X is altering how the block button works

Elon Musk has made no secret that he’s of the block button. Now, X is altering how blocks work on its platform, although it’s (for now) stopping wanting Musk’s want of nuking the function totally.

As a substitute, X is tweaking the visibility of replies within the context of a block. Beforehand, a person may block somebody on X and nonetheless reply to their posts. And the one that was blocked wouldn’t be capable to view that reply or know the one that had blocked them was participating with their posts. That’s now being rolled again in order that customers will be capable to see direct replies even when the particular person posting has blocked them. In a publish from X’s engineering group, the corporate mentioned the change is “a part of our ongoing dedication to aligning the block function with our ideas as a public city sq..”

The publish additionally hinted that there could also be extra adjustments coming to blocks, which is likely one of the most generally used security options on the service. “Our objective is to permit customers to regulate their expertise whereas sustaining the general public visibility of posts,” the corporate mentioned. That would appear to align with earlier feedback from Musk, who has mentioned on {that a} public-facing “block” function “is unnecessary” and that “block goes to be deleted as a ‘function,’ apart from DMs.”

For now, the adjustments to blocking aren’t that drastic. In reality, they might even be welcomed by some customers who need extra visibility into what individuals are saying about them on the platform. However the truth that X is beginning to change the visibility of beforehand blocked content material may be an indication of extra important adjustments to return.