Social Networking: Rock 'em, Sock 'em, Block 'em!

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A fellow on Google+ just shared an article with me about a woman having sex with a horse and a pig.  Not sure how he wound up in my circles; maybe his initial posts were a bit more on the subdued side, but he is no longer in my circles.

Do you spend considerable time removing undesirable people from your Twitter, Facebook, and/or Google+ accounts? Sigh. At least we can say thank goodness all the Britney Spears video Twitter accounts are a distant memory now.

The Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots conjured up in my head a few days ago, supplying inspiration for writing about social networks and blocking. Never had that toy, but I’ll apply it here to a process of sorts:

#1 Rock ‘em: Giving someone the opportunity to be included in your life by following, friending, or circling.

#2 Sock ‘em: Sometimes on Twitter I’ll comment to the person before blocking; call it fair warning if you like. “Put some clothes on girl” is one statement I’ve used. Not sure how I wound up following them in the first place! (Step is optional)

#3 Block ‘em: “His block is knocked off!” You didn’t make the grade and here’s why:  A distinct lack of in garment investment, violent and/or vulgar subject matter, avatar shows two people in a compromising position, or foul language.  I won’t block you for standing up for your opinion on pretty much any other subject; just don’t rant on a single subject. Don’t have to agree or disagree with what you say, but I’ll respect it and enjoy reading different viewpoints.

Now, your rules may differ from mine, and that’s okay.

And now it seems that some questionable folks are appearing on Google+ too. The clean, intelligent crispness of Google+ was destined to start deteriorating at some point.

A few weeks ago I was alerted about a guy who was ‘out on the prowl’ on Google+, only circling women while posting pure smut. He was my first block; at the time I hadn’t circled him, nor had he circled me. The intro on his profile reads (yes, in caps): I AM A BUSINESSMAN.I AM INTERESTED IN FRIENDSHIP WITH HOT PERSONS. And occupation? WE MANUFACTURE YARN. Yeah, tall tales! He also claims to be a “graduate in Science”. Uh huh.

This clown now has me in HIS circles, despite my blocking him. Now Google+, why would you even allow this?

Regarding three popular social platforms, here’s the scoop on blocking:
When you block someone on Twitter, you will no longer see any of their tweets; however, they can still see your tweets by searching on you. Tweets are PUBLIC.

Google+ appears to work in a similar way. While you can shut someone out and not see their posts, they can still see your posts if you’re posting publicly. Luckily, on Google+ unlike Twitter, YOU choose how widespread any given post should be, so if you’re posting to a limited audience, they won’t see it.

Facebook works a bit differently. If you block someone, you no longer exist on Facebook to them. Even if you’re posting publicly, you won’t be visible from the blocked profile. However, and apologies for creeping you out, they could create another profile and find you in searches. And again, if you’re posting publicly, they’ll be able to see it all.

In closing, to see the product that inspired this post click here.

To Block or Not to Block?

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Ah, what goes on with one’s Twitter account during the night? Usually, I see a lot of friendly mentions, follow recommendations, thanks, and so on when I review tweets during my morning coffee. I’ll RT some of them, thank the rest. But yesterday, while several mentions were left for me (at least twenty of them), I really wasn’t too pleased about who the tweeps where.

Actually, there were several accounts mentioning me, none of which I was following. They had different combinations of “alix”, “Cancun”, and “Mexico” in them. Doesn’t sound so bad, right? Well, many of them had avatars featuring, well, is there something smaller than a g-string? I chose not to enlarge the avatar for a closer look.

Spent quite a bit of time blocking them all. Then, just to make sure, did a few additional searches and found more accounts associated with the ones that had mentioned me. Blocked those too. I then sent out several tweets warning others. And a few people replied; one even said they had found him too.

Speaking of scantily clad, the other day what looked like a woman in her twenties starting following me, with nothing but black tape placed horizontally in two places. I tweeted to her “get some clothes on girl; sorry, but I have to block you.” And blocked. What was she thinking?

Well, I’m just happy that all the Britney wanna-bees and beyond have pretty much disappeared from Twitter. How many times have you blocked those?

But perhaps a more interesting happening are those tweeps that follow and then unfollow you. Guess they’re trying to keep their follower count down. After the third time for many of them (yes, I do recognize a lot of them), I’ve tweeted to some and asked them why they keep following/unfollowing. Oh, you’re thinking, why do I do this? My curious nature combined with my market research background makes me question just about everything.

One gent tweeted back “girlfriend problems”. Really now? Then he started following me AGAIN. Two days later, unfollowed me. And despite whether or not he was following me, he constantly mentioned me in a tweet as someone to follow. And no, he wasn’t a spammer. Don’t confuse me tweeps; got enough on my plate; no time for shenanigans. He has been blocked.

I know some people automatically block those who have unfollowed. And this happened to me one time where I actually didn’t unfollow. Twitter must have “burped” that day. It was a tweep I didn’t want to lose. Luckily, I had her email address and wrote to her immediately. She was skeptical, but after some back and forth correspondence, believed me. We tweet often now.

When you block someone, they may never know about it, especially if they’re whammy-spammy tweeps. But this isn’t about revenge. It’s about preventing that person from becoming a part of your feed ever again. And take note, they can still run a search on you and still SEE your tweets; a not-so-happy reminder that Twitter is public. So, in essence, blocked tweeps never completely go away.

On a more positive note, you also have the option to unblock someone should you decide to “kiss and make up”. How many times have I heard from someone with an apology for blocking me in error? We’ve all done that, right?

My advice is twofold. One, if someone isn’t clothed up to your standards or is using language beyond what you are comfortable with, block them. Without a second thought. Two, consider others before clicking on block. Don’t we all deserve a fair shake? Are they a spammer? If yes, then block. Are they just a little lost in the Twitter universe and could perhaps use a little support instead of being blocked out of your life? After all, it’s a harsh world out there. Perhaps reaching out to them instead would benefit both of you.

Blocking could be viewed as an end. So you block someone. It’s done. It’s over. Kaput. But when you’ve been blocked, well, while I’ve cited an occurrence of unblocking above, that’s not “the norm”. Yeah, we’ve all been blocked. Leaves a bad taste in your mouth, for sure, since the “why me?” lingers on. And here’s the good news: It’s not important! All those tweeps that follow you and will follow you in the future deserve your attention so much more.