Tweetblocking Is The New Junkpunch

If you ever want to send a solid "eff you" to someone on Twitter you have a few options, depending on the amount of time you want to invest. From the most time-consuming to the least: You can create a troll account and harass them; send #subtweets directed at them and ignore their replies; or you can block them. This last one might seem like a pointless action as it's so simple to get around, but it's actually not only the most time-friendly course to take, but it's also the ultimate junkpunch because it stops them dead in their tracks. (Unless they're crazy stalkers, then it probably just makes them angry enough to find you 'in real life.') Here's why: Let's pretend you're an online advocate for whatever cause or group you represent. You're a small effort, maybe a one-person operation with little or no funding - but you're clever. And you follow the "bad guys" on Twitter so you can expose them for the crappy job they're doing. Kind of like what this guy does: He's a one-person watchdog of the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority (@wmata). Now imagine that whoever runs the Twitter for the publicly-funded place that is the object of your disgust gets sick of your face and they BLOCK you on Twitter. Whether or not they should be able to do this is probably another post - that I'll probably write right after this one - but, let's stay focused on what a junkpunch this act is. First, here's how to tell if you've been blocked. It's pretty obvious really, but just in case. And now that you KNOW you've been blocked, there isn't much you can do beyond cry about it. Yes, you can just create another Twitter to follow the person/business that blocked you, but you can't retweet/respond or do anything the way you used to now because they'll figure out it's you and just block you again! So you'll have to log on to the secret account and take screenshots of their tweets and share them that way. You can toggle between multiple accounts with a tool like Hootsuite, so it won't be THAT bad, but it's a total inconvenience to take screenshots instead of retweeting something. And if you're trying to get something done (like watch a certain train system), it would HAVE to be a day destroyer. Ick. But if you're a person (not a business), a block probably won't have as much of an effect on your day-to-day, but it does (and should) make you feel like someone just slapped a Loserville sticker on your back and sent you packing - cuz they did. And you probably deserved it. (Not saying @FIXwmata deserved it though, FYI - because I don't think he did. Just that most non-watchdog type people do.) And there you have it: Twitter's version of the junkpunch. Ouch. HT @Monkeyrotica for his comment that became the headline for this post! (Image from Shutterstock)

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Tweetblocking Is The New Junkpunch

Mary C. Long

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Mary C. Long