Topic: So, You Can Now Ignore Users

While I agree with most of what you said, I mean, they kinda do. You don’t have to have a valid reason to not like somebody.

The point I’m making is, just like you said, you don’t have to read or respond to people you don’t like, or to views you disagree with. The ability for anybody to exclude people from certain conversations doesn’t quite work for forums. At the end of the day, it encourages division, creates somewhat of a bubble, and worsens the problem in my opinion.

I can understand the ability to hide users you don’t want to see, but totally disagree with hiding your own posts for them to see. Why even be on a public forum if you only want a certain group to see your posts?

@exit Again I agree what you said. I mean I can understand ignoring people on Twitter, or Facebook but like you said this a forum not a social media app. If users have the ability to block other users then what is the point of having Mods?? But I digress

Sadly though as I stated the owners of this site don't see it they way we do so if this feature is a problem, which it seems then unfortunately this place may not be for you. I am not trying to sound rude but many of us have voiced the same concerns to the owner but they are unwilling to change their mind on it and are adamant on keeping the feature they way it is.

@Tasuki You don’t sound rude at all, and thanks for the response. I greatly respect users like you, regardless of whether I agree or disagree with your views.

Yeah, I guess you are right. Overall it’s up to the owners to decide, and they have the right to enforce what they like. Personally I do not agree with it, and it has made me rethink whether I should continue using the site. It’s a shame because overall the site and my experience has been pleasant.

Anyway, no hard feelings. It is what it is.

@exit I like listening to everybody on here, I like reading all about peoples different tastes in games, movies and books.

You are good in my book!

@Kermit1 Thank you mate. As do I, it’s what forums are all about.

Users like you are what make the community great.

It's a shame that they won't budge on this, since I agree with everyone commenting now within the thread. It's pretty much just cutting people out of conversations, as they're not allowed to have context to said conversations. If you can't see one singular message, then it looks like someone is just talking to themselves, or it makes it hard to actually get in on the topic at hand.

They main thing I would like to know is why the owners see fit to exclude people from conversations, it just doesn't make sense to me. Why give people a tool to bully others and excluding people just because? Seems like they don't want to stop bullying they just want to cater to certain people who want to bully others themselves.

@Tasuki I guess it's because to them, it isn't bullying. It's ignoring problematic people who aren't breaking the rules of the community, but are making members uncomfortable.

@VoidofLight By making the forums uncomfortable for others it seems.

I will admit it’s a bit of a beat down when you can somewhat see that public conversation is happening, but you cannot partake because you potentially made a comment someone disagrees with. It’s not a fair system.

I can totally understand the ability to hide posts you dislike, that makes sense, but to block a user entirely just doesn’t work for a forum unless a mod has removed them for breaking the site rules. I’d imagine it may also discourage people to voice their opinion, due to fear of being alienated.

Unfortunately, the reality of the Internet isn't that optimistic.

I had the displeasure of dealing with a lot of jerks on the Internet over the years, so that built a rather defensive reaction in me when dealing with strangers online, people I've never met and will probably never meet halfway across the world. If they say something that upsets me - which they usually do online - would I rather block them or let myself get dragged into a pointless argument that drains my energy? I'd prefer the former.

Now, that's not to say that NintendoLife forum is the same. If anything, I do feel that this community is one of the more positive ones that try to respect each other's opinion - most of the time (there are still certain rather aggressive users whom I shall not name that aggressively challenge your viewpoint if you dislike something they like, even going so far as to call your opinion ridiculous). So I'll admit that the same rules don't necessarily apply as they do on Reddit, YouTube, or even Facebook, where people will attack anyone for just about anything. Even certain other forums aren't always filled with an affable atmosphere even if they're "moderated," because gatekeeping is a thing, and certain forums and their moderators can be biased and would let certain abusive behavior slide when certain opinions they dislike are voiced.

It's not a topic I like to discuss because I want to have a fresh start here and try to fit in, but since it's been brought up, I thought I'd share my viewpoint on why I put people on ignore and even block them. It's not a matter of silencing you guys specifically, it's a matter of how I see most people on the Internet as potentially toxic. It's how I was brought up on the Internet over two decades of Internet usage, arguing against many, many trolls and bullies online.

