Oh my.
He/she/it has blocked you on Facebook. Well, that’s what you think happened. And then it starts.
The blockee (the term used to describe the poor soul who discovered that he/she has been blocked) starts to conjure up alternatives: Maybe he/she/it has deleted their account. Maybe he disappeared off the face of the earth. Maybe she was abducted. Anything but the fact that the blocker has blocked you will suffice.
Lowvelder put ourselves in the role of the blockee to find out everything that you need to know. We have compiled the blockee’s guide to being knowledgeably blocked. Knowledge is power.
1. How to confirm that you have been blocked:
This usually happens by surprise which leads to a suspicion. Confirm your suspicion by searching for your friend’s name in Facebook’s top search bar while logged into your account. If the user does not show up, you have been blocked. If “add as friend” pops up, the person was nice enough to merely delete you.
Another way of verifying whether you’ve been blocked, is to send the person a message over Facebook chat. According to some sources, Facebook chat will reply with a notification stating that you have been blocked. Other sources state that your message will just not be delivered and the blocker won’t receive it.
Lastly, confirm your suspicion by logging out of your Facebook account.
Comfort eat or have a drink.
Phone a friend. For the purposes of this experiment, a mutual friend of the blocker is required. Ask the mutual friend to search for the blocker on Facebook. If your hunch is accurate, the blocker will display on the mutual friend’s profile.
You have been blocked.
Comfort eat some more. If the mutual friend drove to your house (not the other way around) you may have another drink.
2. How to react:
Do not react under any circumstances.
The blocker could have followed the stable route and deleted you. If there is no justification, the blocker is attempting to attract attention.
3. “Why I blocked him” – the woman
Lowvelder interviewed a woman who has blocked someone in the past and asked why she found it necessary. Here’s what she said: “It was after a breakup. He left me and I really loved him. I did not want to tempt myself by occasionaly checking how things are on his side. Blocking someone makes this impossible. So I actually did it to cut communication from my side to him, not the other way around. I wasn’t trying to be mean.”
4. “Why I blocked her” – the man
Lowvelder interviewed a man who has blocked someone in the past and asked why he found it necessary. Here’s what he said: “It was a relationship that turned sour. It becomes a spite-game. I don’t want to see how my ex goes on with other guys on Facebook. People use social media platforms to show how great life is once you’re gone and I didn’t want to see that. Another reason for blocking is immature stalkers. Either they don’t stop contacting you or their posts just spam your newsfeed. Blocking is the only way to make it stop.”
5. The Facebook etiquette guru’s opinion
The Parks Image Group’s Peggy Parks says that deleting and blocking someone should be an absolute last resort, as people take being deleted very seriously. “Blocking removes your profile from the person you have blocked’s searches, so it’s less likely that they’ll notice that you’re missing in action,” she says on her website.
6. When is blocking someone acceptable?
The blogger called pluperfecter on blogspot.com indicates that stalking, offending or annoying behaviour justifies blocking someone. He argues that blocking is much more effective than unfriending as it keeps stalkers at bay.
An overview of comments on ask.com reflects that many see blockers as overreacting and nasty.
Some say that blockers seek attention: “If you don’t pay attention to me while I’m there, will you at least miss me when I’m gone?” is suggested as a mentality held by blockers, according to an anonymous comment.
All in all, if blocking keeps you safe and keeps your newsfeed spam-free, most say that it is justified.
