Social media has become an integral part of our lives. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter allow us to connect with friends, family, coworkers, brands, influencers, and more. With just a click or tap, we can share life updates, photos, videos, and opinions. However, social media has a dark side. Online harassment, bullying, trolling, and unwanted contact can make social media an unpleasant experience. When this happens, many users resort to blocking or unfriending the offensive accounts. But what leads someone to block instead of unfriend?
What is the difference between blocking and unfriending?
On most social media platforms, blocking and unfriending both remove the blocked user’s ability to see or interact with your profile and posts. However, there are some key differences:
- Blocking prevents the blocked person from viewing your profile or posts, starting a conversation, or adding you as a friend.
- Unfriending simply removes the connection between you and the other person. They can still view your public posts and profile.
- Blocked users are not notified that they have been blocked. Unfriended users will know the friendship has been severed.
- Blocking provides you with more privacy and protection from harassment.
In essence, blocking cuts off all contact and visibility, while unfriending only removes the online friendship connection.
Why do people choose to block?
There are several reasons why someone may decide to block rather than unfriend another user:
1. To stop harassment or bullying
If someone is sending you abusive messages, threats, or repeatedly contacting you in an unwanted manner, blocking them can make it stop immediately. Unfriending them only removes the online friendship, but they could still see your posts and potentially continue the harassment.
2. To prevent being contacted again
Blocking prevents the blocked person from finding you again and sending a new friend request or message. With unfriending, they could still send you messages or connect to you again if they find your profile. Blocking stops this from happening.
3. To avoid seeing upsetting content
Seeing someone’s posts and photos who you’ve had a bad breakup with, a political or religious disagreement, or another type of falling out can be upsetting. Blocking hides their content from your view, while unfriending still lets you stumble upon it.
4. To make a clean break after a relationship ends
Blocking an ex after a breakup can help both parties move on by cutting off all contact and visibility into each other’s online lives. Unfriending allows some visibility unless they also unfriend you.
5. To deescalate a tense situation
In arguments and disagreements online, blocking an antagonist can take the oxygen out of the fire by preventing them from continuing the dispute. Unfriending permits them to keep fanning the flames.
6. To protect personal or professional reputation
If someone is spread false information about you online or sharing untrue details about your work/business, blocking them can limit the reach of negative comments and protect your reputation. Unfriending has less impact on containing damage.
7. To avoid seeing someone’s posts for mental health reasons
For some, seeing certain people’s social media activity can be mentally and emotionally taxing, especially for those struggling with mental health issues. Blocking provides a definitive way to eliminate this stressor from their feed.
8. To prevent a personal connection from affecting professional accounts
Those using social media for business may block personal friends or family members to keep their professional accounts focused on work-related connections and content.
9. To avoid messaging misinterpretations due to relationship issues
After a painful breakup or fight with a friend, seeing their messages or comments could be hurtful or misconstrued. Blocking prevents these interactions from spiraling.
10. To signal the relationship or friendship is over
Blocking someone is often viewed as more final than unfriending. It sends a clear message the relationship has reached its end or is no longer appropriate, compared to simply unfriending.
11. To have control over who interacts with you online
Blocking enables users to shape their online experiences in a customized way and decide who can communicate with them. Unfriending is less selective.
12. To avoid unwanted political or social issue debates
Blocking accounts that frequently argue about divisive topics can help curate your feed and conversations to be more positive. Unfriending still shows you their public posts.
Benefits of blocking over unfriending
Here are some of the advantages that blocking can provide compared to simply unfriending someone:
- Greater privacy and security – The blocked person has no visibility or access to your profile, posts, messages, etc.
- Halts harassment – Repeated unwanted contact is prevented through blocking.
- Reduces stress – You avoid seeing upsetting content that could negatively impact mental health.
- Signals a firm break – Blocking makes it clear contact is no longer wanted compared to unfriending.
- Professional protection – Blocking limits what the person can see about your work/business presence.
- Cleaner feed curation – Your content feed will no longer display unwanted opinions, rants, etc.
- Better control over connections – Blocking allows you to shape your online experience and connections.
- Avoids miscommunication – Potentially hurtful messaging is prevented through blocking.
Potential risks of blocking someone
While blocking has many benefits, there are a few potential risks to consider as well:
- The blocked person may realize they’ve been blocked based on lack of access to your profile and feel offended.
- Blocking could further escalate harassment or bullying in some cases by angering the blocked person.
