Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Lee
I've also found the "ignore user" feature to work pretty well.
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"Ignore User" buttons work well for stopping any interaction between two parties, but it just prolongs the inevitable.
Before, User A could post something, which offends User B. User B would respond to User A with some post containing some combination of facts and feelings, designed to goad User A. User A responds, and so on, and so on... ad nauseam. Everybody gets turned off.
With the "Ignore User" button, User A could get tired of User B, and place User B in his "ignore" list. User B would post things as before, for a while, saying things in an attempt to re-goad User A.
But, to some new User C, reading these posts between Users A and B for the first time, User B could have some worthwhile thing to say (remember "some combination of facts and feelings?") while attacking User A, but for some odd reason, User A isn't responding at all. User C can't find a reason for this. User C would also see other people that are interacting with User B, and that would just make User A's non-interaction that much more puzzling. User C might even read some of the interaction between Users A and B, but would quickly get lost in the discussion. User C would come to the tentative conclusion that User B is to be believed more than User A.
Again, what would I instead suggest? More pro-active moderation by the admin team. At least, to modify the board software or provide some other feature to allow others to see that User A is actually ignoring User B.
In the meantime, I will myself start using the "ignore user" feature, but I will include in my signature who I am ignoring, and a link to a post detailing why. Using my example above, it will provide User C with the necessary context to explain why User A is not responding to User B.