Blocked from viewing series? That's a bit much

[leiseflustern]

While I fully support there being a feature to block users so that they cannot comment on your stuff, I feel like the block should stop there. Why does it need to extend to blocking them from viewing content as well? Just reading stuff doesn't hurt anyone.

Context:
A long while ago, there was a series I really loved to follow and on one of the pages I made a light hearted joke that I guess the author took personally. This was the first time I'd ever made a comment on anything they'd ever posted. I actually don't comment all that often in general on any series. Instead of messaging me to say, "I found your comment offensive, please remove it." -- sure, no problem. I'd remove it, properly apologize, and just never comment on their content again -- the author chose to just outright block me. Again, no problem. That's their choice. But now, I can't read their comic either unless I log off first.

Gonna say that again, I can still read their content if I just log off -- which makes blocking users from viewing content moot, and just annoying. Obviously while I'm logged off, I can't comment either -- which is the whole point.

Block users from commenting
Block users from viewing

[Legendofgenii]

I didn’t realise we could block users on Tapas.

[thepenmonster]

I didn’t realise we could block users on Tapas

I doubly want to get my comic started now!

[moontokkym]

It's a way to protect the person blocking. In your case sure you said something that was percieved as threatening/hateful/unwanted by the author and it stops there so it seems a bit much to you, but for most people who get blocked it doesn't.

If you're being harassed and the people harassing you can still very easily access and see your stuff, it can feel really scary posting, like if you knew your highschool bullies were constantly there looking through your home window at all times. It might seem stupid because "oh they can easily get around it by just signing out", sure, but it inconvenienced you enough for you to complain about it, so it'll deter at least some of them, and that's a plus. People are lazy, just because the thing is still possible doesn't mean it's useless to put a deterrent out there.

Also, that's how almost all social media block features work. I've yet to see a block feature that doesn't also totally block the user from seeing the blocker's content, because I've had an online stalker before whom I've had to block on every platform I have and the blindness goes both ways. The blocker cannot see the blockee's profile either (in part to avoid digital self harm), it goes both ways, ideally so that there's no more contact nor opportunity to antagonise either party.

[NickRowler]

This reminds me of the AITA stuff where we can’t really react to this because you aren’t even telling us what you said.

I feel like creators have the right to block people they think are going to cause drama. I remember when I first started using Tapas, I came across a series with two random people arguing in the comments despite the author telling them to stop. I have also seen people turn off comments due to inappropriate responses.

It seems that you can still read the series, setting your browser to private mode can help with this if you don’t like logging out.

[darthmongoose]

I have to agree with Nick on this one, the words "I made a light hearted joke that I guess the author took personally." raise a red flag for me. It's possible what you said really was something innocuous, but the fact that you phrased it so vaguely does echo the sort of wording used by people who know that including the context of the nature of the joke would make the audience less sympathetic because they know it was actually something inappropriate.

[HGohwell]

Yeah, I mean you've not said what you've said so it's hard to say why they might have blocked you, but I can vibe with an author who's seen a random commenter come out of nowhere and make a comment that's not great. Maybe you thought it was a lighthearted joke, but tone is notoriously hard to get across on the internet and text, and if you're not a regular commentor they won't be used to your commenting style, so they might have read your joke as being rude. And yeah, someone who comes out of nowhere just to bash your series, I can understand a block for seeing you as a troll.

But, yes, as others had said, this is how basically every block function works, it blocks you completely from seeing their stuff. Because, if I've gone so far as to use the block feature, if you've offended me that much, why would I want you seeing my series? And also, whlie yes a very dedicated stalker will do what you do, lots of people won't. And viewing it can hurt people. Say, you're harrassing a creator. They've stopped you commenting, but you can still read their work, so you start posting screen shots on other sites and making comments ect. As I say, if you've offended a creator enough to get blocked, then still want to see their series, I think you're being pretty unrealistic about it. That's like saying you've offended someone enough they've blocked your number, but you still want to be able to see them.

[cherrystark]

I will go with the others and say you probably offended them more than you realized. Blocking is a protection for the person doing the blocking.

Instead of messaging me to say, "I found your comment offensive, please remove it." -- sure, no problem. I'd remove it, properly apologize, and just never comment on their content again -- the author chose to just outright block me.

From the social perspective as a shy person and with the caveat of not knowing the full situation - they might have tried to tell you but you didn't recognize it. I once tried telling a person to knock it off when they got on a negative rant about a topic. I didn't feel comfortable telling them outright that I found their rant offensive or tiring, so I tried to shut it down passive-aggressively. They interpreted our conversations as high energy banter, not me trying to politely shut it down. In general, blocking isn't a person's first choice.

[IndigoShirtProd]

I feel the need to reiterate what others have said before me,

What did you say?

You don't know the creator personally, just because something is lighthearted to you, doesn't mean it couldn’t be a horribly personal attack to someone else.

Yea it all seems arbitrary, but if it helps the creator, then it's worth it.

[harlan]

Yes. Please tell us the lighthearted joke, or explain why telling us would violate forum rules, if that's the case.

[Azifri]

Lolol people asking for what the comment was when that's irrelevant to the point

I agree with OP, it makes little sense that blocking only prevents from comments. An alternative I see to increase privacy would be to have the option to mark your comic/profile as not visible unless you're logged in (like current episodes marked as mature are).

