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Why is blocking so common nowadays?

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  • lennybird@lemmy.worldL This user is from outside of this forum
    lennybird@lemmy.worldL This user is from outside of this forum
    [email protected]
    wrote last edited by [email protected]
    #1

    There may be an age or generational explanation for this, but I especially notice this behavior on Reddit while not nearly as much here on Lemmy (though maybe that's also a mater of implementation).

    It seems many are so quick to assert overly-confident positions, but then hit-and-run with some smarmy remark at even the slightest challenge, then quickly block. Like, not even crazy stuff. Just basic, civil disagreements. I can pretty well predict when it will happen, and it always feels like such a petty ego-sparing fingers-in-ears denial thing to do, and to me if anything shows they were not very confident in their views being challenged.

    I think I've only blocked a handful of people over a decade who were actively spamming, stalking, or spewing extremely hateful rhetoric and I just reported them simultaneously. You have to cross a pretty extreme and irrational line for me to do that.

    The reason I ask is to see if I'm missing something; to better understand the mindset of those who do.

    C F A A B 40 Replies Last reply
    41
    • lennybird@lemmy.worldL [email protected]

      There may be an age or generational explanation for this, but I especially notice this behavior on Reddit while not nearly as much here on Lemmy (though maybe that's also a mater of implementation).

      It seems many are so quick to assert overly-confident positions, but then hit-and-run with some smarmy remark at even the slightest challenge, then quickly block. Like, not even crazy stuff. Just basic, civil disagreements. I can pretty well predict when it will happen, and it always feels like such a petty ego-sparing fingers-in-ears denial thing to do, and to me if anything shows they were not very confident in their views being challenged.

      I think I've only blocked a handful of people over a decade who were actively spamming, stalking, or spewing extremely hateful rhetoric and I just reported them simultaneously. You have to cross a pretty extreme and irrational line for me to do that.

      The reason I ask is to see if I'm missing something; to better understand the mindset of those who do.

      C This user is from outside of this forum
      C This user is from outside of this forum
      [email protected]
      wrote last edited by
      #2

      Views, positions have gotten more extreme and cemented at that. Probably due to algorithms of "traditional" social media, that focus on them to raise clicks. (This trend to extreme positions and freaking out on the slightest trigger is also noticeable in real life behaviour, imho.) I sometimes block folks because I know there will not be a frank exchange of views but pure hate, extremism.

      Plus spammers.

      1 Reply Last reply
      4
      • lennybird@lemmy.worldL [email protected]

        There may be an age or generational explanation for this, but I especially notice this behavior on Reddit while not nearly as much here on Lemmy (though maybe that's also a mater of implementation).

        It seems many are so quick to assert overly-confident positions, but then hit-and-run with some smarmy remark at even the slightest challenge, then quickly block. Like, not even crazy stuff. Just basic, civil disagreements. I can pretty well predict when it will happen, and it always feels like such a petty ego-sparing fingers-in-ears denial thing to do, and to me if anything shows they were not very confident in their views being challenged.

        I think I've only blocked a handful of people over a decade who were actively spamming, stalking, or spewing extremely hateful rhetoric and I just reported them simultaneously. You have to cross a pretty extreme and irrational line for me to do that.

        The reason I ask is to see if I'm missing something; to better understand the mindset of those who do.

        F This user is from outside of this forum
        F This user is from outside of this forum
        [email protected]
        wrote last edited by
        #3

        People are trying to 'win the argument' for personal satisfaction. They're not trying to self-correct or seek the truth.

        I think I’ve only blocked a handful of people over a decade

        I'm the opposite; I have hundreds of people blocked, mostly because they are bores.

        lennybird@lemmy.worldL N C T R 5 Replies Last reply
        15
        • F [email protected]

          People are trying to 'win the argument' for personal satisfaction. They're not trying to self-correct or seek the truth.

          I think I’ve only blocked a handful of people over a decade

          I'm the opposite; I have hundreds of people blocked, mostly because they are bores.

          lennybird@lemmy.worldL This user is from outside of this forum
          lennybird@lemmy.worldL This user is from outside of this forum
          [email protected]
          wrote last edited by
          #4

          People are trying to ‘win the argument’ for personal satisfaction. They’re not trying to self-correct or seek the truth.

