I have blocked plenty of people. Dirty jokes, politics, or just too darn many posts that I don't have time to look at (and I'm retired)!

Do not know if anyone has blocked me, but I don't think I would lose sleep over it!

And yes, my grandkids have lots of pics on FB and I don't want to miss those!

So why do you block them instead of unfollow or unfriend them? I had such an interesting conversation about this with my friend that I am curious what makes someone go to that level of blocking instead of just unfollowing. I have unfollowed a good number of people because of the reasons you listed above as well as too much drama!

Probably the most selfish way to deal with conflict.

Hmm, I may have just unfriended them. Not to FB savvy I must say.

You can go to "settings" then "download your data" if you want to obtain all your pictures. You could then delete your account then if you wanted to.

How do you know if someone has blocked you, do they notify you? I've never been blocked that I know of, so I don't know how I would feel. I guess it would depend on the who and why.

I've never blocked anyone, either. I did 'unfriend' someone once though.

Rusty

It doesn't bother me because I do not have a FB account.

I don't FB and refuse to, but it does interest me to know the difference, what's the difference between blocking, unfriending and unfollow? Does the person find out on any of them that you have done it?

Rita, unfollow means you do not see their posts but you are still friends Unfriending means you are no loner friends. A person never is notified about this but if you notice you are no longer aeeing this friend's posts and you click on their profile you can see youve been unfriended.
Blocking is the ultimate slap in the face where you are not notified but if you try to see the person's profile you cant.
My cousin told me another cousin blocked her. I found that odd and wondered why not just unfoolow or unfriend? The cousin who got blocked has stage IV cancer.They used to be close and cousin who was blocked has no idea why. Personally, unless you are veing harrassed I think its mean. Why not just unfollow or unfriend?
ive had people block me Im not even friends with in the first place and no clue why they blocked me. I figure its their issue and dont really care bit I do find it odd.

I have un-followed a bunch of people because of political posts. I have unfriended some... but never blocked anyone. However, I realized I was blocked, once I never saw any posts from a bike club member that is actually quite an ass. He took offense when I asked him to no longer use any of my pictures in his posts.

This is actually in my favor, as I no longer see his posts on the cycling page... but, it also keeps me from seeing him (maybe) still using pictures I have posted before.

Moni

ps, to answer the question, it really doesn't bother me, it is the only one I am aware of.

I have umfriended some through the years , they weren't close friends or relatives . Just got tired of them ranting about various things. Blocking ( I think) is for people who maybe are just plain harassing you as newenglandgal stated. Of course it all can be reversed by you.

mary I totally understand blocking when someone may be xreepy, harrass or stalk but Ive heard stories of actual friend's blockung each other.
Another story was a girl was running a 10k and a woman she knew and was friends with on FB donated bc her daughter had the illness the runner was raising funds for. Before the run even took place tge runner realized the woman who donated blocked her. She had no idea why and no words had been exchanged. The runner said it bothered her because the woman was kind enough to donate (and was thanked) and the runner had no idea what the reasoning was. She could think of no reason for it.
I have heard other stories like this was well and why I posted thecquestion. I just find it extreme.

I've never been a fan of huge FB "friends" numbers. I know the games and such used to encourage people to friend anybody and everybody, but I quit those shortly after I discovered them, years and years ago.

My Friend base is only those I'd be friends with in real life. I was unfriended by my late husband's brother, which was perfectly ok with me. I blocked an old, rediscovered friend several years ago, he'd get on FB after a whole bunch of drinking and post rants and raves about people, events, anything that came to his drunken mind. I unfriended him first and he kept sending new friend requests. I blocked him to prohibit that.

I've blocked almost all political sites in FB, both Republican and Democrat, so even if a Friend posts something I won't see it. The only site I can't seem to get rid of is Occupy Democrats. The setting that Blocks a site from my feed isn't available on OD.