[cherrystark]

I see two "ideas" in OP's original post. One definitely has AITA vibes which a lot of us are asking about. But as for blocking - it's doing the job it's intended to do. A lot of Tapas readers either don't have accounts or aren't always logged in to read. Completely hiding one's work would eliminate that avenue to get reads for them. Blocking commenting is more a safeguard against bullying than anything else. I doubt the other writer cares if OP reads their work. They probably don't want to get all excited about the prospect of a new comment only to find out it's someone giving them unrequested "advice" or another "lighthearted joke" that could be interpreted as mean or degrading.

[HGohwell]

If it's that irrelevant, they didn't to bring it up, but OP brought it up like we were supposed to sympathise with them making a light hearted joke only to get blocked, if they want that, they have to tell us what they said. I'm not going to go "oh you poor thing, that was such an overraction" if I don't know what they said.

But if I'm reading your comment and theirs right, you're actually disagreeing with OP, not agreeing. Their arguement is that they should only be blocked from commenting, while you seem to argue that it make little sense to only be blocked from commenting.

[NickRowler]

OK, I am adding on to my post.

I don’t think OP should or has to write out what they said. My perspective was more that I could not react on this situation because I feel like information was missing. I don’t think this should turn into “picking sides” similar to how AITA posts are framed.

Tapas has added a feature that allows creators to delete comments made by readers. This feature was mainly added to tackle bots, some of these bots would post lewd comments. So no, someone isn’t going to send you a PM about deleting a comment.

[Nugtown]

Gonna say that again, I can still read their content if I just log off -- which makes blocking users from viewing content moot, and just annoying. Obviously while I'm logged off, I can't comment either -- which is the whole point

I hate to be captain obvious but I can't help that this is getting glossed over.

[AmazementComics]

Oh boy. Guess I have to be in the minority on this one, but whatever.

Honestly, they could have just deleted your comment instead of blocking you. But I guess some people are way too sensitive these days. You should really pay attention to the type of authors and artists you follow. Sometimes, you can kind of gage how they act online, especially here on the forums and the conversations they take part in. Maybe it was a joke in poor taste, maybe it wasn’t. I don’t know. Either way I agree with you. Blocking you from commenting on their work is one thing, if it’s more beneficial to them; but blocking you from viewing their work is a step out of line.

[joannekwan]

Honestly I don't think it's that big of a deal? People can block whoever for whatever reason and blocking works differently for each site. The internet is such a big space, it's natural to develop tools to curate people's online experiences.

I imagine some creators can rest easier knowing that whoever they block can't see their content anymore, hedging off any engagement. Of course the blocked person can find ways around it, but putting that much work into it is hopping onto the next step of being obsessed and becoming a problem.

A bit of salt might accrue from getting blocked, but it's easy enough to just move on and find new content .

[HGohwell]

But I guess some people are way too sensitive these days.

This is the problem with, we don't know what they said. What some people consider a light hearted joke can range from "haha this character wow" to "this is awful" to "wow you should die for doing that plot point" (and yes I've seen these sort of things considered "light hearted jokes") which is cool if you know the person but tone is hard to get across online and if someone's never commented before and falls on the harsher side of comedy it can be worrisome.

Blocking you from commenting on their work is one thing, if it’s more beneficial to them; but blocking you from viewing their work is a step out of line.

It's the same thing. It's not them make the decision to do one or the other. It's how the block function works and how it works on almost all social media and publishing sites. When you hit block, you can't see or interact with them, they can't see or interact with you. They don't set a level, it's a blanket thing. If it's a problem, it's not the creator out of line, it's Tapas' block you have the issue with.

[vapidink]

So, I've blocked a lot of people on another site I post on. I've been on there for about a decade and at first I'd talk to people about their comments, but then they'd just argue, or ignore what I was saying, or sometimes other readers would gang up on then(which I didn't want) and it was just exhausting. So then I started deleting comments, and that helped a bit, but then the people making these comments wouldn't realize I was deleting them so they'd just keep commenting with stuff that was either rude or just spamming.

Now I just block/mute people. Things are a lot quieter now. I don't have to deal with rude comments and if the other person is annoyed, well, not my problem.

I don't know what you said, but I can't imagine you got blocked for a little joke someone took the wrong way. You offended that creator and that's really all that matters. If they want to make it a bit harder for you to check out their stuff then that's just what makes them feel better and most people likely won't go through so much trouble to read stuff they've been blocked from, so yeah, it works.

Also, the fact you can still read their stuff if you log off doesn't make things moot. It bothered you, enough so that you made this thread. If someone insulted/annoyed me, I'd be happy to know I could at least inconvenience them. But I'm petty.

[IndigoShirtProd]

Not even asking to be a problem...

but blocking you from viewing their work is a step out of line.

But how is that out of line? Like, what is the line?

Also another thing people are forgetting, and honestly something i didn't remember until recently, is that you can private message people on Tapas proper so part of the idea behind the block was to prevent a possible argument on their wall or in PMs. Why block someone from viewing my content? Because I want peace, not problems. There's no point in possibly having that person message about you deleting their comment if you can just block them. Why wait for them to cause issues, especially if you know they make questionable takes in your opinion, if you can block them and move on with your life. Wouldn't you?