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blocking
December 2009 
Pushing Buttons~ for Samme:-)
Posted on Oct 6th, 2008
by 
Janet
Janet
Among the recently added features on Gaia is the "block this person" button. Thought I have no desire to exclude anyone specifiically, I was curious about what happens when this button is pushed. I thought I'd like to try it and see what happens. Just what does it mean? Could the sequence be undone? is permanent?
Of course my curiosity required action:-) and I would need a partner in order to learn from it. If I randomly blocked someone I would have no way of knowing what the results were. Last night I asked Lars to join me in this learning experiment. Hey, dart, can I block you and see what happens? He didn't like the idea...thought I was tryin to ditch him...like that would happen, right?
Today I tried again: Larry, how about you de-friend (or is it un-friend? I did have it happen once so far ouch!) me (you can't block a friend), and then block me so I can see what happens? Then I can have the pleasure of you inviting me to be your friend.
This time he agreed and suddenly I had been poofed. He did not show up on my friend's list and when I tried to go to his profile, it was all private and what not...Yep, I was locked out.
Yikes! Such a strange feeling.
What I don't know is how strong the blocking juju is. Is it just the profile & blog that are blocked? Or whether that means all content becomes invisible...say if you go to a Pod will the comments by the person who blocked you be invisible there too?
Our experiment lasted all of about 5 minutes from start to finish, but it somehow set off Samme's alarm LOL. Thank you Samme for your concern:-)
One thing I will say: Lars' re-friend invite was pretty terse: "friend?" was all there was to it.....guess he was feeling pretty sure of himself. Thanks for playing along with me!
crowded house locked out
Access: Public
LOL, Janet, you and Lars can make a Gaia sitcom and upload on Youtube, Lars and Janet…,Friends Forever.
Aaaawwwww that is so sweet you guys could not last longer than 5 minutes being 'defriended'. I want to know what else could happen when a person is blocked just like you said if they posted in a pod.
Maybe I can 'defriend' Lars and find out. Naaaaahh!
Can't bear the thought of being defriended with you Janet or with Lars. : )
thank you for your friendly experiment with your wonderful friend.
Samme
And oh hello? I love Crowded House
Here's the real story from my perspective. I love the way you titled the piece, Pushing Buttons~for Samme:-) What I would like to know is why you wouldn't poof me..
It' would have been so much more effective, the shock value, if you would have just pressed the button, blocked me and left me to simmer in my own juice for a couple of days..
Yikes! The swords from this guy would have been a blessing..
This is where the rubber hits the highway…Sword of discerment. We should explore this further..I still have questions as does Samme.
…ke-hee…..such a kid………always the curious contender!
“V” and joy be with you.
I was curious too about its utility………isn't somewhere information about the question? I mean about why it was added more than how it works since I don't need to use it.
All I can imagine is that maybe is for people higlhy imcompatible or something to avoid to get in touch even for a second…..but sounds too weird….
mum~ nice to meet you
vi~ thanks for bringing your curiosity to the table
well? did it block pod/group stuff too?? :P
you created interest and curiosity now i want to KNOW
or was that just to get me to want a sequel?
Sounds like a fun little experiment! :)
As for what it all means and how much is really blocked….from what I've heard, it blocks the other person's ability to see anything that has your user name as part of the Web address. For example, if Janet blocked someone, that person would not be able to see anything with …….JaLeeZa…..in the web address. That means the profile page, her blogs, her photos, etc.
But if she left comments on someone else's blog or participated in a pod, the “blocked” person would be able to see these.
lisa~ that's what I figured too
elisa~ I'm guessing, though we did not try it, that what lisa said is right. Probably anything that's connected to the profile pages is blocked, but not comments or posts that show up elsewhere.
You guys are such a hoot, lol must admit I was curious too, but couldn't envisage needing to use it, hopefully never.
It feels like a very un Gaia -like function, maybe we should just ask the team?
yeah, I was wondering if the “de-friended” was completely vaporized (including anything comments that were ever posted). I guess not; that would be a really strong statement.
I don't think I've ever been officially de-friended in cyberspace; but, I suppose there must be a call for it (or maybe interface protocol) since it was added. I did get a racist, sexist, political comment on youtube last month (self-loathing little boy that he was); but, I didn't even block him.
Now, for you experimenters: if you re-friend, do any comments you originally made to the profile page re-enable or is it a clean slate between you and the re-friended?
Everything still remains the same..but my head is starting to spin…and those funky blue deals are floating around again…OMG…it's the Orbs, yikes!
Samme's idea about the sitcom has more and more appeal…:-)
Gael~ I know what you mean about the un-Gaia like feel of the block button
Scribe~ I think there's no such thing as a clean slate…google has it all bagged & tagged - haha!
Lars~ do you need to refresh? I think there's a button for that too;-)
OK, now I get what those weird grapevine comments about de-friending meant. Ah ha! You read enough blogs, you start figuring out what's happening. I was ready to start gossiping, “did you hear that Janet and Lars are no longer friends….?” Just Kidding!
