Elon Musk does not hide that this is so of the block button. Now X is changing the way blockchains work on the platform, though it falls short (for now) of Musk’s desire to kill the feature entirely.
Instead, X changes the visibility of responses in the block context. Previously, a user could block someone on X and still reply to their posts. The blocked person will not be able to see that reply or know that the person who blocked them is engaged in their posts. This is now reverted so that users can see direct replies even if the sender has blocked them. In a post from X’s engineering team, the company said the change is “part of our ongoing commitment to align the block feature with our principles as a public town square.”
We’re making changes to how the block works.
If the user who blocked you replies to one of your posts, you will now be able to see their reply. This change allows you to identify and report any potentially bad content that you couldn’t see before, but also…
— Engineering (@XEng) May 2, 2024
The post also hinted that there could be more changes to blocks, one of the most widely used security features on the service. “Our goal is to let users control their experience by making posts public,” the company said. This is in line with Musk’s previous comments that a public-facing “block” feature “doesn’t make sense” and that “block will be removed as a ‘feature’ except for DMs”.
For now, the changes to blocking are not that drastic. In fact, it can be welcomed by some users who want to see more of what people are saying about them on the platform. But the fact that X is starting to change the visibility of previously blocked content could also be a sign of more significant changes to come.
