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Comment by autoexec | Hacker News Reader

This is just one more example of Twitter going out of their way to work against the best interests of their users. As twitter continues to treat its userbase like a controlling/abusive spouse I hope more and more people realize that they deserve better and leave.

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I moved to the fediverse (a Mastodon instance) over a year ago. I found it less exciting at first, before realising that Twitter was only exciting because I could get outraged at the a*holes it insisted on exposing me to.

Now I love the fediverse. Local instances mean more local news/gossip, but at the same time I can follow global interests (just saw a post from Brian Krebs, for instance) just as easily. Hashtags let me follow my interests, and comments are more constructive and perceptive because there is no reward for provoking people. I don't doom-scroll any more and I don't have to filter out advertising - I'm much more efficiently informed.

>This is just one more example of Twitter going out of their way to work against the best interests of their users.

Why does it matter?

If I block people in a Discord server THEY can still see what I type. Why does it matter? I have really come to understand that some Twitter users see Twitter as their own private garden somehow and do not realize that anyone can see your posts... So somehow it becomes uncomfortable when they are reminded of this fact.

Are you seriously asking why you shouldn't make users uncomfortable with your product?

You can still block, and it will work like any other social media product. Only the twitter crazies have their panties in a twist over this.

they can use block

Nope, Twitter blocking is a poorly designed feature that permanently degrades the user experience.

Whose user experience is it degrading? The blocker or the person who behaved in such a way that they got blocked?

Mostly the blockee. Although I think it also devalues the service for some/many blockers.

If I had a Twitter account and blocked someone, it would be with the intention of devaluing the service for them. Someone who was awful enough that I bothered blocking them would devalue my service if they could keep annoying me.

There's a lot of unnecessary blocking.

An example of blockers losing value: Tesla bears were chronic blockers, even passing around blocklists. Nowadays Tesla bears seem to have lost all relevance.

> "The blocker or the person who behaved in such a way that they got blocked?"

People get blocked for all kinds of reasons, most of them relatively innocent.

How can you say that? Especially given that this is a big news item, clearly people find it useful.

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