          How do we promote more people to cooperate instead of compete in the mutual pursuit of truth while maintaining humility and introspection that their own views could be incorrect?

          F B 2 Replies Last reply
          2
          • F [email protected]

            People are trying to 'win the argument' for personal satisfaction. They're not trying to self-correct or seek the truth.

            I think I’ve only blocked a handful of people over a decade

            I'm the opposite; I have hundreds of people blocked, mostly because they are bores.

            N This user is from outside of this forum
            N This user is from outside of this forum
            [email protected]
            wrote last edited by [email protected]
            #5

            Another aspect of this that I've found is that engaging in benevolent smalltalk with someone here on Lemmy somehow sometimes results in them treating it as an argument.

            No, I will not concede to whatever point you're trying to make; I was making conversation, you were trying to win an argument. I don't care if you're convinced your particular approach to a particular problem is better than mine.

            And if they then don't realize that I'm not interested in engaging, and keep the "debate me bro" attitude, they usually end up on my blocklist, or at the very least they end up with a red tag behind their name.

            F 1 Reply Last reply
            5
            • lennybird@lemmy.worldL [email protected]

              People are trying to ‘win the argument’ for personal satisfaction. They’re not trying to self-correct or seek the truth.

              How do we promote more people to cooperate instead of compete in the mutual pursuit of truth while maintaining humility and introspection that their own views could be incorrect?

              F This user is from outside of this forum
              F This user is from outside of this forum
              [email protected]
              wrote last edited by
              #6

              Different format of discussion.

              Social media: people trying to win binary points 👍👎

              Wikipedia, scientific discussion, or a deliberative assembly: slow process towards writing a statement of a position, with lots of study along the way

              lennybird@lemmy.worldL 1 Reply Last reply
              4
              • N [email protected]

                Another aspect of this that I've found is that engaging in benevolent smalltalk with someone here on Lemmy somehow sometimes results in them treating it as an argument.

                No, I will not concede to whatever point you're trying to make; I was making conversation, you were trying to win an argument. I don't care if you're convinced your particular approach to a particular problem is better than mine.

                And if they then don't realize that I'm not interested in engaging, and keep the "debate me bro" attitude, they usually end up on my blocklist, or at the very least they end up with a red tag behind their name.

                F This user is from outside of this forum
                F This user is from outside of this forum
                [email protected]
                wrote last edited by
                #7

                No, u'r wrong 😜

                N 1 Reply Last reply
                2
                • lennybird@lemmy.worldL [email protected]

                  There may be an age or generational explanation for this, but I especially notice this behavior on Reddit while not nearly as much here on Lemmy (though maybe that's also a mater of implementation).

                  It seems many are so quick to assert overly-confident positions, but then hit-and-run with some smarmy remark at even the slightest challenge, then quickly block. Like, not even crazy stuff. Just basic, civil disagreements. I can pretty well predict when it will happen, and it always feels like such a petty ego-sparing fingers-in-ears denial thing to do, and to me if anything shows they were not very confident in their views being challenged.

                  I think I've only blocked a handful of people over a decade who were actively spamming, stalking, or spewing extremely hateful rhetoric and I just reported them simultaneously. You have to cross a pretty extreme and irrational line for me to do that.

                  The reason I ask is to see if I'm missing something; to better understand the mindset of those who do.

                  A This user is from outside of this forum
                  A This user is from outside of this forum
                  [email protected]
                  wrote last edited by
                  #8

                  I don't think I ever blocked anyone on reddit, but I've been pretty block happy on lemmy. Mostly because it's a smaller community. With reddit, it was easy enough to unsubscribe from the big popular communities and focus on my niche interests and rigorously modded communities like askHistorians. That way I mostly saw stuff that was genuinely interesting to me. And if someone was annoying, they were just one voice among thousands.

                  Here on lemmy, there's not enough activity to be overly selective, and I actually enjoy the casual vibe of asklemmy, showerthoughts and nostupidquestions. While I'd never visit their reddit counterparts, here the community is small and it feels more personal. But this also means that there's the occasional poster who I'd rather just not have to see. So, to keep my time on lemmy enjoyable, I block them.

