This isn't the first time I've post thoughts of this subject and after restricting my Google+ usage, I'm finding (after a semi-full time return) that I'm just as annoyed as before my partial hiatus.
I was blocked twice today. Both by long time connections who were both Buzzers of days gone by. One guy -- a guy who alienated many people with his strict outlook on life -- a guy who once told me to stop posting current event articles and to stick to photos of my dog because he disliked my choice of source articles or my opinions, finally blocked me today (or was it yesterday?) after I questioned why he created a post of nothing but a link about a murder suicide. He left no comment on why he shared the link, what his opinion was of the murder-suicide or any other indication of why he thought that particular story was worthy to be shared.
For those of you who know me, you know link-shares, no comment are one of my largest social media pet peeves.
I asked why he shared that article. He told me I was harassing him and he was tired of it. (I'm not sure how asking someone why they shared a particular link is harassing, but whatever). He then said he was just going to "fix that right now." By that, I took him to mean he was blocking me.
Again: whatever.
Later, or more recently, another old Buzzer created a post about blocking people and after-blocking communications. Essentially, she was wondering how someone was able to email her after she'd blocked him on Google+.
I explained how to do this, circumventing Google+, and admitted I've done this in the past if someone blocks me for a trivial reason. In some cases the blocker person is someone I've never met before and only know by their profile picture, I'm not going to lose sleep over it -- not in a world of over 6 billion people. However, many people proceed to get their final jab in, usually as a name calling but sometimes as a statement similar to 'I'm right and you're wrong,' and then hit the block button before a question, rebuttal or defense can be made.
I've blogged or Google+ed about that particular pet peeve in the past.
As I was explaining to the original poster how easy it was to find someone's email and send them a post, or go to their blog and comment, or discover an article they've published and comment there, I used examples of people who've blocked me and how I contacted them to get my final word to them.
As far as I'm concerned, someone who closes the means of communication just because they don't like the direction of that communication is the epitome of an asshat. Yeah, I said it, an asshat.
The person who originally created this post then went on to delete my comment because she said it was taking her post off track. Another person jumped in and brought up old news from months ago: "Oh, after you defended him instead of me he finally blocked you?' This was all old news that I didn't want to dredge up again, but she just felt the need to rehash the conversation again instead of leaving it alone. I replied that my opinion still stands on that particular situation.
You see, I can compartmentalize individual situations. She apparently held on to my "betrayal" much harder than I did. To me it was water under the bridge.
Not only did my very benign comment about my opinion still standing cause her to block me, but the original poster jumped in again and accused me of targeting her for my rant. I wasn't targeting anyone for anything. The subject of the original post was in regards to after-blocking communications.
Should people reach out to those who have blocked them?
When the other woman blocked on that very post I used it was a real world "live" example of what I had previously stated regarding some people just block to block.
Think of it as a real world example to support the hypothesis.
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| Source: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/e/eleanorroo385439.html |
Did people lose the art of reading comprehension with the advent of social media? Can people no longer read a paragraph or two and understand the subject is about a topic, not a person? It makes me think, if people are always making non-personal topics about themselves, what does that say about their understanding of the world? Are they incapable of "larger" thoughts?
If so, it would explain so much.
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