- You lose the ability to monitor what the blocked person is posting online about you.
- Mutual connections may get involved on either side which perpetuates drama.
- On rare occasions, social platforms have glitches that accidentally unblock people.
- Blocking is not a substitute for reporting online abuse to social platforms.
- The block function itself could be vulnerable to hacking by sophisticated adversaries.
While minimal, these potential risks are worth being aware of before blocking someone.
Signs it may be time to block someone
How do you know when it’s appropriate to block rather than unfriend? Here are some signs it may be time to block:
- They are harassing, threatening, or bullying you.
- They frequently post negative, false, or disturbing content about you.
- Seeing their content causes you emotional distress.
- They repeatedly try to contact you after requests to stop.
- They send unwanted friend requests from new accounts after being unfriended.
- They are spreading misinformation about you publicly.
- You suspect they are stalking you online.
- Your interactions consistently spiral into heated arguments.
- You broke up romantically and want no contact.
- You ended a friendship and want to avoid future contact.
While blocking should not be done impulsively, if you are experiencing one or more of these situations, blocking may provide needed relief and protection.
Alternatives to consider before blocking
While blocking is an effective option in many cases of online harassment, a few alternatives could be considered first:
- Speak directly – Politely ask them to stop the unwanted behavior.
- Unfollow – Hide their posts without fully blocking.
- Report account – Notify platform of harassment, threats, etc.
- Temporarily disable account – Take a break from the site yourself.
- Ask mutual connections to intervene – They may be able to mediate.
- Turn off notifications – Mute conversations to avoid contact.
- Make posts more private – Limit visibility through privacy settings.
- Delete provocative posts/photos – Remove anything that may instigate them.
However, if these efforts fail to stop the unwanted behavior, blocking may be the best course of action.
How to block someone on major platforms
Platform policies and features frequently change, but here are the current basics for blocking users on some major sites:
- PC: Go to their profile, click the three dots icon, select Block.
- Mobile App: Go to their profile, tap the three dots icon, select Block.
- PC: Go to their profile, click the three dots icon, select Block User.
- Mobile App: Go to their profile, tap the three dots icon, select Block.
- PC: Go to their profile, click the three dots icon, select Block.
- Mobile App: Go to their profile, tap the three dots icon, select Block.
YouTube
- PC: Click Block User below their video or comment.
- Mobile App: Tap Block User below their video or comment.
TikTok
- PC: Go to their profile, click the three dots icon, select Block.
- Mobile App: Go to their profile, tap the three dots icon, select Block.
You can often block someone directly from an offending message or post as well. Refer to the platform’s help documentation for any changes to these instructions.
Unblocking someone
If you change your mind after blocking someone, most platforms allow you to unblock them to restore communication. However, think carefully before unblocking to avoid further issues. Here is how to unblock on some top sites:
- PC: Click Settings & Privacy > Blocking > See your list of blocked people and pages. Click Unblock next to their name.
- Mobile App: Tap the three line menu icon > Settings & Privacy > Blocking > Unblock next to their name.
- PC: Click profile icon > Settings > Privacy > Blocked Accounts > Unblock next to their name.
- Mobile App: Tap profile icon > Settings > Security > Blocked Accounts > Unblock.
- PC: Click More icon > Settings and Support > Settings > Privacy and Safety > Blocked Accounts. Click Unblock.
- Mobile App: Tap your profile icon > Settings and Privacy > Privacy and Safety > Blocked Accounts > Unblock.
YouTube
- No ability to undo blocking. You will have to search for their channel and subscribe/refollow.
TikTok
- PC: Click profile icon > Settings & Privacy > Blocked accounts. Click unlock icon to unblock.
- Mobile App: Tap profile icon > Settings & privacy > Blocked accounts. Tap unblock icon.
Review each platform’s help documentation for updated unblocking instructions. Think seriously before unblocking to avoid further problems.
Conclusion
Blocking tools on social media exist for good reason. While blocking may seem extreme to some, for many dealing with bullying, harassment, stalking, or other unwelcome behavior, it provides important protection. Blocking stops the unwanted contact and content immediately, without depending on others to intervene or report issues. It also sends a clear message the relationship or friendship is over, compared to simply unfriending. However, blocking should be done thoughtfully, not impulsively. Consider alternatives first, and be cautious of potential risks like further angering the blocked person. Overall, blocking can help curate a safer, less stressful social media experience when other efforts fail to stop unwanted interactions.