                  I don't really think it's a big deal, I don't even think it's a criticism of those posters. It's really just that the content of their posts / comments are something that doesn't add value to my experience. I've blocked well-intentioned, but obviously teenage, users because I'm not interested in their personal life questions (but they're entitled to ask!); I blocked someone just for posting too many moth memes when I was getting sick of that fad.

                  I'm pretty sure I've never blocked anyone for disagreeing with me or my beliefs, but if someone seems like their trolling, or simply has such poor social communication skills that they are coming across that way, I'll block them. I generally look at users history and check if I'm likely to miss anything in the future. But invariably, the type of user I consider blocking generally has a bunch of dumb, negative or uninteresting comments and posts.

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  3
                  • F [email protected]

                    People are trying to 'win the argument' for personal satisfaction. They're not trying to self-correct or seek the truth.

                    I think I’ve only blocked a handful of people over a decade

                    I'm the opposite; I have hundreds of people blocked, mostly because they are bores.

                    C This user is from outside of this forum
                    C This user is from outside of this forum
                    [email protected]
                    wrote last edited by
                    #9

                    Reddit made that change where if you blocked someone they couldn't reply to you in a thread.

                    That was quickly weaponized so that you could 'win' an argument. Someone could write something and your reply would not appear, so it looked like you realized you were wrong.

                    lennybird@lemmy.worldL 1 Reply Last reply
                    2
                    • lennybird@lemmy.worldL [email protected]

                      There may be an age or generational explanation for this, but I especially notice this behavior on Reddit while not nearly as much here on Lemmy (though maybe that's also a mater of implementation).

                      It seems many are so quick to assert overly-confident positions, but then hit-and-run with some smarmy remark at even the slightest challenge, then quickly block. Like, not even crazy stuff. Just basic, civil disagreements. I can pretty well predict when it will happen, and it always feels like such a petty ego-sparing fingers-in-ears denial thing to do, and to me if anything shows they were not very confident in their views being challenged.

                      I think I've only blocked a handful of people over a decade who were actively spamming, stalking, or spewing extremely hateful rhetoric and I just reported them simultaneously. You have to cross a pretty extreme and irrational line for me to do that.

                      The reason I ask is to see if I'm missing something; to better understand the mindset of those who do.

                      A This user is from outside of this forum
                      A This user is from outside of this forum
                      [email protected]
                      wrote last edited by
                      #10

                      Life is too short to deal with weirdos treating lemmy as their blog. Some are overzealous but you have to curate your own space on federated platforms

                      atheartengineer@lemmy.worldA 1 Reply Last reply
                      18
                      • lennybird@lemmy.worldL [email protected]

                        There may be an age or generational explanation for this, but I especially notice this behavior on Reddit while not nearly as much here on Lemmy (though maybe that's also a mater of implementation).

                        It seems many are so quick to assert overly-confident positions, but then hit-and-run with some smarmy remark at even the slightest challenge, then quickly block. Like, not even crazy stuff. Just basic, civil disagreements. I can pretty well predict when it will happen, and it always feels like such a petty ego-sparing fingers-in-ears denial thing to do, and to me if anything shows they were not very confident in their views being challenged.

                        I think I've only blocked a handful of people over a decade who were actively spamming, stalking, or spewing extremely hateful rhetoric and I just reported them simultaneously. You have to cross a pretty extreme and irrational line for me to do that.

                        The reason I ask is to see if I'm missing something; to better understand the mindset of those who do.

                        B This user is from outside of this forum
                        B This user is from outside of this forum
                        [email protected]
                        wrote last edited by
                        #11

                        You say "civil disagreements" but from what I've seen blocking mostly happens when they sidestep the issue with a personal attack or ad hominid response.

                        Also I've seen some blocking just on people being associated with known bad actors like hatemongers or somebody's stalker

                        pika@sh.itjust.worksP 1 Reply Last reply
                        2
                        • F [email protected]

                          No, u'r wrong 😜

                          N This user is from outside of this forum
                          N This user is from outside of this forum
                          [email protected]
                          wrote last edited by
                          #12

                          Your mom likes me anyway

                          thebat@lemmy.worldT 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • lennybird@lemmy.worldL [email protected]

                            There may be an age or generational explanation for this, but I especially notice this behavior on Reddit while not nearly as much here on Lemmy (though maybe that's also a mater of implementation).

