Removal of Block Function

[canetoad]

I was disappointed to read the owners decision to remove the block function.

IMO, this function returned a degree of normality to everyday discourse on these forums; you could choose, as you do in real life, which people you wish to interact with. I fear that the empty cans have rattled the loudest.

[Swamp Rat]

1. 3... 2... 1...

:hi:



:D

[mike_c]

2. you suck-- I will now stalk you....

Pardon me for a moment while I write a script to generate ten thousand hateful PMs to overwhelm your inbox. All your base are belong to us.

[SoCalDem]

6. If you turn into a "stocker", I must report you to the "spocksman"

I am series !11!!!1111!!

[canetoad]

11. No probs.

Do I have time to get my defences up?

[A-Schwarzenegger]

3. Bogartin'?

[canetoad]

15. I have found very little philosophical or practical value in your posts

And this one is no exception.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

20. LOFL. Predictable response from the starter of a thread about to be locked.

Pass that thing, toad.

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

23. Never even heard of you or read a post from you before this thread.

You need to either toke more or toke less, dude.
(I think this guy believes I'm really the Gov of CA).

[greyl]

27. Weed doesn't do That. ;)

He must have missed your post in the JFK thread.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

29. Weed makes you believe Oswald did it?

It's nice to know people I never heard of read my posts though. :)

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

28. Check your PM. nt

[MonkeyFunk]

4. You can

place anybody who offends you on Ignore, and you'll never have to see their nonsense again.

[billyoc]

7. Yeah, I never got the difference

between ignore and block list, what is it?

[MonkeyFunk]

"Ignore"

means you can't see their posts anywhere on the board, but they're still allowed to post.

"Block" meant that your "enemies" were actually prohibited from posting in threads in which you started, or responding to any of your posts.

[dweller]

43. "enemies" .... ?

now, that's sad.


were they posting "wmd's" (words making discussion significant?).

dp

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

9. Ignore means you can't see their replies and you won't see their threads.

Block means they can't reply to you at all and they can't reply anywhere in their thread. You could libel another DUer and they couldn't even defend themselves.

[canetoad]

14. No. You are over-dramatising

And reading things into comments that I did not make. You should be pulled up for being overy histrionic.

Libel does not even come into the argument. I suggest you settle down some, and think before you post.

[Poll_Blind]

16. Holy shit, what is my luck tonight. Canetoad, check your PM!

PB

[ThomCat]

45. Threadstalking is against the rules.

And sending PMs to rally people against a DUer is damned rude.

People have noticed.

[Poll_Blind]

47. This is between me and CaneToad. I'm not sure what you're getting at...

...but I don't even have access to the search function. Haven't for weeks, at least.

PB

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

17. No, I'm not being histrionic.

It has happened to one of my DU friends. Someone put him on block and was going around saying he was a child molestor. How else would you describe that situation?

[wiley]

32. Um, I love you and all that, but if someone is slandering a friend like that,

contact a moderator immediately. And start a new post in GD to bring attention to it as well.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

33. They've already been alerted. Don't worry.

I was just pointing out the "worse case" scenario that happened under the block feature.

[wiley]

38. And I love LynneSin too!

Good for you!

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

39. LynneSin rocks!

We had a smiley sigline war going on for a long time. It was funny.

[smtpgirl]

19. canetoad, just hang out here for a bit & you'll see

sometimes, groupthink

[bicentennial_baby]

48. Wow, attitude much?

She's completely correct, as it actually *did* happen to some people during that period of time...Why don't you check your attitude before posting, eh?

[Swamp Rat]

5. Aaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

[WillyT]

10. Is That An African Swallow ???

From the Knights Who Say, "Block!"



Hey Swamp!

:bounce::hi::bounce:

[Swamp Rat]

12. Well...I don't know...Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!

[originalpckelly]

8. I think we had our little version of the Boston Tea Party...

It was the DU Block Party. :rofl:

[smtpgirl]

13. Either way, I do not win popularity contests here

I can name at least 5 members that would block me.

The block function would give me the answer that I knew all along.

I would just like to know for sure, but this is how this website is run.

[canetoad]

18. But in the general scheme of things

accepting that no one person can expect the whole world to like them, are you really concerned about the block feature?
Edited to add. I certainly am not.

[smtpgirl]

22. Not at all, I don't have thin skin and am glad that

you posted this, just a forum here, not a living space as far as I'm concerned.

[Solo_in_MD]

24. Your position would only be valid if the blockers owned DU

If you don't want people to comment on your posts...don't post

[951-Riverside]

26. Thank You n/t

[951-Riverside]

25. Cry all you want but I'm pleased the stupid "feature" was removed

If you don't like interacting with others here you have several options like Ignore, Contacting a mod or simply leaving the site. I don't like the idea of every little cry baby, RW'er, GOPer and the other losers who troll these forums having the power to silence dissenting views.

In closing the "feature" was stupid, useless and juvenile.

[wiley]

30. And such passive defeat.

Jump the MOFos who attack you. Take down names and mess with their posts. Do we now vote for Hagel now that he, like Edwards, says he regrets his vote for the IWR? No, to both, Thank You, but watch out for single issue candidate paen posting DUers.

