MENTAL HEALTH/SHORT RANT
Months Later and I’m Still Bothered By A Block on Medium
I know it shouldn’t affect me but I don’t know why it does
Blocking is common enough on social media
It’s not the first time I’ve been blocked on a website. I have been blocked a few times on social media. Why did this hit me so hard a couple of months ago when I was blocked by one of my followers? Even worse, it was one of my email subscribers.
This person had been following me for a while and I didn’t even have any issues with them. In fact, they had commented, clapped, and engaged with me frequently enough. The other thing that kind of baffled me about it is that I read their stuff enough to where I was making them money by reading.
The block feature, I assumed, was for unwanted attention or for those who weren’t contributing anything and also threatening others. I know that neither of those things applied to me though.
Asking some questions and possible theories
But I have to ask myself some questions. Were the signs already there? Was there a clear sign that this person was about to block me? Was I just so dense to think that they would continue following me and not eventually get tired of what I had to say?
The truth is, this person never confronted me about the situation, there were no clear and present signs of conflict, and we were always amicable with each other. Sure, I think that some disagreement may have arisen when I started to write more political pieces and was more open to mocking a certain side of the aisle.
This person never made it clear how they felt though and never openly said anything to me about having a problem with anything I said. I can’t even really point to the moment that would’ve broken the straw on the camel’s back. To be honest, this person blocking me was a blindside.
We seemed to have a mutual admiration for each other’s work
I enjoyed much of what they had to say and we had some things in common that I really enjoyed reading about this person. I’m not saying that I’m entitled to a response or an explanation.
It’s just a little odd that someone who never made it known that they felt threatened by the way I felt, wrote, or of my very existence, just one day felt like I was so out of control or dangerous that they had to block me. I’m an editor in a few of the publications they write for. I’m sure that if I went in, I could still see their drafts. I’m not exactly sure how Medium works that out.
I don’t want people to know who this person is and try to call attention to it, I’m just working out my feelings
I’m not calling for this person to come back to my page and unblock me. That’s not how this works anyway. Besides, they can’t even see me typing out this long-winded rant about it even if I did want to get their attention.
Also, I’m being very cryptic about the gender of this person or who this person even is. I don’t need or want anyone reaching out to them to tell them that I’m whining or miss the banter or whatever.
I’m simply writing this to process why it still bothers me. So, to the person who knows who you are, I simply say this. In the short time we interacted and read each other’s stories, it was a time I’d never want to take back.
I know you can’t read this, but I want you to know to continue to be the best person you can be. Even if you have no interest in hearing any more of what I have to say. You’re still a good person in my book and I wish you the best and more future success.
