Blocking is the New Black

By Natasha MH

Hanging up is a thing of the past while ghosting is appreciated in horror flicks. Today, it’s about being blockheads.

There is a new method of effective communication – blocking. And here is how it works. When you don’t like someone or you contend with someone’s point of view and they aggravate you, you block them. CLICK.

And it seems to be the popular mode of relationship exit for the millennials when words become too overwhelming and the idea of face-to-face conversation is, well according their lingo, impossible. But here are 4 reasons why blocking someone may not be good practice, or even emotionally healthy in the long run.

What is worse, the blockers may not realise the social backlash it reflects on them.

1.Blocking is an aggressive form of action

To the social media pundits, life in cyber communities is valid, organic and can’t be any more tangible than the life they lead offline. Their bitmoji echoes how they look and in Snapchat, they’re perhaps more exciting and animated than their real self. But blocking someone is harsh because it’s not just about halting the conversation or disagreement, it sends a message, intentionally or not, that you’re deleting someone from your life. And in real life that’s severe. You’ve been vaped into non-existence over… a misunderstanding? Does that even sound rationale?

2.Blocking is more about the blocker, never the reason

While being blocked is devastating, it’s crucial to note that it’s not about the victim. Blocking someone is a sign of immaturity and avoidance which does not train us to communicate with courage through proper adulthood. It’s rude, unexpected and only teaches us to walk away when life requires us to be more transparent. After all, life does have its up and down, so do we run at each tense moment? The victim may be questioning “What did I do wrong?” but to the blocker, it’s more about “Let me show her how I feel”. Already both are on two different communication plane. Yes, it’s that silly.

3. It’s a moment of weakness not strength

Yes blocking someone is uncalled for when you can simply ignore or unfollow. The blocker may think he has the last say. But all experts would agree that blocking is purely an emotional stance. It takes one to be angry or swept away by strong feelings that may be exaggerated at that point. When we have a tiff with a friend, it’s natural to walk away and keep our silence and distance until things cool down and before you know it, we are back to being friends, or we run into the other forcing conversation. We might even forget the altercation due to time or distance. Blocking works the same way, it’s temporary. So let it go and give the blocker space. You’re being the bigger adult here and see the blocker as just, well, having a bad day. But what’s truly happening is pure soap opera drama.

4.You’re at a bigger loss

Blocking is a way to mute a difficult conversation but by doing so you’re inadvertently throwing away the friendship and memories that come with the friend. Is that worth it? Whether it’s to escape a difficult character, to avoid saying goodbye to someone, or to show your defiance to someone, talking it out shows more chutzpah to the other (if power and dominance are what you’re looking for) and avoid the unnecessary. Blocking reveals our shortcomings more than our strengths. So why bother?

They will be laughing behind your back to be honest for being childish and ridiculous. And I believe I’ve repeated the word ridiculous more than three times. That’s how stupid blocking really is, but it IS a legit form of modern expression so we leave it to you to discern.

But the expert advice is, would you steal a candy from a baby no matter how tempting it is? That’s right. Be the adult.