NewEnglandgal, I think if I was that runner that got blocked, I would thank the woman again for donating, then " Oh, by the way " and ask about the blocking. Could just be a mistake but at least she would know why it happened. It would bother me too if I knew I hadn't done anything to warrant it.

I can't seem to correct my spelling in my above post. Should be unfriended.

You know FB isn't "the real world", right? I've never understood why anyone wants to participate. It's so impersonal.

I create so little content on FB that no, it would not bother me if someone chose to no longer see it. I've unjoined a few large groups I was no longer interested in; no big deal. I've unfriended a few individuals who were 'work friends' that I never should have "friended" in the first place because we had little in common except work, and now we're all retired. I've only "blocked" one person, and it was due to his relentless trolling political content. Guess I'm lucky I've only encountered one such FB troll.

Facebook is Evil, plain and simple. I use my husband's account only for the locals pages (What's happening in town, recommendations) and to access local businesses that don't have websites. My husband ignores it entirely, he signed up years ago when he was managing a good sized office and everyone urged him to sign up.

chisue I do it bc my kids post a lot about the grandkids plus I have friends far away. To each his own.

mary she couldnt contact her bc shexwas blocked. This friend lives in another state half way across the country!

Chisue, why isn't Facebook "the real world?" For me it's friends and family. How could it get any more real?

Friends and family are far better off staying in touch without FB in the middle of the relationship. What is good for Zuk is not good for you. FB is as real world as a reality tv show. You can share pictures and news through group texts on your phone, the app MarcoPolo, or email.

My sister blocked me 5 1/2 years ago. I honestly do not care one bit. She's got some problems that she refuses to get diagnosed and her catty comments about anything I do or say are finally over. She tries to beat around the bush with her comments, but every family member knows exactly who she is talking about and I'll get messages about it. So, I 'unfriended' her because I was so tired of her judgemental ways. Five minutes later, she realized I unfriended her and she blocked me. Turns out she's blocked pretty much my entire family, which includes two other sisters and all of our children! So I don't feel alone. hahahahaha

Then there is my niece. I never commented a lot on her posts, but I did "like" a lot of the photos of her children. A few months ago, she had a new deck put in and I liked the photos. I wanted to tag her in a funny post that has to do with acrylic nails as she owns her own home business, and the tag would not work. I have 2 FB pages and thought I was on the wrong one. Nope. I searched again. So I went to my other page and there she is (we are not 'friends' on that page: few friends of mine are). She blocked me for no reason that I can think of. Oh well, her loss not mine.

I am more offended when I find out I'm on "restricted". Why would you only allow me to read public posts? If you don't want me ready all of them, don't add me to your friends list. And yes, I can tell. :)

And because the submit button won't work on my edit: I'll unfriend anyone who is 100% against helping a refugee and constantly posts their rude opinion about it, and those who are mean towards Muslim people. I work with Muslim people and take great offence to hurting my friends with their rude remarks.

I rely on Facebook for a lot of community information. We had some heckuva storm the other night, and followed my local group to track the storm (people to the west reporting what they experienced and whether they were in the basement!) and I also watched and listened to one of our weathermen live-streaming — from his home no less — via FB. In the morning I learned which streets were flooded, and when they opened again. It’s a great tool. Like anything, you can pretty much choose how you want to use it.

I’ve unfollowed a couple of friends. One of them, I go back to from time to time, and I can always go to her page to see what’s going on. I can see her responses to others, just not her posts. I’ve unfollowed the friends only because their posts were numerous and overwhelming. Like, flooding my feed. Choosing “show fewer” wasn’t working, I had to unfollow.

I also rely it on for going on in the community. We have a neighbourhood watch group where people post photos of yard prowlers for us to watch for, missing animals, just things going on, etc...

BECAUSE it is public, FB is never going to be 'real'. We have public 'faces' and private ones. FB 'friends' are just acquaintances.

Do you want to talk to *me*, friend-to-friend? Call me. Send me an email.