As far as I know, putting NL users on "Ignore" doesn't prevent them from seeing your posts; blocking them does, so I don't think it's as big of a deal if it's the former case. I get why people are upset on a principle level... but still. Ignorance is bliss. Again, I'll admit that over the past week of communicating with users here, I could accept that such a defensive behavior might not be as necessary as they're on other platforms.

As a side note, does that mean I'm insecure about my own views that I'm afraid I'll get attacked? Yes. Hello, I'm seeing a therapist, I'm taking anxiety pills, so of course I'm insecure. I was bullied severely in school, I never had a lot of friends, don't even have a girlfriend - of course I'm insecure. It's not something I'm proud of, but that's just the reality of things.

But if there's one thing I've learned on the Internet, it's that I should never let toxic people drag me down. I have my own life to live. I shouldn't let someone spoil my day and make me feel small, going out of their way to say "Your opinion is dumb" just because I happen to have an unpopular opinion.

@Maxenmus That’s fair, you have a right to protect yourself online, and I’m sorry to hear about the unpleasant encounters you have had. The idea of ignoring a user is great, and allows everyone to continue to partake in the conversation, while also allowing those who choose to ignore certain users do so. I fully support that system.

What I don’t understand is why it blocks the user entirely. The end result is people are excluded from public discussion, which really only worsens the bullying issue.

That's something I can agree on. Even when I've "blocked" someone from my "Ignore" list on NL in the past week, it was kinda an accident as I didn't know what that function does (I didn't see the fine print, the instructions, till after the fact). So yeah, that was my fault. It does make you feel bad when you realized that someone has blocked you, that you can't see their post, so I do agree that it's not exactly the best way to fix bullying.

@exit it’s a two level process, blocked users start as ignored, but not all ignored users are necessarily blocked- the user needs to consciously go to the ignore list and choose to block the person.

@VoidofLight Where have you been? have I just been on the wrong threads?

The bullying was actually throughout primary school and secondary school (the Singapore equivalent of an elementary and middle school). We don't technically have "highschools" here like in America, and even our "junior highs" are tertiary level institutes equivalent to a college. But, once I got into college, the bullying did cease since people there were old enough to act more maturely. Kids can be cruel. Trey and Matt were correct in that kids aren't little angels; their innocence also means they lack moral consciousness.

It's why I hate communicating on the Internet sometimes because you don't see the other person's facial expressions, leading to miscommunication when you don't know if the other party is joking or intentionally trying to hurt you.

Yeah, I was worried about the side effects of the medication, but my anxiety and my anger issues (partially triggered by said anxiety) were so bad I had to take them. I don't think I'd ever rid myself of my anxiety issues through therapy. It's a long healing process that might take up my entire life even, but I'm used to it.

As for avoiding social media, it is one solution, but I guess that, in spite of all my complaints about online interaction, I'm more comfortable talking to people online than face-to-face outside because of my social anxiety. It's hard to make friends with people outside, let alone in Singapore. I grew up with American ideals thanks to a childhood of American media, and it kinda left me isolated from Singaporeans and their more collectivist, nationalist ideals that don't always support the concept of "American freedom" or individualism. But that's a political can of worms best left alone, so let's leave it at that.

@NeonPizza Summed it up perfectly.

To be clear, this is incorrect.

When you ignore another user, it simply doesn't show you their comments/posts anymore, effectively hiding them. However, they will continue to see your messages.

In some cases, you may decide that you need to block that user from seeing your posts, in which case you can visit your ignore list and block them completely. This is only encouraged by mods when there is a persistent problem between users. Only at this point would the blocked user stop seeing your posts/comments (you could call this a reverse ignore).

Whilst lots of people can simply not read comments by users they don't like, others find it easier using the ignore button.

Currently, less than 2% of ignores result in a block.

I think introducing a limit of the number of users you can block may be effective and therefore only used in more extreme cases, as we agree it should be a last resort.

@antdickens It's kinda ironic in a way because blocking stirs up drama, and one of the rules on NL forum is not to do so specifically. I know I'm not the best person to call out on this since I accidentally blocked someone before (out of ignorance of what blocking does), but still.

@Link-Hero And that's why I'll never drink. It tastes bad anyway (I had a single dab on my tongue when I was a kid).