NewSaint

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====== Rant: Social Media ======

===== Blocking the Banter =====

One thing I've always appreciated about social media is the block functionality. I don't like to have private accounts or channels or whatever, I like to have my stuff free and open for anybody to look at. But, whenever someone comes across my path that I find annoying or ugly or just bothersome, I block them and then //poof// they're gone and I don't have to see them and my ramblings won't grace their eyes again.

Someone posting stuff I don't agree with?

//Blocked.//

Someone being annoying?

//Blocked.//

Some "protected class" whinging about something or other?

//Blocked.//

Someone virtue signaling about some bullshit that they are parroting?

//Buh-buh-blocked!//

I dislike anonymous / internet arguing as it leads nowhere and doesn't change anyone's minds. People—//en masse//—are too stubborn for discussion online and with the rampant use of irony, how can you tell if someone is being serious or not? I prefer to just erase them from my sight. I don't like to argue or leave negative comments or engage in any way. I just block them.

On the flip side, I am blocked from commenting in a dozen or more Telegram channels for previous anti-//Abrahamic-religion// comments (the big three, I don't pick favorites). That's the price I pay and I don't really mind.

//2026 Update:// What really chaps my ass is when I get blocked for helping someone in the comments! On at least two occasions now, I've been completely banned from a channel **without warning** for posting the source of some piece of media in the comment section.

===== Dislike Buttons =====

Also, every platform that has a like button should have a dislike button. Unlike those Meta platforms, YouTube, and the like, we need a way to show our disapproval without going into the comments. Reddit almost has it right, but the vote system still focuses on the positive interactions most of the time. Interestingly, [[https://itch.io/|Itch.io]] got this right and has a visible like and dislike counter for their comment section.

Lots of content creators hinder their audience's ability to inter-/react with the posted content by disabling comments, hiding likes, or otherwise limiting engagement, usually when the general opinion on the posted material is negative. That's why I leave the negative emojis enabled on my Telegram channel. I'm not afraid of that guy that vomit reacts to my homemade meatballs or my desire to make videogames in my free time.

Perhaps my approval of blocking and my disapproval of a creator restricting responses is a double-standard. I could see that argument, but I don't care!

— HBM

[Written: 2025-02-13; Updated: 2026-10-31]