h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've been on boards that have the "ignore" feature, and found them to be a great thing. Across all of these boards, the feature was very rarely used -- out of thousands of users, a small proportion used the ignore feature, generally only to block one or two individuals' posts, and often just temporarily at that. So the use rate was small, but the impact on board feuds (think Della Wars) was significant, and I have to think that it must have saved staff time as well.

Myself, I used the feature once, and was quite glad it was there. There was one poster whose presence was ubiquitous across all threads, and who unfailingly made extremely rude comments. The staff, for their own reasons, chose not to ban the person, but it had reached the point where I was avoiding the board because reading there just wasn't an enjoyable experience for me anymore. Putting the person on ignore was the perfect option for me -- I could suddenly read the posts without continually feeling irked by this one poster. I could still see everyone else's responses to said poster, so I knew things hadn't died down, but I didn't have to deal with them myself.

In this case, the ignore option worked by showing you a blank post and letting you know that it was by an unnamed person you had on ignore -- and you had the option of clicking a button to show that particular post, while still leaving the person on ignore overall. This way, if the subsequent responses to that post led you to believe that you really needed to see that post, you could.

Because it was easy to unhide any given post, or change the ignore status at will, it really wasn't a problem to worry about "missing a change in heart" from the other person. If nothing else, someone else could pass a message along. And truthfully, in most cases the ignore option was used as such a last resort that no 'changes in heart' would be taken seriously at that point anyway. Every now and then, there are people who you are just willing to wipe clear of, deciding that their absence from your life now is certainly worth any sacrifice of missing their presence in the future.

The only problem, IMO, were people who would put person XYZ on ignore and then make a big deal of it. "You're such a jerk, I'm putting you on ignore again!" But here on h2g2, we already have the analagous of "I'm taking you off my friends list, so there!", and I really don't think this would be any different.

Hmmm... I understand that an 'Ignore button' works as an ultima ratio, is rarely used and so forth. It *has* certain advantages - I won't dispute that.

But to me it sounds a bit like ostrich strategy. You don't solve a problem by choosing to ignore it. Also if someone is being really obnoxious you can complain and yikes his/her posts.

I am still not convinced 'ignore' is a good idea.

HELL

I'd like to chime in with the chorus of approval for this feature. I've seen certain individuals persecute others around the site just for the sheer hell of it. So much so, in fact that the site almost went into meltdown recently and one person had to be banned for a month. If the Ignore feature were there then this would have been much less likely to happen simply because the individual would not have been able to conduct a witch-hunt.

It's not necessarily an ostrich approach, it's more about not seeing things that upset you - just like Zaphod's peril sensitve sunglasses. These things are something I can do nothing about - I've spent around three years trying to be reasonable to one person, but she's still nasty to me.

If someone dislikes me and there's nothing I can do to change their opinion of me, then where's the harm in simply never seeing their messages?

Sometimes conversations do seem a bit strange with the odd post missing, but I'd rather put up with that than have to read someone else's poisonous messages about myself. If messages break the rules, other Researchers who aren't emotionally involved can still use the complaints button, and I haven't had my feelings hurt which means I'm not going to then bite the head off the next person.

I simply regard it as the hootoo equivalent of the mail/telephone preference services. Most responsible online organisations have privacy policies, so why not hootoo?

Personally, I would have appreciated it aftyer the most recent fracas, after which the banned person's fellow travellers decided to persecute me around the site for publically supporting the Eds in their action.

I would also like to see a feature where it is possible for a researcher to remove a specific message from their list of messages, so it would not attract attention from others.

I agree there should be some mechanism against stalking on site. But is 'ignore' the right approach?

I think that a 'bozo-filter' for one's personal space would be in order, but a filter for all convos?

Maybe one way around certain kinds of conflicts would be to have a new set of 'volunteers' - like 'peacemakers' or mediators - that mediate between conflicting parties.

Witch-hunts don't take place so often on h2g2 that it would justify the implementation of an 'ignore button' - in my opinion. 99% of h2g2 conversations are /// anyway...

HELL

Er, no. Can't agree with that. We'd end up with the online equivalent of Iraq.

I suppose I'm saying that a PS should be a lot more personal, in that people get a lot more control over what gets posted there.

"Maybe one way around certain kinds of conflicts would be to have a new set of 'volunteers' - like 'peacemakers' or mediators - that mediate between conflicting parties."

That was suggested in the dim and distant past. The trouble is that it generally makes things worse, I've seen it when people have tried to reason with the woman who hates me, she just started slagging them off too.

Might as well have a group of people whose job it is to go around berating others, as with some people you might as well get your retalliation in first...

Yah... You're right... T'was just an idea...

HELL

ooh, I'll volunteer to go round being mean to people.

I'll start straight away. FM, you're an arse.

Have I passed the test?

Yes, you've passed the test, but then there's little chance of and ugly smelly troll failing one like that is there?

Up yours!

As I heard my son say to my mother on the phone this morning...

I think he meant 'at your house', but it was still quite funny.

Oh go and boil your head. If you can get it in the bucket, that is

Fluffiness sucks.

HELL

Who asked you for your opinion?

Who cares?

Anyway, for the benefit of lurkers, we don't really mean any* of this, so don't yikes it.

*well, we don't mean MOST of it...

I'll put everyone on my bozo-filter!!!!

I hate the world!!!

We need the following *smileys*




HELL

Oh, I don't hate the world. Just animals, people, and things...