Reddit Releases User-Blocking Feature to Eliminate Harassment from the Platform

Reddit, one of the leading online forums, has announced the launched of a user-blocking capability on the platform. The new feature is intended to provide greater control to Reddit users regarding what they want to see and what not. The development is in line with the company’s effort to address spamming, trolling, indecency and harassment issues that have long been on the rise on the platform.

Introducing the feature in an official post on the platform, a company official said, “Today, we’re happy to announce that we’ve just released a feature to help you filter them from within your own inbox: user blocking.” The post also mentioned, “Our changes to user blocking are intended to let you decide what your boundaries are, and to give you the option to choose what you want - or don’t want - to be exposed to. [And, of course, you can and should still always report harassment to our community team!] These are just our first steps toward improving the experience of using Reddit, and we’re looking forward to announcing many more.”

The new user-blocking capability allows users to block anyone whose posts and comments they do not want to see. It functions as a muting feature. Users who block any other user will stop seeing any engagement from that particular user. However, the blocked users is not informed that he or she has been blocked by that particular user. This is another important aspect of the new feature. Keeping the blocked user unaware of the development prevents the blocked user from creating another account to continue doing the same mischief.

The recently-introduced capability is actually an upgrade to the previous blocking feature of Reddit. Earlier, users were able to block another user only if both of them engaged in direct conversation ever. Hence, its focus was largely limited to private messages from specific users. With the enhancement, Reddit has generalized the scope of blocking instead of keeping it limited to private messages.

The platform has received mixed reaction from its users, with some appreciating the move, some criticizing it while others expressing doubt whether it will be successfully deliver what it is intended to.