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Elon Musk makes no secret of the fact that he’s a block button fan. Currently, X is changing the way blocks work on the platform, but (so far) it falls short of Musk’s desire to completely disable the feature.
Instead, X is tweaking the visibility of replies in the context of blocks. Previously, users could block someone on X and still reply to their posts. And the blocked person won’t be able to see the reply or know that the blocked person was interested in their post. This feature has now been rolled back, allowing users to see direct replies even if the author has blocked them. In a post from X’s engineering team, the company said the changes were “part of an ongoing effort to align the city block’s function with its principles as a public town square.”
We’re making changes to the way blocks work.
If the person who blocked you replies to one of your posts, you will be able to see their replies. This change helps protect both content by allowing you to identify and report potentially malicious content that you were previously unable to view.
— Engineering (@XEng) May 2, 2024
The post also suggested further changes could be coming to blocking, one of the service’s most widely used safety features. “Our goal is to give users control over their experience while keeping their posts public,” the company said. This seems to be in line with Musk’s previous comments. He said that the “block” function for the general public is “meaningless” and said, “Blocking is scheduled to be removed as a ‘feature’, with the exception of DM.”
At this point, the changes to blocking are less dramatic. In fact, it may even be welcomed by some users who want to know more about what people are saying about them on the platform. But the fact that X is starting to change the visibility of previously blocked content could also be a sign of more significant changes to come.