On Social Media: an informal interview

By Julian Zehr

An internet writer first and foremost makes his first foray into the world of print. Influenced by writers who died long before he took interest in the craft, still a young man—he sought to blend the old and new into a style that worked for him. Encouraged by a series of events; he began narrowing down a manuscript—certain that short written responses on the topic of social media tied to various personal accolades, extended circulation, and translation into other languages—would make for good reading. Varying in tone, but reflective of one's youth, the author delivers a message derived from his own experiences and thoughts. A short work of digital insight framed by one in 'seven-point-nine' billion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tablo Publishing
• Release date: Dec 30, 2021
• ISBN: 9781685832001

Book preview

The infamous block button

Oh no! I’ve been blocked—or more likely, I’m seriously thinking of blocking someone on social media or from my phone number but I have a few questions first. Or maybe, the act has been committed—now all that’s left is to inquire about its consequences. In this early chapter, I’ve compiled a few questions that proved to be of particular interest concerning the topic—those answers have either aged like fine wine; or have gone sour in the process.

The block button is available on every major social media platform; and even holds its place among private messaging apps and services. It is stronger in its ability to silence and ignore individuals than a simple turn of the head in real life ever was.

A block button or equivalent feature is ubiquitous within the context of social media—it’s a staple of the experience. Twitter users often brag about getting blocked by a celebrity, politician, or other notable figure of influence. It’s a trophy of sorts—wielded in the form of a screenshot, video, or elaborate retelling of the story behind what caused them to get blocked. A favorite Twitter trophy to collect during the past four years was to get blocked by the sitting President of the United States.

An innocently familiar story comes to mind. A well-known consumer technology reviewer, Marques Brownlee, would catch celebrities and executives pushing marketing material for a new Android handset—but visibly sending tweets from an iPhone. When he would do this, and tweet a screenshot of it—the celebrity or executive who got caught being disingenuous would block him. Then he’d tweet that in the form of a screenshot too. He collected many trophies, including Gal Gadot.

When it’s not a desired trophy—it’s a confusing signal, but common occurrence on other apps—especially Snapchat. A lot of times, Snapchat users simply have too many added friends—at some point they realize that; and proceed to block or remove friends until they get that list down to a manageable number. It’s impersonal—more of an issue with the numbers and how well they can handle a routine or the lack