X is altering how the block button works

Elon Musk has made no secret that he’s of the block button. Now, X is altering how blocks work on its platform, although it’s (for now) stopping wanting Musk’s want of nuking the characteristic totally.

As a substitute, X is tweaking the visibility of replies within the context of a block. Beforehand, a person may block somebody on X and nonetheless reply to their posts. And the one who was blocked wouldn’t be capable to view that reply or know the one who had blocked them was partaking with their posts. That’s now being rolled again in order that customers will be capable to see direct replies even when the particular person posting has blocked them. In a put up from X’s engineering group, the corporate mentioned the change is “a part of our ongoing dedication to aligning the block characteristic with our rules as a public city sq..”

The put up additionally hinted that there could also be extra modifications coming to blocks, which is among the most generally used security options on the service. “Our purpose is to permit customers to manage their expertise whereas sustaining the general public visibility of posts,” the corporate mentioned. That would appear to align with earlier feedback from Musk, who has mentioned on {that a} public-facing “block” characteristic “is senseless” and that “block goes to be deleted as a ‘characteristic,’ aside from DMs.”

For now, the modifications to blocking aren’t that drastic. Actually, they could even be welcomed by some customers who need extra visibility into what individuals are saying about them on the platform. However the truth that X is beginning to change the visibility of beforehand blocked content material is also an indication of extra important modifications to return.