Twitter changed the functionality of
its block button Thursday, effectively
making it more like a “mute” button.
After considerable user outcry,
Twitter changed its block function
back to the way it was.
The whole thing happened over just a
few hours. Twitter’s initial change
was fairly quiet—there was no
announcement on Twitter’s blog or
even a tweet about it, only some
comments in a few articles—but once
users noticed that people they had
blocked were again following them,
they started openly asking why. People
who were blocked could read the
tweets of the people who had blocked
them and even respond to them, even
if the blocker couldn’t see those
responses.
Those questions quickly evolved into a
campaign that used the hashtag #
RestoreTheBlock. About 2,100 people
signed a change.org petition asking
Twitter to reinstate its previous block
function.
[RELATED: Ragan's biggest social
media conference returns to the
Walt Disney World Resort in April!
]
The campaign wasn’t simply about
people keeping their bosses from
reading their tweets. It raised some
serious concerns about stalking, abuse
and harassment.
I've been made AFRAID by people
on twitter. I've had them harass
me, harass people I follow, they
encourage their friends to
harass me.
— ashe dryden (@ashedryden)
December 12, 2013
The new Twitter block function
is like reporting a stalker to the
police and having them give you a
blindfold so you won't see them.
— Dave Hogg (@davehogg)
December 12, 2013
After a reported emergency executive
meeting, Twitter announced early
Friday morning in a blog post it would
change blocking back. It was some
lightning fast damage control.
We have decided to revert the
change after receiving feedback
from many users – we never
want to introduce features at
the cost of users feeling less
safe. Any blocks you had
previously instituted are still in
effect.
The post goes on to say that Twitter
will continue to investigate ways to
avoid what it calls “retaliation against
blocking.”
Some users worry just as much
about post-blocking retaliation
as they do about pre-blocking
abuse. Moving forward, we will
continue to explore features
designed to protect users from
abuse and prevent retaliation.courtesy-pr daily
its block button Thursday, effectively
making it more like a “mute” button.
After considerable user outcry,
Twitter changed its block function
back to the way it was.
The whole thing happened over just a
few hours. Twitter’s initial change
was fairly quiet—there was no
announcement on Twitter’s blog or
even a tweet about it, only some
comments in a few articles—but once
users noticed that people they had
blocked were again following them,
they started openly asking why. People
who were blocked could read the
tweets of the people who had blocked
them and even respond to them, even
if the blocker couldn’t see those
responses.
Those questions quickly evolved into a
campaign that used the hashtag #
RestoreTheBlock. About 2,100 people
signed a change.org petition asking
Twitter to reinstate its previous block
function.
[RELATED: Ragan's biggest social
media conference returns to the
Walt Disney World Resort in April!
]
The campaign wasn’t simply about
people keeping their bosses from
reading their tweets. It raised some
serious concerns about stalking, abuse
and harassment.
I've been made AFRAID by people
on twitter. I've had them harass
me, harass people I follow, they
encourage their friends to
harass me.
— ashe dryden (@ashedryden)
December 12, 2013
The new Twitter block function
is like reporting a stalker to the
police and having them give you a
blindfold so you won't see them.
— Dave Hogg (@davehogg)
December 12, 2013
After a reported emergency executive
meeting, Twitter announced early
Friday morning in a blog post it would
change blocking back. It was some
lightning fast damage control.
We have decided to revert the
change after receiving feedback
from many users – we never
want to introduce features at
the cost of users feeling less
safe. Any blocks you had
previously instituted are still in
effect.
The post goes on to say that Twitter
will continue to investigate ways to
avoid what it calls “retaliation against
blocking.”
Some users worry just as much
about post-blocking retaliation
as they do about pre-blocking
abuse. Moving forward, we will
continue to explore features
designed to protect users from
abuse and prevent retaliation.courtesy-pr daily
posted from Bloggeroid
No comments:
Post a Comment