Twitter/X owner Elon Musk recently announced that the social media platform will soon remove the block button as a ‘feature.”
Replying to a post on X where someone asks for reasons as to why an individual would want to block and/or mute someone. Musk responded to the post noting that the blocking feature will soon be “deleted as a feature, except for DMs.”
He followed up by saying that the block feature “makes no sense” even though the block feature will still be available for DMs.
Block is going to be deleted as a “feature”, except for DMs
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 18, 2023
On social media platforms like X, a blocking feature is often a tool used by many to remove not only sam/bot accounts that interact with your account but also people heckling you to various degrees, allowing you to prevent the individual(s) from contacting you in any capacity on the platform in question.
While the mute button is still around, it only means you won’t see posts on your feed from the account you muted, but they can still follow, message, and interact with you in comments.
Musk’s decision to remove the block button quickly trended across X and spurred speculation that it’s a play to serve more ads, as users will no longer be able to block advertisements.
This is the latest move Musk has made since taking over the company in 2022, where Musk has made polarizing decisions that have been met with confusion and frustration from some users. Most notably, Musk rebranded Twitter to “X” and sunsetted legacy verified checkmarks, making verification a paywalled feature for Twitter Blue. Other additions including the ability to edit tweets and the option to hide that blue check despite the latter being heavily marketed as an incentive to pay $8 a month for the subscription.
With the block button set to go away at some point in the near future, it seems as if Musk isn’t nearly finished with his remake of the platform formerly known as Twitter.
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.