I get it. There’s some real jerks around here. Whether they’re constantly argumentative, downright rude, always acting in bad faith, just plain trolls, overly opinionated on every subject, have the social skills of a Nausicaan, or whatever - the Fediverse is growing, and it’s bound to attract toxicity in one way or another.
This post is mostly a PSA for anyone who’s feeling like leaving because they’re tired of dealing with things like that. I’ve been there several times myself, I know exactly how you feel, and I’m tired of seeing good people harassed off the platform.
Just remember that blocking is a very powerful way to stay in control of your experience. Be it a set of users, me specifically, a list of keywords, a whole community, or an entire instance: if it’s causing you nothing but stress, hit that block button and see if that improves your experience here. Unlike the alien site, there is no limit to the number of entities you can block; you’re in control.
Another thing to keep in mind is different instances have different vibes, and the experience can totally differ depending on the instance’s moderation and federation policy.
In conclusion, your experience here can be what you make of it; don’t be afraid to just block the parts that stress you out. You’re not “creating an echo chamber” as everyone likes to say (often in bad faith) – you’re just taking care of yourself.
have the social skills of a Nausicaan
Play Domjot?
I’ve yet to block anyone here and the only one I had blocked on Reddit was Gallowboob.
Well that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time.
Block users and instances (although blocking instances just blocks the topic posts from that instance, not all the users from that instance).
Wish instance blocking actually blocked properly. But the main devs know everyone would block the tanky triad immediately and they’d have no one to troll.
Instance blocking works on:
- PieFed
- the Lemmy apps Sync and Connect
- instance admins who can choose to defederate
- someone willing to go deep and make a custom web browser filter (presumably like Ublock Origin I would guess)
Nothing else works.
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Yeah, why do considerate mods like OP have to wade in and tell others they can just block you? Wotta revoltin’ development. /s
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Is it the people that are toxic? Or is it the world or a living in right now?
toxic people made the world toxic which in turn made more people toxic
Make sure to also report the people you see being toxic, astroturfing, or downright attacking users. Many instances have policies against this and reporting them will increase the likelihood they’ll be dealt with, in some cases permanently.
This is something that should be discussed more since blocking is not a moderation function that makes the platform better, it’s a tool for people to pretend the problems don’t exist. I’m not a fan of pretending issues don’t exist, especially since I’m a mod and that would be insanely counter-productive.
Oh, yeah, that goes without saying. Report anyone whose behavior warrants it. I’m just mainly reminding people that blocking can be a way to take control of your experience. It took me a while to fully appreciate the block button and get over my FOMO (in the earlier days of Lemmy, blocking even a few people would cut down the amount of content drastically; thankfully that’s no longer the case).
Semi-specific (but still intentionally vague) example for “block” candidates are some accounts that even the mods are like “Look, I don’t like them either, but they’re not breaking any rules”. But, in general, just don’t be afraid to block what or whoever stresses you out.
Additional PSA to admins not running a “universal free speech” instance- if you see someone someone being obnoxious it’s probably annoying your users just as much as is is you. Don’t put the onus fully on users to curate their experience. The Fediverse needs our adults in the room!
I’d add “report” to that advice. If somebody is outright being jerks, that is probably against your instance’s rules — and if it isn’t, there are plenty others to choose from.
Blocking helps you, but reporting people (or instances) that are just here to troll will help others.
You’re very right. Blocking when they are being an asshole is just putting your head in the sand. It might feel petty but remember that others are probably also impacted by their shitty behaviour.
I read all reports on my instance (i get reports on our users and from our users, too; so i see quite a lot) rest assured, all your reports actually do something.
Agreed. I report bad behavior where I see it. I’ve only blocked one person, becausen they took a downvote as a personal attack and started DMing me.
I agree with this 100%. The mods can’t get rid of the bad guys if they don’t know about them. There are very few mods for relatively big communities, help them out if you see something going bad. They might not agree with you, but it’s still good practice if people aren’t following the rules.
True. If it’s report-worthy, absolutely. But there are certainly accounts that aren’t violating any rules but can still be a source of stress. Those are often the “rules lawyer” type who knows exactly how to stay right on the line without crossing it.
Counterpoint is that if that person is finally banned, they’re 9 times out of 10 just going to spin up a new alt and start back up with the same shtick. If everyone just blocks them, they’re just shouting into the wind wondering why no one’s taking their bait. I dislike how Reddit had “shadow bans”, but I can see how they would be effective when used surgically.
Temp bans (a couple of days), work too. If they’re actually trolling, they usually won’t come back. Then just temp ban the next alt if they do, repeat.
Good to know, and yeah, kind of matches what I’ve observed. I tend to permaban outright trolls, but yeah, they usually spin up a new account and never come back to that, so it’s probably overkill. I guess I just don’t like leaving the door open for them to come back…just in case lol.
For me, I temp ban because it makes it more easy to do. I don’t wrestle with whether or not I’m doing the right thing. Instead, I know it’s only temp so no one was harmed if I make a mistake. It’s more for me to take out the trolls early on.
Im a big believer in block. I think its better for people to peruse all and block communities they are uninterested in and you should totally block users you don’t like. To me it should be like real life. Don’t hang with folks you don’t like. My hope for the fediverse is instances that only remove things to stay out of legal trouble and communities that only block things that are unrelated. I want all the big tools to be at the user level. Bottom up.
Thank you! I try to exercise caution for myself of am I just off put by this or is this truly uncessary behavior, and I’m glad the option to judge for myself is available.
I know for a fact I’m opinionated, and don’t have problems sharing them.
Please, by all means, block me if you think seeing my comments is adversely affecting you. I’d rather be ignored by someone than make their day worse (unless they’re actively trying to make others miserable, but that’s a separate discussion)
The fediverse has definitely gotten a little less hostile after blocking a few things.
And remember you can jump ship to another instance at any time! I’ve hopped a few times but for now my instance is filling my needs without much drama that I am aware of.
I think it’s less about having strong opinions and more with how those are expressed. But either way, you’re here with a good attitude, and that’s appreciated.
I quickly went over your comment history of the last 30 days and you have almost no downvotes. You are a wholesome person and I’m glad you are here!
Same!
I never thought I needed to block any user, because, you know, I’m a big kid and I can handle any of the dirty words. Turns out, there are just reavers out there in space with their cores exposed just letting the hatred and radiation wash over them. I have all this empathy and I know they were once people and maybe they can be redeemed, but no. They are reavers. Block and move on with caution.
I use the block button like hideki kamiya uwu
Block is useless on lemmy. They can still cause a nuisance. Just becuase you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there…
It’s nice not having to look at Blaze or some of the other trolls at least.
The point of my post is protecting one’s own mental health. I’m not here to police the Fediverse. Report people if it’s warranted, block if they’re a source of stress or make the place unenjoyable.
I have blocked a few communities which I have really enjoyed. I think there is definitely a different but freeing experience to be in charge of curating your experience instead of algorithms doing it for you. It’s more work but the freedom is nice but making the constant choice feels hard.