Oh, and FY Glenn Beck. You will be silenced not by your many intelligent detractors, but by choking on your own fecal regurgitation. Or Cheney's. Whatever.

[Dogmudgeon]

31. If You Can Read This, You Must Be Too New To Hate Me Yet

Hillary-haters
Hillary-lovers
Obama-haters
Obama-lovers
Kerry-haters
Kerry-lovers
Gore-haters
Gore-lovers
DLC-haters
DLC-lovers
Clinton-haters
Clinton-lovers
Tom Cruise-haters
Tom Cruise-lovers
Skeptics
Mystics
New Agers
Old Timers
Young Whippersnappers
Theists
Atheists
Scientologists
Scientologist-haters
Doctors
Dentists
Veterinarians
Libertarians
Floccinoccinihilipilficationarians
Peak Oilers
Corunicopians
Ethanolists
Anti-nukers
Pro-nukers
Pedo Frenziers
Cat Fanciers
Boddice Rippers
Squirrel Nut Zippers
Homosexuals
Heterosexuals
Hemisexuals
Hunk-a-sexuals
Junkies
Spunk Monkeys
Monkey Spankers
Wankers
Supertankers
Bisexuals
Bicoastals
Ditech
Neo-Tech
Zonpower
Elvis Presley impersonators
NAMBLA (the North American Marlon Brando Look-Alike society)
People for the Edible Treatment of Animals
The Society for the Right to Arm Bears
The General Electric Soft White Light Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Eyes
Ladies Against Feminism
Ladies in Waiting
Sweet Cream Ladies (forward, march!)
and
The Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

Plus a few more I forgot.

--p!

[MonkeyFunk]

35. That deserves an award

for something.

[dweller]

40. no, you pretty much summed it up

but take it easy on the wankers.

where would we be without the wankers,
dp

[etherealtruth]

52. Yeah, but where do you weigh in regarding smokers?

O8)

[leftstreet]

34. It was a good idea

I don't think many DUers would have used it. DUers are addicted to conflict. But it gave posters in specific forums (of contentious subjects) some power to move discussions forward.

I'm really sorry to see DU cave over this.

IBTL!

[MrSlayer]

36. I'm glad they took it away, it was embarrassing.

The idea that some people here are such wimps that they had to block people out to avoid a dissenting view is embarrassing. I found it childish and cowardly. You don't have to answer posts you don't like, just skip em. Or if you find a poster to be particularly repugnant you could always ignore them. Even that I find to be ridiculous but it's always been there.



Basically it makes you the person on the left side of the picture. Now, isn't that silly?

[omega minimo]

42. What's even more embarrassing

is how many people can't make a point without being assholes, who need to be sheltered from the consequences of their own obnoxiousness, clueless about the irony of all the BULLIES shouting at others about being COWARDS.

[dweller]

37. in real life?

where do you live?

gagging someone that may have a point of view unlike your own is not the hallmark of a Democratic society.


nor, thankfully, in democraticunderground.

ymmv,
dp

[BlueIris]

41. Yeah, I thought it sucked at first...then I came to see its value.

And I'm surprised that they yanked it. I kinda hope it comes back.

[smtpgirl]

44. Because, you can see then who the wankers really are

Have had a few run-ins, my thread was locked, then yanked.

I had those naysayers to tell me that I was bad & blah-blah, blah-blah, blah-blah, only posted my opinion. Was my opinion that bad?

IMO, a result of group-think, would like to see the block feature, then you know the posters who breathe thin air, nothing more.

Democratic Underground???

Didn't post here for a while, but the people who yanked me aren't here anymore, or at least I don't see their profiles.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

46. I Definitely Think There Was Some Value To It. Unfortunately, When That Many People Get Pissed Off

at something, it probably is a wise move to do away with it.

I think people should've given it more of a chance and in doing so would've found the dramatic claims of being the end of DU wouldn't have come to fruition.

I also think some of the childish rhetoric thrown around such as calling everyone cowards, or freepers, or bullies or blah blah blah was extremely over the top and uncalled for in the majority of cases. But I also am disappointed to see the proponents now engaging in similar behavior by calling everyone who was against it whiners. Enough with the childish blanket labels already, they don't do anyone any good.

But I definitely found value in the tool and unfortunately will again have to deal with one of the board's most vicious and vindictive posters (in my opinion), but life goes on. I think the tool had its benefits and I think a lot of people learned some lessons from its incorporation. In fact, I actually bonded with a few DU'ers because of it and buried hatchets with others. Though it may have tore some apart, I think it brought some together as well. It also made people probably think a bit deeper prior to posting and did keep some threads more on topic. But it definitely also had its abuses and it did cause animosity as well, so I can definitely understand this decision.

I just hope any lessons people learned from the 2 week trial will stick with them; as I think we all got something out of it one way or the other.

[omega minimo]

51. Hence the mindfuck

[distantearlywarning]

49. Agreed.

I thought it would have been a good thing. I wish people had given it half a chance.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

50. I enjoyed the old switcheroo.

Seems to have embarassed a few people.

Whoops!

[Raskolnik]

53. Echo chambers within echo chambers are generally not a great idea.

Places like DU always have to guard against becoming a "me too" message board. The block function took it closer to that.

[Parrcrow]

54. locking

getting a bit too flamey in here