this post was submitted on 17 Sep 2025
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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.

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[–] SoftestSapphic@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago

If someone isn't convinced by a reasonable explanation, they aren't worth engaging with.

You find this out pretty quick when trying to interact in good faith on the internet.

[–] IcedRaktajino@startrek.website 15 points 4 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Like another commenter said, polarization and cemented, frequently extreme, views. You're not going to change their mind on anything, but they're constantly trying to change your mind on everything. I consider them shills and hit that block button.

I also block people who are here "on a mission" for whatever cause. Social media has enough activists, and even if I agree with them, I'm still thinking "will you shut up, man?".

I also block people who intentionally take others out of context as an excuse to attack them or inject drama into every interaction. There's plenty of that to go around, and thankfully, there doesn't seem to be a limit on the number of blocks I can issue.

Basically, I'm not here for drama or activism or circle-jerking any political cause or to suffer immature edgelords. I just wanna talk about cool stuff with rational people. Blocking helps separate the wheat from the chaff in that regard. Anyone who has a pattern of making this place unenjoyable gets blocked IDK

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 3 points 2 days ago

Im very pro block. I prefer that users can do stuff themselves over moderation honestly. I would like blocking to be reciprical and I have to do a lot of it for communities because the language thing often either seems to not work or my suspicion is the person making the community did not set it. That being said I block few users but tons of communities. The fediverse is not really large enough to subscribe to some stuff and ignore the rest. I block anything I have no interest in or sometimes just because its to niche for me. Things like sports, memes, and communities about like one specific thing like a tv series or video game.

[–] JohnnyCanuck@lemmy.ca 13 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Blocking is tempting when someone actively ignores arguments but keeps coming back with the same thing over and over, or can't avoid ad hominem attacks.

That said, my block list is empty, but I have tagged people so I know if I'm running into them again.

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[–] PotatoLibre@feddit.it 13 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Bots, trolls, egomanics, thin skinneds.

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[–] hanrahan@slrpnk.net 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I've not blocked anyone here or on Reddit. I have on Mastodon but only becase the 3 people I have blocked are fucking interminably boring not because of any philsophival difference of opinion or they were rude or some shit.

I tend not to engage too much, it is some random on the internet after all. I am old, I've been doing this shit from IRL meetups of computer clubs, to BBS's where I actually personally knew just about everyone from meet ups, then Usenet and IRC opened the world, then fora, then reddit (because Usenet died) now here and Mastodon..

[–] Echolynx@lemmy.zip 5 points 3 days ago (3 children)

It's baffling how quick people are to do it. A while ago, I sold an old electronic thing on Marketplace to someone. A day later, they sent me an angry message saying that it didn't work and how I scammed them, then proceeded to block me. I would've liked the opportunity to troubleshoot with them or even refund the item if it turned out to actually be broken, but... blocking me precludes all that. What exactly did they hope to achieve?

[–] tiramichu@sh.itjust.works 7 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

If you've previously had the experience of reaching out to someone politely in good faith about a problem with your purchase, and they really were a scammer and responded "haha get fucked loser" and blocked you, that's a mentally damaging interaction. You made yourself vulnerable and got taken advantage of. Not just once for buying from a scammer, but twice for then politely asking the scammer to help you! And that feels awful - as if the scammer "won", and you are a sucker who didn't even realise you'd been scammed.

That is why people are quick to go on the offensive when they suspect they've been wronged, because they've been hurt before and want to try and claw back some small measure of pride by saying effectively "Okay you scammed me, but I'm not so stupid I don't see it, and I won't make myself vulnerable to you." - that's what the message and block you received really means, if you unpack it.

I would be so much nicer if things weren't this way, and we could assume the best in people. With honest sellers such as yourself, it would even lead to the problem getting fixed! But there are a lot of scammers out there, so I understand the psychological "why", even if I don't like it and try to never behave that way myself.

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[–] lennybird@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Sounds like they wanted to angrily vent, but not also take accountability for what may be their own mistake. People are extremely poor at confrontation, and so often resort to these cheapshot hit-and-run tactics. They MUST have the last word, so they get their little dig in, then block very quickly. I just roll my eyes.

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[–] NewNewAugustEast@lemmy.zip 6 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

I've been online since BBS days. Never blocked anyone. Never could understand why people do that. Just ignore them, whatever.

So many people, later on down the road have something to say worthwhile that I wouldn't have known if I just blocked them. Gotta give some leeway on the internet, no one really knows tone or intent most of the time.

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[–] pewgar_seemsimandroid@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago

Blocked you AND OP! /j

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago

last I checked I had over 220 users blocked. now it's probably 250.

I block people who are willfully ignorant or trolls.

I never block anyone but I do get blocked a lot by both hardcore right wingers and hardcore left wingers. I've also gotten blocked by scammers by being such an incredible pain in the ass.

[–] SalamenceFury@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago

I think it's more of a space curation thing. As a tumblr user mentioned, "I pressed a button to get rid of an annoying guy and I would do it again".

[–] FishFace@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago

I think there is a difference between different people - and maybe it has changed generationally too. I can think of some obvious potential reasons though:

  1. the number of people who are being horrible is increasing. The increasing division in society is reflected online. That means people have more reason to block people.
  2. the proliferation of social media bubbles makes people less used to encountering opinions that differ significantly from their own.

I usually find myself blocked by people who just disagree with me. I (increasingly) rarely lose my rag online, but people find it annoying to have someone reply to them who disagrees on certain things and who doesn't just shut up and go away quickly.

I have a pretty high tolerance for that kind of irritation but after a few dozen replies back and forth I'll also use the block button. It's less about not seeing their posts in the future, more as a way to force myself to disengage and get annoyed again.

[–] Cobrachicken@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago

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.

It's been common advice for a while now to block people you are about to tantrum at. I do like that it's finally catching on.

[–] Flax_vert@feddit.uk 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It's how society is degenerating. Respect for each other is gone. The bullets have started to fly.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 2 points 2 days ago

The bullets have started to fly.

bullets have been flying US is the most violent "first" world country by far.

[–] quediuspayu@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

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.

[–] Battle_Masker@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 4 days ago (1 children)

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

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