Blocking a User

[panda_cupcakes]

Title
Blocking a User

Short, concise description of the idea
I feel Live Journal should enable a user to completely block another user from being seen, not just in their own journals but also in other journals and communities.

Full description of the ideaI've encountered a bit of a problem just a couple days ago with Live Journal. After removing a

Comments

[acciochocolate]

Again, anything that will make users feel safer here is a plus and should be a given.

[damnitnicole]

Not if it will make users feel safer when they aren't actually safer. See my comment below.

[lied_ohne_worte]

Exactly. Implementing features that increase the sense of security rather than actual security will prevent people from taking steps that will actually make them secure - if I am falsely led to think I can prevent people from seeing my public content, why should I consider posting it as Friends-only?

[damnitnicole]

As I understand it, the issue with this has always been that it creates a false sense of security for the user doing the blocking. Facebook places emphasis on users only being able to have one account that has their real name attached; LiveJournal does not. Thus, it is easy for a user to just create another LJ account with a different email address to view your info.

I get your frustration. But the best way to protect your info on LJ is to just be particular about what information is public/viewable by others in the first place.

[jacy20]

no, because that is what can happen, but gues what, you can just block them too. Livejournal DID used to have a block button that users could use to block someone from interacting with them. But with all their changes, they've removed this option. I know this because in the past ive had to block people.

[andy]

Blocking someone from seeing your journal/content only provides a false sense of security, because they can just log out, or, failing that, register another account just to view it. However, a 'killfile' that would let you hide particular users is a feature that was suggested previously and gained a lot of support: http://suggestions.livejournal.com/728337.html.

[pinterface]

[thumbs up] killfile good; emperor's new invisibility cloak bad

[fiddlingfrog]

+ 20 internet points for the phrase "emperor's new invisibility cloak".

[licon]

And what happens when the blocked person gets your info from other people who can read your posts/comments? Seems that you'd just be encouraging people to email/repost whatever you did so others could follow a thread properly.

As things currently stand, I think LJ accurately reflects real life, which is sometimes awkward when former friends/partners share the same social circles. Being able to electronically remove someone from your atmosphere seems a little extreme to me - though I certainly understand the emotional push for it - and negates any possibility of a neutral relationship.

I don't see the necessity, in short, unless you're talking about harassment in which case different measures would probably be called for anyway.

[vickyblueeyez]

It would be great if LJ did this so that one could still enjoy communities without having to deal with certain users and anons (like my post above yours suggested blocking). Not every maintainer wants to block anons so they won't help you if you're being harassed in their community by them.

This might help in making users invisible http://dtm.livejournal.com/26478.html