Key Takeaways
- Twitter is reportedly about to rework its block button.
- The new system would still prevent users from interacting with public accounts that blocked them, but while allowing them to continue seeing their content.
- Twitter owner Elon Musk said it is “high time this happened.” Social media reactions to this change are polarized.
X, formerly known as Twitter, appears to be preparing to rework its block button. The old Twitter block function will reportedly be replaced with a significantly more limited feature.
Since Elon Musk bought Twitter to the tune of $44 billion in October 2022, the social media platform has made numerous sweeping changes. Aside from reinstating many permanently banned accounts, it also changed its cross-promotion policies and mounted attempts to better monetize its hundreds of millions of users through the introduction of the Twitter Blue subscription service, among other offerings.
Elon Musk Says It’s ‘High Time’ to Rework Twitter’s Block Function
This still-ongoing wave of Musk’s Twitter reforms now appears to have set its sights on the platform’s block feature. On September 23, app researcher Nima Owji reported that Twitter is on the verge of removing the current block button and replacing it with a decisively more limited functionality. The new system will still allow users to block others, but won’t prevent those who have been blocked from seeing content from the people who blocked them. Musk himself responded to Owji’s report by asserting that it’s “high time this happened,” thus seemingly confirming that a Twitter block button rework is indeed imminent.
Some Twitter Users Are Unhappy With the Block Feature Rework
The social media reactions to this change appear to be fairly polarized. Some Twitter users welcomed the rework as a way to streamline their app usage without affecting the main purpose of the old block button, which is to allow people to decide who can interact with them. Others have argued that the ability to prevent others from seeing one’s posts is an intrinsic part of any block feature. “I don’t want the creeps I’ve blocked seeing my posts at all,” wrote Twitter user Philosophi_Cat in response to Musk’s recent hint at the upcoming change.
Once this rework is implemented, the only way for Twitter users to control who can see their posts will be to make their profiles private and then follow any accounts that they wish to keep in the loop. This is hence not a particularly practical approach for popular, highly-followed users to employ.
The change itself is still less drastic than what Musk claimed would be implemented back in August 2023, when he said that Twitter would have the old block feature “deleted” for everything bar DMs. Some social media users opposed to this revamp have argued that the only reason Twitter is implementing it is to increase content impressions and engagement, consequently boosting its advertising revenue.
