POLL: Why Do YOU Block Somebody On Twitter?
Sunday, June 21st, 2009 at
6:21 pm
In a recent article I wrote about the limitations of the block mechanism on Twitter. This is an issue because as the network grows in popularity it begins to attract more of the same kinds of ‘problem people’ we see elsewhere within the internet – spammers, trolls, nasty folk and good old-fashioned weirdos.
When I first started using Twitter, I rarely blocked anybody – now, for various reasons, I’m blocking several people each day. It’s those reasons that I want to address in this poll.
Specifically, why do YOU block somebody on Twitter?
(Please check as many reasons as apply.)
Loading …Please share any reasons personal to you that I have not covered in the comments area below.
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I mostly block the young ladies apparently offering me ‘services’. I also block the ones who only post adverts for stuff or redirect to their website. Eejit social marketing/internet entrepreneurs I leave unblocked but don’t respond to them. i need to keep my followers/follows fairly safe..
I’ve been blocking spammers/mass-adds (suddenly getting several a day) on the assumption that being on their follows only draws the attention of other spammers?
My “other” reason for blocking people comes from the old days when I spent a lot of time in chat rooms. As a woman, sometimes people who decide to follow me and seem to have no interest in the things I do, feel plain old creepy, and my radar detects something undefinable, so I block that person because it feels safer to do so. Of course, I could just be plain old paranoid.
I block people outside my area who don’t have similar interests who follow me randomly…. I don’t particularly want far-flung strangers with no common interests following me as closely as folks in my immediate area.
Usually block porn stars, or Twitterers of an overtly sexual nature. It’s always women doing the “soliciting” though, which I find vaguely disturbing!
So far I’ve banned people for only three reasons, (a) obvious spam like Horny Hottie, (b) obvious mass add, like being added by someone tweeting about coin auctions after I happened to use the word “coins” in a tweet, and (c) if reading your stuff makes my brain bleed because you apparently think sounding like a dumb*** makes you cool, I’ll block you because you’re dumb.
So far I try not to judge & havn’t blocked anyone yet. I’m still less than 400 followers. Still not sure wether to follow everyone who follows me till I reach a certain number, say 5000.
Sadly my profile must need polishing as few young ladies solicit me. However, those who do are distant second to hoards of web marketers – all of whom seem to have fallen for the latest TwitSpamming autobot and are jamming up the Tweetspace with their flawed notion of free traffic.
They’re:
-) porn, or peddling porn
-) follow 1000′s, no one follows them
-) no profile pic, no profile text
-) say they can get me 1000′s of followers a day … I don’t want 1000 followers PER day, just go away!!
-) expect me to follow them but I don’t understand what language all their posts are in.
I also now block the porn gals. They are following me at the rate of several per day.
I don’t like to block real people, but I have had bad experiences with political trolls. If you don’t agree with them on any point, they blast you mercilessly and repeatedly.
Most of the others mentioned here I don’t do a return follow, but I don’t block them because I figure it can’t hurt THEM to follow ME. LOL
I only really block spammers, of all kinds (the ladies1904782 and the business people and the groups or organisations hwo follow me as soon as I say ‘asthma’ or ‘Iran’) and trolls – upon following Darwin I was followed by several creationists who proceded to rant at me.
I have two accounts, one for me personally, and a rarely-used one for my webcomic. The webcomic one keeps all it’s followers, but my personal one only has friends or people I know.
1. I block all users who use automated “welcome/thank you” Direct Messages. Since I can’t always determine if a welcome/thank you DM is not automated, I block everyone who sends me such a message, even if it is not automated. If you have something to say to me use the @reply instead, and only use DM if you are really my friend and really want to be private. And then don’t use Twitter at all for that – use email, IM or telephone.
2. I block any follower who is offering porn or “horny sex” – from the icon used, username used or anything else which implies the account is made solely with this kind of abuse in mind.
Basically what LilyEmBlue said. Be a spammer, or a plug-me-and-my-service-only tweep, or stupid, and I’ll block you. Other than that, I don’t really care about who follows me. Twitter isn’t about the followers, it’s about who I follow. Twitter, like everything else in life, is about learning.
