Twitter, now known as X, continues down its death spiral under the leadership of Elon Musk, removing harmless features he simply doesn’t agree with.
He now wants to remove the ability to block anyone on the platform, except for direct messages (DMs). Musk, who had previously indicated his intention to eliminate this feature, argued that it “makes no sense” to block anyone instead of simply muting them. The mute feature is here to stay for that reason.
People were quick to point out how he has often used the block feature himself many times in the past.
The block feature has served as a shield for many against harassment, constituting a fundamental safety measure on the platform. Its removal potentially exposes users to a higher likelihood of encountering objectionable content they’d rather not confront in their feeds and notifications.
Furthermore, as highlighted by CNBC, some users employ blocking to filter out advertisers and brands they wish to avoid. The widespread adoption of this practice could conceivably impact X’s financial performance to a significant degree.
Earlier this year, X discontinued its free API, resulting in the disruption of numerous third-party applications. Merely a year before, when the platform was still recognized as Twitter, it began endorsing third-party apps as a means for users to counteract harassment on the platform. Among these solutions, Block Party, now in the aftermath of the API alterations, has relinquished its association with Twitter.
Musk also announced that he would kill off Light Mode on X, forcing Dark Mode on every user because “it is better in every way”. Thankfully, he never did so after a severe backlash
