Why X users leaving the social media platform as new ‘block’ rules come into force

Changes on the social media platform X that have been brought in for “greater transparency” are proving unpopular with users.

Bosses at X, formerly known as Twitter, have introduced a major change to its block feature that many are not enjoying, and now numbers on alternative platforms are reportedly rising.

The changes on X mean that, from now on, any accounts you have blocked will still be able to see your posts. Previously, blocking someone meant they could not see anything you posted on the social media site.

However, anyone who has been blocked will still be unable to like, repost or reply to any posts.

A notification was sent to users saying: “Block is changing soon. If your posts are set to public, accounts you have blocked will be able to view them, but they will not be able to engage.”

Last year, Elon Musk took to his site to talk about the blocking policy. He wrote: “Blocking public posts makes no sense. It needs to be deprecated in favor of a stronger form of mute.”

But users are not happy, with reports of many now joining alternative sites – such as Instagram, Threads and BlueSky – to find another way of engaging online without having to use X.

One person online wrote: “This is such a stupid thing. The purpose of blocking someone is for them not to see anything you post. Imagine a stalker still being able to see your posts. Who is making these decisions at @X”.

Another replied to another post, who asked what the point of the changes were: “The point is create chaos. Utter chaos.”

X has said the change allows users who have been blocked to be able to see if someone is trying to “share and hide harmful or private information” about them, which allows for “greater transparency”.

But the move has reportedly seen other sites benefiting from increasing users.

X alternative BlueSky announced on Thursday (October 18) that it had gained half-a-million new users in the 24 hours since X made the formal announcement about the change.

Bluesky, started by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, used to be invite-only to join the site, but it has now opened up to anyone and has used the opportunity of block changes on X to say its own block features will remain watertight to stop “toxicity” online.

“Welcome to the 100k+ people who have joined Bluesky in the last 12 hours!!!” the official BlueSky account announced.

Facebook owner Meta has also launched an alternative, Instagram Threads, which is similar to X. The social platform amassed 100 million users in record time after its launch.

Here is everything we know about the changes:

What is the change on X?

The changes mean blocked people will now be able to view your content, but will not be able to engage still.

What has X said?

They have said they are moving towards the changes to increase “transparency on the site”.

What have critics said?

Many have argued those who are being stalked no longer have any protection.

Tracy Chou, founder of the anti-harassment tool Block Party, took to the site to make her feelings known.

She wrote: “I’m sure someone from twitter (elon) is arguing that block evasions were always possible from other accounts but the point is that friction matters!! making it easy for a creeper to creep is not a good thing!!”.

Others pointed out that “not being able to engage” actually means nothing in real world terms, as people can now print screen posts and reshare them that way.

What has BlueSky said?

The social media site say they have seen surges in people joining in waves as different changes on X come into force.

When Brazil banned X from operating at the end of August, BlueSky said it saw a surge of three million additional users in just one week, raising their followers to more than nine million.

What is BlueSky?

BlueSky appeared on Apple’s iPhone App Store in February 2023 and an Android version was released in April.

Until now, the only way to access the platform was by joining a waitlist or by grabbing an invite from someone who had already signed up.

In terms of its design, screenshots on the BlueSky App Store page show an interface very similar to that of Twitter. There are likes, retweet-like “reposts”, and comments on posts.

The app’s fledgling user base has even coined a phrase for BlueSky posts: skeets. This is a combination of the words “tweet” and “sky”.

Bluesky is a decentralised social app, meaning it operates off multiple servers run by multiple entities, rather than being controlled by a single company.  It uses a piece of technology called the AT Protocol to store your account data, effectively connecting up these “decentralised” elements.

If you have tried Mastodon, another Twitter alternative, you’ll have already experienced a decentralised social network.