There are people who I just don’t want knowing about me… Even if it is just stupid stuff. I tweet to my friends, but other ppl who just show up out of nowhere…. I’m like wtf?! Especially if I go and read their tweets and they’re weird or rude or something.
I’m getting a lot of business venture people who want me to buy something. I generally block them. And there are the endless ladies who have a video to watch, etc. – I’m the wrong audience completely for that so they are blocked. Lately there have also been just odd, random individuals who show up and seem to have no bio and no point to any of their tweets. I’m not into getting large numbers of followers just to say I have them. If a person’s tweets have nothing of interest to me, I block them. Nothing personal … I just don’t have the need or time to read things I’m not interested in.
I normally block spammers and in one instance I blocked a twitter user because their twitter name is the same as a service I use on a regular basis, so I want to be able to search for the service and not see the offending twitters tweets.
Surprised that no one (except me and maybe a few others) votes for because they’re a spammer. That’s the main reason I block someone. When I get an e-mail that they followed me, I go to their profile, and if I see mostly links, I immediately block them. According to Twitter, if someone gets a lot of blocks, that sends a red flag that they have a problem account. So I always block these maggots.
OTOH, if someone has a lot of links, but I see that they reply to people, then I know at least they’re interacting with people, and I don’t block them. Only the accounts that are obviously false and just for marketing do I block.
I used to block people if they followed the same number of people that followed them. That told me that they weren’t really interested in following me, but were just interested in getting followers, and so they unfollow anyone who doesn’t follow back. But I don’t block these people anymore. Don’t really care. But I always block spammers.
Spammers is my main reason, as well. It has 89% of the vote, so not sure what number you’re seeing!
Of late I’ve (disturbingly) been having to block more and more good, old-fashioned weirdos. As Twitter grows, I can’t see that getting any better.
I’ve BLOCKED 1,866 Followers since 2009-03-01…
http://Twuna.com/Block-Remove
“Other reason (please discuss in the comments)”
Oh, the list is quite long. Allowing a Free-For-All in your Following presents challenges. For one, the larger your Following grows, the more Follow Trains you end being a part of. Once a stowaway gets on your train, all their friends will Follow. It’s a vicious cycle.
I typically BLOCK all bots. They are clearly identifiable with a ‘from API’ link in their Tweets and no interaction with their Timelines (@ mentions).
I BLOCK ALL default o_O Avatars. It doesn’t matter if it’s a new user who hasn’t figured it out. They probably won’t if they’ve come out in public wearing a confused look.
http://Twuna.com/o_O
I BLOCK most Auto-Follows. They usually occur after a round of Tweeting activity where certain keywords are mentioned. You can easily spot them if you are in tune with your Followers. I manage that area just like those I’m Following.
I BLOCK anyone who has Tweets in their Timeline promoting Get More Followers on Twitter, that’s an immediate BLOCK, I go no further.
I BLOCK anyone who has MLM in their username and/or name. That’s a no brainer. If you want to get on board fast moving Follow Trains, start Following those in the MLM industry. You’ll have thousands of Followers in a very short period of time – for free!
I could go on and on about the reasons why I BLOCK. You can find more here…
http://Twuna.com/TOS
I’ve been nudging @twitterapi to offer users a Remove Option. Those in Protected Mode have it, we should have it too. It’s not as blunt as the BLOCK option and probably more appropriate in many instances.
http://Twuna.com/Remove
BLOCKING also sends signals to Twitter. Too many BLOCKS from too many users and the Suspension mechanism comes into play.
.-= pageoneresults´s last blog ..Blocking Twitter Followers – Blocking and Removing Followers =-.
I block when the account has any indication of porn – by tweet or picture.
unfortunately I have the displeasure of having to view their profile in order to block.
.-= Phillip Gibb´s last blog ..phillipgibb: How to cut down on Twitter Spam: http://tr.im/wGvU =-.
I have sometimes had to block people because they are boring.
As A woman I usually block those silly girls who want me to watch them naked. Why would I want to?
Also spammers and people who keep telling me they are going ‘for a run now, going to the gym now, just done 500 pressups’
Oh, go get a life, I’m drinking great coffee and smoking a cigarette, but I have a real interesting life.
http://www.forzerofrictionmarketing.com
.-= jubo´s last blog ..What is the best way to get rid of acne scars? =-.