Read on Twitter
I don't think we should use "he/she blocked me" as an argument against someone. Blocking a person is exercising your freedom of association rights. You might get blocked for a multitude of reasons—but, even if you're a polite person, no one owes you their time. 1/
Being blocked doesn't violate your free speech rights (free speech includes the right to choose what you listen to). Nor does it even stop you from seeing the person's tweets (just use an incognito window or alt). You just can't engage. 2/
Nor is blocking incompatible with wanting to hear a wide variety of different views or have many different conversations: no one can have *all* conversations all the time with everyone, even though some try harder than others (*ahem,* Lady @HPluckrose). 3/
Our ability to block & mute on here is actually the strongest argument in favour of complete free speech on this platform. I support TOTAL free speech online, with a few extreme exceptions such as fraud, impersonation, credible threats of violence, doxxing & child porn. 4/
But not only is blocking other people compatible with being a free speech extremist, it's the only thing that makes that possible. Most people find ignoring abuse or timewasters just psychologically unrealistic. Luckily, you can curate your TL so you don't have to. 5/
Do people sometimes block for frivolous reasons? Yes. That's inevitable. Twitter is a digital menagerie: all kinds of animals are here & all kinds of interactions take place. That's its beauty & its drawback. 6/
Conversations here can get fraught & digital communications are rife with misunderstandings. Blocking is often a civilised option: an adult timeout. It's often much better than fighting on for hours or getting angrier & angrier. It's a nice ejector seat before you crash. 7/
Honestly, I have blocked people for all sorts of reasons, including that they irritate the hell out of me through no fault of their own. I blocked one guy because I couldn't stand his bad grammar. If I did wrong, it's my loss, not his. 8/
One exception: I'm really sad that so many of the Star Trek related fan accounts use mammoth blocklists, sometimes running to the hundreds of thousands, since it's so nice to be able to geek out over Trek & it could be something that brings people together.
But I accept that that's their choice. Freedom of association is a really important freedom. We often HAVE to associate with people we don't want to: at work & when sharing a home (not in my personal case, but not everyone is so lucky!). In free time, we should be able to choose.
