To wish we could block posters on MN

[SailorSerena]

There are a handful of posters who pop up fairly regularly and honestly I've never agreed with a single word they have written, they have some very offensive views and pretty much every time I read one of their posts it infuriates me.

I'll be enjoying a thread then these posters will pop up, I'll see their usernames and I'll instantly think god that's this thread ruined then and leave. It happens enough to make using Mumsnet become far less appealing.

Wouldn't it be great if we could block posters and just carry on enjoying threads with their contributions blacked out like you can on Facebook comment threads?

It’s a tricky one really - what you find offensive other people might agree with. You can always report comments but we can’t just have an echo chamber where everyone has the same views.

Other people wouldn't have to block them, just the poster who found them offensive.

I think the whole point is to get different view points and not everyone agrees with each other.
if something is actually offensive/ breaking rules then report it, I’ve found MN are actually very quick in removing comments

I don’t think blocking works well on forums, because you end up with nonsensical gaps or quotes or responses which make zero sense because you don’t know what they were in response or referring to.

I think exposure to viewpoints you probably wouldn’t usually come across - for good or bad - is one of the great things about social media, tbh.

This has been raised before.

It would require MN to let you build a personal block list in your profile, and then filter out their posts leaving a comment such as 'you have blocked this poster'.
It wouldn't work with name changes (as otherwise it 'outs' the linking names).

I would think it would be possible from a technical point of view, but maybe the development effort could be better spent.

Nah, some people are annoying/offensive but it's easy enough to roll my eyes and move on.

The trouble with blocking someone is they'll name change anyway.

Same. Especially on the FWR, there are multiple MRA that appear to piss people off daily.

So a whole thread is ruined for you because you see a poster you don’t like commenting? That’s a bit extreme.

This

Personally, I don't block even when I have been on forums that have had that facility.
It makes a thread very bitty, and you could be repeating what's already been said.

I quite like reading posts that espouse opinions that are different to mine. I find it healthy to read those opinions and courage on what it is about them I disagree with, at a fundamental level.

For example, 10 years or so ago I was greatly confused about where I stood on the issue of trans people. I'm the one hand, I intensely dislike discrimination. I'm the other, I think of myself as a feminist.

Reading posts on this board help me solidify my view.

And yet you did not tag the poster you have seen fit to make a personal attack about @melonalone ?

I would not want to live in an echo chamber of my own beliefs and only read things I agree with.

If you're so familiar with their usernames can't you just skip over their posts?

There is one particular person who grinds my gears and I think she gives damaging advice but as long as it isn't personally offensive and is within the site's guidelines she's entitled to say what she wants, so I just keep scrolling on.
Sometimes it's interesting to see how differently some people think.

I wouldn't want to be in an echo chamber either. But also, I've been staunchly disagreed with on one thread and then heartily agreed with on a different thread, by the same poster. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I enjoy seeing the multitude of opinions there are on here.

It would be quite an amusing feature to have. Instead of seeing the post, it would say 'you have blocked this user and cannot read this post', and if it was really goady loads of people would reply to it and you'd have no idea what it said

But the beauty of Mumsnet is that you get a huge variation of types of people from all walks of life with often wildly different perspectives on things.

I think there are a lot of posters on here who talk utter garbage and one or two who are sometimes offensive. Many who are stupid or predictable.

But that's subjective. My idea of daft/stupid/offensive is someone else's idea of plain speaking. If you don't want to read these views no one is forcing you to, you can skip past, you can challenge it or if it really upsets you you can mute the thread.

God knows the internet is enough of an echo chamber for most people, why would you want to restrict one of the few places where you can get a genuine variety of perspectives?

Opinions. They're a bit like arseholes. Everyone's got one, some stink.

It's up to you if and how you interact with them. And how much headspace you offer those opinions you don't agree with.

I would welcome this feature.

There is a very regular commenter who appears all the time on other peoples threads (never seems to create any threads of her own though), is a long time member and other posters seem to fawn over her. She likes to think of herself as the voice of reason, “the oracle has spoken” etc, but can be very rude to others with her attitude and the constant need to challenge or aggressively question people.

She made upsetting comments towards me at a difficult time and chose not to respond when I called her out on it.

Seeing her name pop up so often makes me think I would love to block or hide her comments!

Yes I agree I had a poster on Facebook find me on here which I found a bit weird (they kept misquoting things I had said on there) wish I could block them!

There are some posters who, whenever I see their name I eyeroll. Then I scroll past. Athough occasionally I don't clock their name and agree with them.

I can't see any benefit to being able to block users tbh.

Why don’t you name the posters? 😁

We are grown ups. We don't need to be protected from seeing posts we just don't agree with.

If a post is against talk guidelines then report it.