                            It seems many are so quick to assert overly-confident positions, but then hit-and-run with some smarmy remark at even the slightest challenge, then quickly block. Like, not even crazy stuff. Just basic, civil disagreements. I can pretty well predict when it will happen, and it always feels like such a petty ego-sparing fingers-in-ears denial thing to do, and to me if anything shows they were not very confident in their views being challenged.

                            I think I've only blocked a handful of people over a decade who were actively spamming, stalking, or spewing extremely hateful rhetoric and I just reported them simultaneously. You have to cross a pretty extreme and irrational line for me to do that.

                            The reason I ask is to see if I'm missing something; to better understand the mindset of those who do.

                            Q This user is from outside of this forum
                            Q This user is from outside of this forum
                            [email protected]
                            wrote last edited by [email protected]
                            #13

                            I think it's related to echo chamber behaviour. A way to filter out any dissenting voice because any one that disagrees is as annoying a spammer and as hurtful as a bully.

                            And at the same time is not that different from walking away from any rando from the street that most probably I won't see ever again. Lol.

                            I don't know, I personally don't block people, instead I use lots of tags to remember past interactions.

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            7
                            • lennybird@lemmy.worldL [email protected]

                              There may be an age or generational explanation for this, but I especially notice this behavior on Reddit while not nearly as much here on Lemmy (though maybe that's also a mater of implementation).

                              It seems many are so quick to assert overly-confident positions, but then hit-and-run with some smarmy remark at even the slightest challenge, then quickly block. Like, not even crazy stuff. Just basic, civil disagreements. I can pretty well predict when it will happen, and it always feels like such a petty ego-sparing fingers-in-ears denial thing to do, and to me if anything shows they were not very confident in their views being challenged.

                              I think I've only blocked a handful of people over a decade who were actively spamming, stalking, or spewing extremely hateful rhetoric and I just reported them simultaneously. You have to cross a pretty extreme and irrational line for me to do that.

                              The reason I ask is to see if I'm missing something; to better understand the mindset of those who do.

                              S This user is from outside of this forum
                              S This user is from outside of this forum
                              [email protected]
                              wrote last edited by
                              #14

                              I have done this a few times, for me it was just that I was writing a reply and 80% through I realized that I didn't want to argue any more, so I blocked the guy after posting it, just so I wouldn't get any more crap to deal with.

                              C 1 Reply Last reply
                              1
                              • F [email protected]

                                People are trying to 'win the argument' for personal satisfaction. They're not trying to self-correct or seek the truth.

                                I think I’ve only blocked a handful of people over a decade

                                I'm the opposite; I have hundreds of people blocked, mostly because they are bores.

                                T This user is from outside of this forum
                                T This user is from outside of this forum
                                [email protected]
                                wrote last edited by
                                #15

                                I've blocked a lot too. Mostly people who have closed minds and aren't listening just waiting for their turn to reply. I don't have patience for that shit anymore, find someone else. *Block

                                1 Reply Last reply
                                3
                                • F [email protected]

                                  People are trying to 'win the argument' for personal satisfaction. They're not trying to self-correct or seek the truth.

                                  I think I’ve only blocked a handful of people over a decade

                                  I'm the opposite; I have hundreds of people blocked, mostly because they are bores.

                                  R This user is from outside of this forum
                                  R This user is from outside of this forum
                                  [email protected]
                                  wrote last edited by
                                  #16

                                  I don't know about this "winning" theory.

                                  Generally, people feel like they've won when they get the last word in. If you block someone, you don't see their replies and assuming they do reply to your last comment, they would get the last word.

                                  Personally, I block people when I realize there's no point in continuing the conversation. I'm not trying to win an argument, I'm just over it and don't want to interact with their toxicity.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  4
                                  • lennybird@lemmy.worldL [email protected]

                                    There may be an age or generational explanation for this, but I especially notice this behavior on Reddit while not nearly as much here on Lemmy (though maybe that's also a mater of implementation).

