New Delhi: Traditionally blocking someone on social media means to cut digitial ties as you no longer see their activity and they no longer see yours. But that's not the case on Twitter since much of what is published there is public. And even if you get blocked by a certain user, you could still see their tweets if their account wasn't a private one.
An update to the Twitter service seems to have changed the way blocking works. Now, blocking someone means that you will not see any of their activity, but they can still see everything you do. Essentially, you're just muting them.
"Blocking a user does not prevent that user from following you, interacting with your Tweets, or receiving your updates in their timeline," said Twitter in its new blocking policy.
According to Twitter, the policy decision is mean to help people from being trolled by those they've blocked. It said, sometimes a blocked user would troll the blocker in an aggressive way.
The system means that those doing the blocking simply cannot see any Twitter activity from the person they're trying to avoid.
However, as users say Twitter should restore the block, add muting as an option, and also put a system into place whereby users can report abusive behavior.
The changes to Twitter's policy may not immediately inform a user that he has been blocked, as they don't get a notification now. This also means that there would be a lag between the time that they get blocked and when they realize it.
Here is the current blocking policy:
If you block another user, you will no longer see:
The user in your follower list
Any updates from that user in your Home timeline, including any of their Tweets that were retweeted by accounts you follow
Their @replies or mentions in your Connect tab
Any interactions with that user's Tweets or account (i.e., favorites, follows or Retweets) in your Interactions or Activity tabs
Twitter also notes the following:
If your account is public, blocking a user does not prevent that user from following you, interacting with your Tweets, or receiving your updates in their timeline. If your Tweets are protected, blocking the user will cause them to unfollow you.
And here's the previous policy:
Blocked users cannot:
Add your Twitter account to their lists.
Have their @replies or mentions show in your mentions tab (although these Tweets may still appear in search).
Follow you.
See your profile picture on their profile page or in their timeline.
Privacy note: If your Tweets are public (i.e., not protected), they will still be visible on your public profile page to anyone, regardless of whether they have a Twitter account or not.
We do not send notification to a user when you block them, but because they will no longer be able to follow you, they may notice that they've been blocked.
