X's updated block functionality will prevent an account from engaging with the one that blocked them, but won't stop blocked users from seeing public posts.
Block feature on X could be removed soon, according to Elon Musk
Photo Credit: Reuters
X (formerly Twitter) is said to be developing a new functionality that will enable users to view posts even from the people they have blocked. At the moment, users are unable to see the posts, replies, media and followers of the person they have been blocked by, this might change soon, according to Elon Musk who owns the microblogging platform. Notably, a recent report suggested that X might also launch its payment services soon, realising Musk's vision of making it into an “everything” app.
In a post on X, app researcher @nima_owji highlighted that the microblogging platform will remove existing blocking functionality. If the user's account is public, their posts will be visible to even those users who have been blocked by them. Replying to this post, Elon Musk said, “High time this happened.”
Musk added that X's updated block functionality will prevent an account from engaging with the one that blocked them. However, it will not stop blocked users from seeing posts shared by public profiles.
In recent years, Musk has been critical of the blocking feature present on social media platforms. Last year, he claimed that this feature “made no sense” and should be deprecated in favour of a “stronger form of mute”. In August 2023, the billionaire even threatened to remove this feature from X entirely, except for the direct messages (DMs).
This feature is speculated to be rolled out soon. However, Gadgets 360 staff members were unable to see posts after testing the existing blocking functionality, which suggests that it may not have been introduced yet.
In addition to the removal of the legacy block feature, X is also tipped to be developing functionality which lets users add a community note to a link. It is speculated to be visible on every post which includes that link. Users can select the “should appear on all posts that include this link” option to make it visible with every post. Musk corroborated this feature's development by commenting “Community Notes”.
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