 upvotes, 0 direct replies
It's the most hilarious feature, like how does Reddit even have a "chief product officer" when their product is so moronic.
Oh someone disagreed with you? Just reply with a zinger then block them. It's the ultimate FU.
Meanwhile Reddit continues to sell its soul to advertisers, this place has really gone down the shitter in the past decade -- thanks /u/spez, hope the money was worth becoming a total scumbag for!
Comment by [deleted] at 02/06/2022 at 20:59 UTC
5 upvotes, 1 direct replies
for real
'disable inbox replies' should be utilized more often
and blocking should be used to prevent harassment
Comment by AvianIsEpic at 02/06/2022 at 20:58 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I’d also love if there was a way to block subreddits from showing up in your discover/news/popular tabs
Comment by dnz000 at 03/06/2022 at 01:29 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
lmao get rekt