To have blocked my friend on Twitter?

[Maria53]

This is one of my best and longest time friends. However I had not heard from them for over 4 months, but knew they were still alive and well. I felt a little upset they hadnt even said 'hey, how are you holding up?' during a global pandemic. The last messages I sent, without a reply, were early March. I came to the conclusion that since they started following me on Twitter they dont feel the same motivation to get in touch with me privately.

So I decided to block them to see if it would motivate them to get in touch another way. This was a few days ago and lo and behold have been in touch asking if I have blocked them . They said they wanted to tweet me about something and found I was gone.

Anyway I now feel quite embarrassed and hardly want to admit I did in a moment of feeling annoyed. It wasn't permanent anyway. Now what?!

You were immature and passive aggressive

Tell them why. Don’t make up some excuse about it being accidental because they will know.

Did you try to contact them again after your last message in early March?

YABU to block them, it just sounds petty. Was the message important? I think you are more invested in the friendship and she doesn't view you as a best friend.

Hmm, say you were having a clear out and your finger slipped on their name oh no so sorry etc then say how are you, and divert attention from the issue...

But they hadnt been replying to my private messages for months. What was I going to say?

I accept I probably shouldn't have done this but it has been a difficult time mental health wise. I have no support and have barely seen anyone. I don't feel good about it.

We have been close for 15 years, go on holiday together every year etc. I actually thought I was being permanently ghosted.

I would just unblock them and say "are you sure? I'm definitely still there. How strange" and move on.

Then I'd look at handling situations differently.

Why block rather than ask her directly? You've dug yourself a hole and look like a pouty teen

@Maria53 my suggestion would be to say you actually temporarily suspended your account so it blocked everyone but you’ve reinstated so you can get messages. Say you needed a social media detox

Tell them exactly why. Dont change the truth it will come out at some point.

If they arent really friends then no loss. If they ARE friends they will see why you blocked them and apologise for being rude by not responding to your messages.

@morriseysquif

Hmm, say you were having a clear out and your finger slipped on their name oh no so sorry etc then say how are you, and divert attention from the issue...

I’d say this.

Who cares if she doesn’t believe you and thinks you’re rude. She’s the rude one for not replying to you since March.

You say you have had no contact since March and she should be contacting you, well why didn’t you contact herL

How old are you?12?

I don't believe every interaction has to be 50/50 but the friendship has become one sided. I've doubled messaged them a few times over the last year after not hearing for months.

@LouiseTrees I didn't realise you could that. I think that is the option I will take. Sure it is a white lie. But I've never blocked a friend before, so I'm giving myself a pass for not feeling 100% right now.

That said - they noticed more or less immediately they had been blocked. This is because they were going to send me a public, surface level tweet. Removing this option forced them to actually contact me privately and asked how I was doing and how was my family (and ps have you blocked me...)

You are perfectly entitled to block who ever you like on social media.
Just unblock them.
Tell them that you blocked a load of people who hadn't been in touch with you in the last 6 months and you were just doing some social media housekeeping and they're back active again.
If they don't stay in touch this time, block them and leave them blocked.

no mercy @LookItsMeAgain

Exactly what was said above. Tell them you were ‘curating’ your accounts by removing people who you didn’t interact with. But you’ll need to explain the block rather than an unfollow. You can either lie and say it was an accident and you only meant to unfollow or tell the truth and say you were hurt at being ghosted.

As a PP said I can also say I deactivated for a bit, because your profile disappears then as well.

I was only doing it temporarily and didnt even expected them to notice. At least not after a few days!

To be honest they did this before - about five years ago and I'd said then look if you cant be arsed with the friendship anymore that's fine. They grovelled and apologised for being a rubbish friend!

Obviously you can block whoever you like on social media but it does seem somewhat childish to do it solely to get their attention. It would’ve been a bit more adult to drop them a line and say you felt a bit put out that they had ignored your last messages and not been in touch. You shouldnt have to play games with your friends to instigate contact.

I felt I would have looked pathetic. If a person wants to get in touch they will, what's the point in whining to them about it? Plus i've brought it up a couple of times before in the last decade. My mental health was very bad for the first couple of months of lockdown, back to a dark place I'm thought id long since letting behind.

I've been feeling lonely, as I am single and live alone. They live with others and have a good support network. I just felt if the shoe was on the other foot, I would have reached out. I'm feeling better now and a bit silly for the block, but it did prove my point somewhat.