A problem with the user blocking system

[Serbon div 386]

Alright, hypothetically speaking, user A and user B get into a conflict. User A disagrees with user B, and uses various in his opinion trusted sources to prove his statement. User B can't swallow what user A is saying and passively provokes user A into being over aggressive, and the reaction of user A gets user B to block him. From now on, there is no communication between user A and user B. User B won't have to take user A's bullshit and user A will forget for everything, everything will be fine.

 

...

 

Or not. What if user A and user B were, let's say friends to a point, and that there was a huge misunderstanding, or that user A changed his opinion, or that he just wants to apologize? How is he supposed to do that, when user B blocked him? What if user B wants thing to be like before, but has already acted, and it takes more will power for him to unblock user A, and he subconsciously is afraid of user A not giving a buck, which might even be the case.

 

I understand if someone is spamming, or being overly abusive, but I think people misuse it often. I just think it limits people, and puts them away from each other.

 

Maybe if the default block time would be for 5 days, and if you want to change it to a longer period or forever you need to click on more options or something, which will subtly  make you reconsider your decision, or something like that.

[FoxyCryptid 4,330]

Or you could ask a mod to get a hold of them for you?

[Serbon div 386]

@@Shoboni, Still requires some will.

[FullMetalDash 194]

Maybe with a friend in between them that A and B both have?

[aoEAF2FBvC0MIo2Q 3,673]

Maybe with a friend in between them that A and B both have?

Let me tell you something, I've been the middleman in such conflicts way too many times X.X

How many times? One... two... three... four...ish... maybe five. All in the span of just 2 years. And how many of them had a happy ending? Absolute zero.

 

See, blocking is an extreme measure in response to extreme circumstances or events, especially if it's with the intention of not ever lifting that block ever again. We've all heard about forgiveness and all that but let's be realistic here; forgiveness requires trust. At least for most people it does. Would you forgive someone who you don't trust will keep his/her word? That's really the point; without trust, it cannot be expected for anyone to forgive. What this also implies is that if one person can trust the other, then there's a chance -- just a glimmer.

 

Hm, I've seen many of these attempts end in disappointment and heart-break. Just something to keep in mind.

Edited March 8, 2014 by SunBurn

[Mlpfan185 1,763]

Something was here. Something was here. Something was here. 

Edited October 10, 2018 by NONAME

[Serbon div 386]

@, the thing is, people tend to use it wrongly. I never had a chance to block anyone yet.

[RockinRarity 1,605]

I never had a chance to block anyone yet.

 

Then maybe you won't understand until you have to block someone yourself.

 

First of all, who are you to say that there are people out there who use it wrongly? Do you know of their particular situations in-depth? Are you aware of all or even most of the conversations that the two people were having with each other before the falling out and the blocking?

 

Sure maybe some people are immature and will just block people for no good reason - but it's none of your business if someone chooses to do that. If they are reasonable enough to realize that they were being extreme by blocking, then they will unblock the person themselves. If the person is unreasonable, then user A isn't losing out on anything in the end after all.

 

I have needed to block people (here and other places) for my own protection. Getting stalked and/or verbally abused is horrible and I am glad that the blocking system exists the way it does so that I don't have to deal with that bullshit. If the blocking system was defaulted to only 5 days of being blocked, then that makes me much more vulnerable to attacks and stalkerish behavior.

 

In short: the blocking system is perfectly fine the way it is. If it was any looser, I wouldn't be comfortable going online and talking to people.