Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

The concept of Blocking, where a person can deny another person from following them on social media, is a new one. In the past, we had private clubs where groups of people could be selective, but never before have we had such exclusivity at a personal level. The primary advantage of Blocking is that it facilitates your Freedom of Association, ridding yourself of odious personalities who make your life worse. The danger of Blocking is that it hardens the walls of the silos we keep ourselves in.

However, Blocking can also facilitate online discussion. In Real Life, IRL, when someone of diminished mental or psychological capacity joins your conversation, it only takes a minute or two to mute them: some subtle physical indications; a slight turning of the body, ignoring, a condescending attitude, and other clues the invader usually perceives, and so shuts up; but social media is rife with mental illness & abhorrent behavior precisely because it can’t be adequately moderated. The solution is Blocking. Other solutions, like Ignoring & Up-ranking, can easily be exploited & abused; if you want to have a nuanced discussion without being interrupted by the idiots, Blocking is really the only option.