                                    It seems many are so quick to assert overly-confident positions, but then hit-and-run with some smarmy remark at even the slightest challenge, then quickly block. Like, not even crazy stuff. Just basic, civil disagreements. I can pretty well predict when it will happen, and it always feels like such a petty ego-sparing fingers-in-ears denial thing to do, and to me if anything shows they were not very confident in their views being challenged.

                                    I think I've only blocked a handful of people over a decade who were actively spamming, stalking, or spewing extremely hateful rhetoric and I just reported them simultaneously. You have to cross a pretty extreme and irrational line for me to do that.

                                    The reason I ask is to see if I'm missing something; to better understand the mindset of those who do.

                                    S This user is from outside of this forum
                                    S This user is from outside of this forum
                                    [email protected]
                                    wrote last edited by
                                    #17

                                    Most people have egg shell personalities and blocking is their defense mechanism.

                                    Sometimes they even post it to re affirm themselves... It looks pathetic.

                                    Blocking is useful in creating an echo chamber but I don't think that's the intent, just a "positive" outcome the again reaffirms the eggashell personality

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    3
                                    • lennybird@lemmy.worldL [email protected]

                                      There may be an age or generational explanation for this, but I especially notice this behavior on Reddit while not nearly as much here on Lemmy (though maybe that's also a mater of implementation).

                                      It seems many are so quick to assert overly-confident positions, but then hit-and-run with some smarmy remark at even the slightest challenge, then quickly block. Like, not even crazy stuff. Just basic, civil disagreements. I can pretty well predict when it will happen, and it always feels like such a petty ego-sparing fingers-in-ears denial thing to do, and to me if anything shows they were not very confident in their views being challenged.

                                      I think I've only blocked a handful of people over a decade who were actively spamming, stalking, or spewing extremely hateful rhetoric and I just reported them simultaneously. You have to cross a pretty extreme and irrational line for me to do that.

                                      The reason I ask is to see if I'm missing something; to better understand the mindset of those who do.

                                      P This user is from outside of this forum
                                      P This user is from outside of this forum
                                      [email protected]
                                      wrote last edited by
                                      #18

                                      Bots, trolls, egomanics, thin skinneds.

                                      W 1 Reply Last reply
                                      10
                                      • lennybird@lemmy.worldL [email protected]

                                        There may be an age or generational explanation for this, but I especially notice this behavior on Reddit while not nearly as much here on Lemmy (though maybe that's also a mater of implementation).

                                        It seems many are so quick to assert overly-confident positions, but then hit-and-run with some smarmy remark at even the slightest challenge, then quickly block. Like, not even crazy stuff. Just basic, civil disagreements. I can pretty well predict when it will happen, and it always feels like such a petty ego-sparing fingers-in-ears denial thing to do, and to me if anything shows they were not very confident in their views being challenged.

                                        I think I've only blocked a handful of people over a decade who were actively spamming, stalking, or spewing extremely hateful rhetoric and I just reported them simultaneously. You have to cross a pretty extreme and irrational line for me to do that.

                                        The reason I ask is to see if I'm missing something; to better understand the mindset of those who do.

                                        R This user is from outside of this forum
                                        R This user is from outside of this forum
                                        [email protected]
                                        wrote last edited by
                                        #19

                                        I used to agree with you. Ever since I started just blocking anyone that was being annoying my experience on the web has been great.

                                        lennybird@lemmy.worldL 1 2 Replies Last reply
                                        20
                                        • C [email protected]

                                          Reddit made that change where if you blocked someone they couldn't reply to you in a thread.

                                          That was quickly weaponized so that you could 'win' an argument. Someone could write something and your reply would not appear, so it looked like you realized you were wrong.

                                          lennybird@lemmy.worldL This user is from outside of this forum
                                          lennybird@lemmy.worldL This user is from outside of this forum
                                          [email protected]
                                          wrote last edited by
                                          #20

                                          Only way around this is editing your previous comment, though I've been told that can sometimes lead to a ban? Never happened to me though.

                                          What really annoys me about that is that it prevents you from replying to anyone ELSE who replies to you in that thread, which is completely absurd.

                                          1 Reply Last reply
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