I am only on facebook for family. I have a large family and we have two groups - one for the whole family for dinner gettogethers or other family news that would take two days of phone calls.

The other group is for my siblings and my uncle to keep up to date with my mom who has Alzheimers. Again, a whole lot easier than making phone calls.

I try not to jump to conclusions about such things. Someone may have simply tightened up their security settings and limited sharing of personal info.

I don't think that you can know when you've been blocked vs. unfriended. I seem to recall FB claiming the person would not know, when I did that.

And yeah - our family and friends are spread out all over, so FB's a great way to keep up in real time and for free - unlike phone calls, which don't have the added bonus of photos. I have only a handful of FB friends that are not actually related to me.

Debby, Its funny that people think we wouldnt know if we were blocked. I think people need to communicate instead of being cowards and blocking someone (unless again they were feeling harrassed or stalked or there is anything inappropriate). If I did something to upset or offend someone I would want to know. I would want them to let me know so we could discuss it like afults. To block and not give that person a chance to apologize or understand why is childish. Not a very good friend Id say.

If someone unfriends or blocks me due to something as small as having a different opinion than them then they really aren't a very good friend are they? I see this frequently and do not understand how a true friend cannot love you and agree to disagree respectfully.

Social media has caused so much drama in friendships, families and relationships as well as cyber bullying. While there are so many negatives (the dramatics drive me nuts) we are able to unfollow those that post all day long, post about their drama, force their political opinions and beliefs on us with no room for different thoughts or share dirty/ sexual posts or memes .
Bpath I do what you do, unfollow. This way I am not hurting feelings but at the same time I do not have to see multiple daily posts or dramatic posts.

I have had people I bately know and not even friends with on FB block me. No clue why but I certainly dont lose sleep over it!
I find myself spending very little time on FB and tend to ignore many posts so I understand why you feel the waybyou do chisue howver I also understand why others use it to keep up with friends and family. Everyone has busy lives.
I do love seeing vacation pictures from other parts of the world!

Changed parenting

carolb you absolutely can tell when you have been blocked vs unfriended. If unfriended you can still see that person's FB profile. If blocked you can no longer see them at all on FB. it looks like they have deleted their account. I think most people who block someone know exactly what they are doing because of the steps you have to take to do so. Hey it is their FB and their right to do so. I guess i just find it really sad that no one talks to each other anymore.

Michael a very good article and sadly very true. These reason are the very negatives I dislike about social media. I have witnessed parents using their children as props to do selfies (ego boost anyone?), parents constantly on their phones scrolling while their children are trying to talk to them but are ignored due to the parent's being so engrossed. Social media has taken over the world and it is rare that you see people actually having conversations in person, especially without constantly looking at their phones.

Have you ever been out with friends who interrupt you to answer their phones constantly or look a their social media accounts while you are trying to have a conversation? I make an excuse to leave if someone does that to me repeatedly (I am not talking emergencies or children trying to call parents).

Never had Facebook, never will. So I couldn't possibly be bothered.

I realize I never answered the question posed in the title of this discussion. I can't say whether or not it bothers me because, AFAIK, it hasn't happened.

I try pretty hard to stay away from drama, and have been mostly successful. Most of the drama I encounter with social media happens here, not on FB.

And I do wonder if some of the folks expressing their dislike of social media realize that these houzz forums are social media?

raven then why even feel the need to comment?

carol lol I see some feel the need to say how much they dislike or would never be bothered to use FB. It makes one wonder why they feel that need to express it to those of us who use it. Insecurity perhaps? I really try hard not to judge others and I never feel I am above anyone for any reason. Again, I have to wonder why someone would feel the need to do so, to take one down a peg. That is nice you have never experienced it. I try to stay as drama free as possible and steer away from it. I agree there can be quite a bit here as well. I guess that happens anytime you get a whole lot of people together! Thankfully I find most people very kind, friendly and helpful. I just wish people would grow up a bit and not cause trouble or be mean on purpose. Kindness doesn't cost a thing. :)

If people think I'm different on FB from how I am in "real life", you need to meet me. lol I post a lot on FB and I talk a lot face-to-face. I do however voice my opinions more face-to-face than I do on Facebook as I don't want my 250+ friends to start an argument on my page. I've had to delete many posts when two people can't play nice on my page.

