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redonihunter1 year ago

itch is not a social media platform. There is no private message system. So a "blocking" as needed in real social media is not needed. I cannot spam and harrass   you privately. And if someone does it publicly, report those people, so their account will be banned.

If you are a publisher, you do can ban accounts from commenting on your game. Also publishers are not allowed to ban users from using itch, so why wonder that blocked users could still buy your stuff? It would not even be valid blocking, because you do not even need an account to buy stuff. And just banning people that downvoted your game to increase your ratings is too easy to exploit.

The point in blocking  here is not protecting of privacy, but to filter out stuff that is not bannable, but triggers your shitposting  migraines.

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Thraxx Media1 year ago (8 edits)

Exactly. It “triggers shitposting migraines” which is all the reason you need. People on the internet feel empowered and entitled due to a false sense of anonymity all the time and are not shy to exploit it whenever possible.

You starting an argument with me over something that should be common sense proves this point.

As a counter-argument, let me ask you this: why would a billion dollar company like Twitch (owned by Amazon) implement the features I mentioned, when they’re not really a “social media” platform either?

Yes there’s private messages, but that’s just one very minor thing which is rarely ever used.

First and foremost, it’s a live broadcasting / video-on-demand platform, i.e. offering entertaining content - either for free, or paid (if people put it behind a subscription). So it’s not that much different from itch’s general concept.

There would be no real need to ban someone from following you on Twitch - follows are a good thing, right? And why would anyone think it makes sense to disallow someone from giving paid subscriptions to your channel? That sounds ridiculous, right? …but it’s done anyway, because people are unpredictable and will find ways to flip things around so it becomes an annoying factor to you, just to tick you off.

And just like that, “triggering shitposting migraines” becomes a thing that needs to be moderated, for which people should have the proper tools at hand to do so.

You say: “I cannot spam and harass” (here on itch). That’s a false statement, because YES you can. There’s no technical limit on how many comments you can post to anyone’s page, and as far as I know there are ZERO bad language filters in place so verbal harassment is very much possible.

The ONLY point that I would agree on is that, on second thought, yes you’re probably right: being able to block someone and remove their negative rating that way does seem exploitable, so not a good idea. However, what they could (and should) do instead, is: check whether someone leaving a rating or review has downloaded the product before. And if they haven’t - don’t let them do it.

Boom! There, I fixed it for you.

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redonihunter1 year ago

You can argue that blocking is the wrong name for the feature. Ignore might be a far better word for the feature, because that is what it does.

And you do can ban users from commenting on your published projects. I commented on your project, so you can test that feature.

Since you can't interact with other users, other than publicly commenting, an ignore feature is all that is needed for the limited social media capabililty of itch. 

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Thraxx Media1 year ago

Okay. Still, consider this: someone just followed you here on itch, and by their name and behavior towards you, you can clearly tell who it is - and that they came with ill intentions in mind. It might be a stalker that’s keeping tabs on every single site you’re on.

This can severely impact someone’s mental health, knowing that they’re actively stalked - but powerless to do anything about it. That’s why you need to have these moderation tools. Maybe not to the extent other sites offer it… but the “follower removal” thing is the least one can ask for.

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redonihunter1 year ago

I was on the suffering end of this and initially deemed it a bad idea to be able to follow users. I would like an opt in button to be followable at all.

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redonihunter1 year ago

You are obviously riled up. But you cited me incorrect, creating a strawman you argue against.

You say: “I cannot spam and harass” (here on itch). That’s a false statement, because YES you can

No, I did not.

I cannot spam and harrass   you privately.

That was  the complete sentence.

Any harrassment would have to take place in public, and if it is indeed harrassment, report the account you would block, to the moderators. 

Same for 1 star ratings for fake accounts. Itch does remove those if you tell them. But a single disgruntled user that downvotes your stuff is not blockable, nor should it. 

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