“How does he find the worst possible updates?”: Elon Musk is Removing the Block Feature on Twitter, Says “It makes no sense”
Elon Musk is not your everyday billionaire. Unlike most business moguls who like to stay behind the curtains and quietly build their never-ending empire, Musk tends to be loud and enjoys making headlines.
An appearance on Saturday Night Live in 2021 made him the talk of the town for a while, but that was clearly not enough. Now, having bought Twitter, he’s in the spotlight every day, especially if you are active on the platform.
And the latest change on Twitter, which has been renamed to X, means one might find it much easier to turn off the TV and get away from Musk’s voice on SNL than get away from him, or anyone else for that matter, on the social media site.
Read more: Elon Musk Confirms Twitter Users Have Reached Record High Numbers after ‘X’ Rebranding
Fans React to Another Big X Change From Elon Musk
To expand more on the subject of getting away from someone: the type of atmosphere that social media sites encourage in general means there’s little privacy left for individuals who are on the platform.
In that regard, the Block feature comes in handy. Individuals who don’t want any specific user to see their content as well as erase their content from their personal feed tend to use the feature. However, X boss Elon Musk has decided to take away the luxury of easily safeguarding your profile from the eyes of unwanted and unwelcomed users.
While responding to a question from the Tesla Owners Silicon Valley account asking users about their preference between mute and the block feature, the 52-year-old announced: “Block is going to be deleted as a “feature”, except for DMs.” “It makes no sense,” he added.
As expected, users were quick to express their disbelief at another confusing (some might say bad) move from Musk.
How does he find the worst possible updates pic.twitter.com/wIdfHLhRKz
— Unbreakable 🌹 (@ByakuyaJa) August 18, 2023
1 step forward 2 steps back as usual pic.twitter.com/mMy2kXE6ut
— B (@afcbazz) August 18, 2023
Elon when it comes to making bad decisions pic.twitter.com/P01ka3Mzej
— Luke (@Luke12406) August 18, 2023
time to block twitter
— Mr.McCormick⚡️ (@colemccormick1) August 18, 2023
This is gonna be chaos 🤣
— Rino (@RinoTheBouncer) August 18, 2023
Community Notes has fact-checked Elon Musk’s tweet about removing the block button pic.twitter.com/CQYDQYRI7B
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) August 18, 2023
He went on to clarify that users will still be able to mute accounts and block users from messaging them directly. Essentially this means that we can close our eyes and not see the content of users we don’t like, but we can’t stop them from seeing our content (assuming the profile is set to Public).
Plans to take away the block feature appear to be just another of several steps from Musk which would make X louder and more chaotic.
Elon Musk is Encouraging More Interactions on X
From showing the view count of every tweet (posts) to encouraging more interactions by allowing users to monetize their content through X Blue, and now potentially removing the block feature and giving users more freedom to see posts of other accounts, Musk has shown through his several moves that he values the idea of more posts and subsequently more interactions over keeping the much-loved Twitter experience intact.
His die-hard fans might even label him a beacon of freedom of speech.
And this notion was intensified earlier this month when he announced that his company will fund legal bills of individuals who “were unfairly treated” by employers due to posting or liking something on the platform. “No limit,” he added in his statement.
Source: Elon Musk – X