But it's good that you, Janet, were curious and astute enough to figure out what would happen. Now all of us curious minds don't have to try it ourselves. And it's sweet about Samme too. :)
Buttons Buttons everywhere!!! I think Jon hit on it when he said I needed a key for hugs! Id much rather hug than block! :-) Glad you got your experiment all sorted out Janet and Lars. Playful is as playful does! :-)
Hey Miss Janet… Don't ever think about blocking ME - You have become my workout coach - did you know that? If not you do now : )
Curiousity really didn't kill any cats… they just ran out of lives… I think you're safe!
You make me laugh - have a beautiful day!
Kris~ until very recently, I taught a fitness kickbox class, so I so know how to motivate the ladies to a good sweat ;-)
10 more, 9 more, 8 more, 7 more, you can do it!!!!
Julia - I think a hug button is definitely in order:-)
Kathy~ so glad you're on the page now
Hi Janet. Glad that you and Lars conducted the experiment. I, too, was curious about what blocking someone entails. I'm still curious about something, though. If instead of the blocking being one-sided, you had blocked Lars and Lars had blocked you, then you wouldn't be able to see each other's profiles–so how would it be possible for you to become friends again?
What a great comment! I see the over-arching implications of that kind of situation when extended out beyond our little Gaia community.
Want to try it with me to see what happens?
Oh my, my comment keeps disappearing! One last attempt and I'm gone!
Thanks for the laughs, yet again, Janet! Your experiment with Lars sure benefitted a lot of the curious fellahs like me! Agree that this block thing (where is it exactly?) is quite un-gaia and wonder what's behind it.
Have a great day to you and blessings, dear friend!
rotflmao…
Hey Star~ thanks for joining in:-)
This is the update on mutual blocking. Peace Seeker/Lenore inquire of Matthew.
Here is Matthew's answer:
If you block another person, they can't block you because your profile will show up as private to them. They won't be able to get to your profile to block you. But if you do block someone, the “block” link is replaced with “unblock”. So, you can always unblock someone you've blocked.
Thanks Matthew…the mystery unravels further:-)
“mutual blocking”
ROTFLMAO
This blocking thing is really interesting, isn't it? It really empowers the “blocker” and disempowers the “blockee.” I wonder if the powers that be set it up that way intentionally, figuring that if one makes the decision to block someone, there's a really good reason (stalking, harassment, etc.). If so, it makes sense…
This was a very amusing experiment. Lol Samme is like lightening.
Inquiring Minds wanted to know!
I didn't even know that I wanted to know! LMAO! :-D
Thanks for the experiment and lessons learned!
Heh. Never be afraid to try! LOL~~~<3
Thanks Janet, Larry, and all commenters for the research results. I am still learning my way around the new design that greeted me on my return from the woods. I don't see a block this person button on the page. I do see remove friend. I have been slowly house cleaning some of my friends list who haven't been to zaadz/gaia in over a year for example, sort of like cleaning closets, nothing personal. Is that the button?
PS a little vent: such an ugly design competing with our beautiful words and photographs. I am uninspired to blog my trip here… I know there is a forum for that somewhere, I'll find it later.
Samme, watch your mouth LOL
Lisa, I think that's the point :-)
Brother D, nice to meet you, thanks for stopping by
Ariela, I don't think your mind ever stops zipping about
Carla, You can't block a friend. If you wanted to block someone on your current friend list, you'd have to un-friend them first.
The new design is quite nice once you get used to looking on the left for everything. It is a work in progress- just like we are:-) I'm looking forward to the blog about your trip. The tidbits I've heard so far were maaaahvelous!
To Zephyr's; MorningStar; Scribe Sky, and Janet….i ask you…..
…did you ever hear about “Big Brother Is Watching You”?
I truely believe that what ever has been said (coming out of) a human existences' mouth, is the travel from a thought wave of energy”, that will be written in the 'archaic archives' of all voice's, (in the next dimention), and that were ever said and heard of from our affiliated mouth here on earth…… and into the library of futile of mutual hearing's that make Up, for much to be said in the long run.
…..this is me laughing…….
Hope you see it's laughter too…….
probably I'll be home before I tell the story, too busy living it to edit the photos and videos. re new design:
The left side is ok, it is the right side I don't like: that honking big ad right where our blogs have meat, less pixel width for our blogs (or so it seems) and even fewer friends at my fingertips, and having to scroll down for my grapevine, past aforementioned ad.
I’m revisiting this blog as I had my first experience of being blocked by someone who did not even bother to tell me they had a problem or wanted to de-friend me. Now being blocked or un-friended by someone on a social network is hardly a big tragedy. But it does bring up for me a functional question. When I block someone, it is an indication that I do not want to be connected to a person, no? So much so that I don’t want them to contact me or visit my profile. But I can still follow them around and check up on their activities. It seems like the block feature might be best if it were a mutual thing. I have evidence that this person who blocked me continues to visit my blogs and check up on me. I find it creepy.
That is creepy, do you know who it is? Well sure you do or you wouldn’t have made this comment. I’m sure the problem will resolve itself and if not we can call in the Cyberpolice. I will watch for more details and report back.
Maybe someone can devise a CyberEraser. :-)