August 18, 2023, Elon Musk, CEO of X, hinted at a major change for the platform formerly known as Twitter — the removal of the “block” feature. The reaction of social media users was immediate and divided. And of course, it all began with a one-sentence response to a post…
Elon Casually Announces X Block Feature Removal
It was business as usual on X when the notorious multibillionaire responded to a tweet from a Tesla owners’ group…
Immediately, the Internet was quick to put their two cents in on the matter. As of the writing of this article, Musk’s reply has been viewed 61 million times and has 26.2K comments.
People were angry that the platform’s CEO was going to do this without putting it to a vote. This added X removing “block” to another unpopular choice since Elon Musk bought Twitter.
A portion of the digital mob posted this picture to show disagreement:
But, this was not just about preferences or online drama. Many X users voiced their very serious concerns.
Just Another Part of X’s “Downward Spiral”
Long before the SpaceX founder took over the app, X had issues reigning in cyberbullying and harassment. Therefore, blocking is a crucial tool for keeping unwanted content from being seen or sent to you…
AND IT ALSO BLOCKS OTHERS FROM SEEING WHAT YOU’RE POSTING ON X!
For that reason, people like Louis Jones of the Brand Safety Institute are concerned about losing the feature. This is what she wrote in an email to CNBC about the situation:
“MUSK’S ‘LAX APPROACH TO FREE SPEECH,’ IS LIKELY TO HAVE A ‘DOUBLE EFFECT,’ MAKING BULLYING MORE COMMON ON THE PLATFORM AND INHIBITING FREE SPEECH BY THOSE USERS WHO ARE TARGETS OF BULLIES AND PREDATORS. IT’S A DOWNWARD SPIRAL THAT CANNOT BE GOOD FOR THE LONG-TERM SUCCESS OF X.”
Elon Musk addressed these concerns by noting while X will delete “block,” it will keep “mute.” The mute feature is where you can tell X not to show you certain phrases or people.
Additionally, you will continue to be able to block people in your direct messages per this directive. There is just one more question…
How much longer do we have?
When Will Block on X Disappear?
For now, there is no timeline or reason for “block” leaving X. Hopefully, Mr. Musk and the platform’s team consider the concerns of its users.
Otherwise, X is in danger of going the way of MySpace…
Whatever that is.
Be Great,
GCTV Staff
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