Yes have seen that happen many times!

Real life isn't 'staged'. Michael's link explains that very clearly.

Years ago I knew a wife and mother who was lost in fantasy. She read every movie magazine and tabloid. Her life couldn't *compare*, poor dear. FB is even more omnipresent. I'm glad that I only had to 'endure' HS when I was at school; that social pressure didn't follow me 24 hours a day.

Because I answered the question. And I am able to. And not the only one that gave that answer. Did you ask them?

wow Angela you dont have to post here if you dont like my question. Noone is putting a gun to your head. No drama here, just a question which last I knew I was free to ask. Kindness. It costs nothing. Try it sometime.

Debby how can you tell if you are restricted and can only see public posts? I think that might be happening to me by a fb friend, and it puzzles me that the person would even want to be FB friends if they only allow me to see their public posts. I was seeing all of them before. I can't say for sure that this is happening though.

Having said that, I am one of those people that find facebook to be a little stress-inducing. I stay out of drama and just try to post positives things and not share very much about myself.

Adding on (I can't edit my previous post for some reason), I was also blocked by a fb friend who I've known most of my life, at least since middle school. It was very hurtful, and I felt spiteful. Yeah, so I pretty much avoid drama like the plague.

Facebook friends are just acquaintances?? Impersonal?? I must be having a different experience on Facebook then some.

Wouldn't bother me in the least. The friends and family I have on FB are the ones I associate with in real life. I have blocked someone from seeing a particular post mainly because it had to do with planning something for them and not wanting them to find out about it. I play a game on FB where you need "friends" to help you with the game. I have made friends with quite a few of these people over the years but I have unfriended many of the gamers because of their racist comments. I also have "unfollowed: many people because of all the political posts especially during election time. That just means I don't see their posts unless I go to their profile but we remain "friends"

dee_can1, when you go to their page and only see public posts, or no posts at all. That's all you can see when someone restricts what you can see on their page.

Debby, I ended up restricting a whole bunch of people by accident. The TL;DR version is that some times people make mistakes, and that the Facebook platform isn't always as user-friendly as one would like. :)

Just wanted to say maybe it's nothing to do with you. I ended up having a whole bunch of people in a restricted friend status, and it was not something I had ever intended to do. Mistakes happen.

It's a heck of a lot harder to block someone by accident though.

I've had one person who I viewed as a close personal friend block me, and yes it hurts. I am being blamed for something which was not of my doing. It feels petty and childish and I'll be honest and say it makes me sad.

I enjoy FB most of the time. It's a great way to keep in touch with former co-workers, neighbors, etc. It's a really good way to see what my adult children are up to! lol

I also belong to several groups that are extremely helpful in things that interest me.

As far as blocking... I don't know if I've ever been blocked. I have been un-friended and I have unfriended a few people - most recently someone who claimed we were friends in our church youth group and I had absolutely zero remembrance of her. She has a really holier than thou attitude and I finally said why am I even bothering with her? Easily gone!

Interesting how we interpret motives based on how we perceive them. It illustrates the thin line between what actually happens and what seems to be happening.

I am not very active on Facebook and I get unfriended a lot. I only notice when I think about that person and type in their name and they are no longer a "friend." I don't take it personally as I'm not great maintaining friendships.

My Facebook is 90% family members. I use it to keep up with their lives in ways I wouldn't normally. I have a lot of cousins and I don't even have their phone numbers or email addresses so Facebook it is.

Thanks Debby. That's what I'm seeing, just public posts.