#blocking someone

Hello there!

I'm not sure if there is an option to mass block certain blogs. But I think there was an option where you can just copy the username of the blog that you want to block into a list, and Tumblr then blocks them automatically.

You can find a guide here, but I've also screenshotted the important part of the article!

In the same article, you can also find the option to put a password for your account. This way, only people you've given the password can see and interact with it. For further information, click on the link below.

I'm in a friend group but one of the people involved gives me a lot of anxiety. I've been thinking of blocking them but I'm not sure, because I feel like it's a bit rude, but more importantly, they're really close with everyone else. Part of me feels selfish if I were to block them, since I already unfollowed, but they give me so much anxiety to the point where seeing their URL on the dash is discomforting.

There's also the fact that if I block them, I think if you do that on Tumblr, whenever their URL is in something all posts will be hidden. So if the other people in this friend group tag me in things, along with this other person, I won't be able to see it and then they'll think I'm ignoring them.

The only thing I'm 100% sure of is that this person won't care if I block them or not. They made it very clear they don't care about me. Even so, I still don't know if it's right or fair to block them.

What do you think? I don't know if it's safe to talk to the others about this either because of how close they all are, so I've been avoiding that option. I've also kinda felt like the odd one out and doing this might encourage them to get rid of me. I don't want to be so anxious anymore but I don't wanna mess things up for everyone else.))

((I normally don’t answer asks at this hour, but I saw this one in my email and decided it couldn’t wait.

Thanks for reaching out, Anon. First of all, I’m really sorry you’re dealing with anxiety from this person, and I’m especially sorry that it seems like they don’t care about you. I know we’re not going to be all buddy buddy with everybody, but still.

Here’s my take on this: there’s a difference between being the bigger person and putting up with things to keep the peace and being triggered and miserable and putting yourself at further risk for making your anxiety worse. And leaving this person open to making things worse for you.

Sometimes you have to do what’s best for you, even if that means disturbing the dynamic of the group. It’s not fair to you to have to deal with that all the time, and since this person has shown they don’t care about you and your feelings, I’m gonna say they’re probably not going to work with you to make things better. And you can’t change how they feel if they’ve made up their minds like that. And if you don’t feel comfortable discussing it with the others in your group, that leaves you high and dry unless you take matters into your own hands.

I think you’ve done what you could for the betterment of others, but now it’s time to do the same for yourself. I definitely think it’s right and fair for you to do it. What’s rude is the treatment you’ve received from the other person, not you considering blocking them.

Blocking someone doesn’t mean you’re being hateful; in this case it’s protecting yourself, it’s taking care of yourself and that’s completely fair to do.

Step 1: click into their blog

Step 2: click the button that looks like a person

Step 3: click the button that states "block"

Step 4: confirm you want to block

Step 5: profit

But in these cases, I can see that the reply is lengthy, but I can’t read it because as soon as I click on it, it doesn’t show up, so I don’t even get to know why you took it so personal in the first place lol. If I were to block someone that pissed me off, I would do what I said above, that way I don’t waste my time thinking about what to reply, getting angry, and then writing it, etc. Just a fuck you suffices, it’s not that deep lol  

What I’m thinking is, maybe it’s because if the person blocks you, you will not be able to see what the reply was but others will, making it look like I was left out of words... but then I can also block the person back, so no one will see what they wrote. I don’t get it. 

So - Tumblr has implemented a new feature(maybe?) that I think is kind of interesting, and I wanted to share.  I honestly don’t know if it’s just a side effect to something else they’ve done, or if they did it intentionally, but you can now see really easily if someone you’ve got blocked also has you blocked in return.

Now - I haven’t had a chance to play around with this too much, but due to some fantastic drama with some really unfantastic people a little over a year ago, I’ve got several blogs where I could test things a little bit.  Here are examples from three blogs (names blurred to prevent additional drama.)

Blog #1

Blog #2

Blog # 3

In all three of these, I think you’ll notice an image that stands out.  It’s essentially the same on every blog, although the colors and pattern seem to vary slightly.  But in all three cases, having one of these images show up (instead of a pixelated version of whatever icon the person is using) seems to mean that person has you blocked in return.

I even tested it by blocking myself on two different blogs and the result was instantaneous.  So there’s no wait time on this.  You can know immediately without ever having to go to a person’s blog to see if they’ve got you blocked (or to see if they’ve unblocked you.)  All you have to do is check your own block list (if you’ve got them blocked, too.)  OR - you can very quickly block them and see if one of these icons (or something similar) pops up instead of their normal one.

Will this be useful to people?  *shrugs*  I honestly have no clue.  Some people might just find it curiously amusing.  Others may be bothered by it because they’d rather not know.  Others may take comfort in knowing.  It’s also a way to potentially prove that someone is blocking you when they say that they aren’t.  Just make yourself a video as proof.  (I don’t recommend a simple screencap because they’re SO easy to fake.)