WordPress needs to have a block feature!
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I have already contacted them about this. I have a person who refuses to be deleted as a follower. This person keeps coming back. It is like stalking. There is no way right now to block someone here on wordpress, like other social network sites have done. I mean, on Facebook you can block people anytime. It is commonly done. I was told the only option is to make my site private. That is ridiculous really. Why should I make my blog private? This is a weakness here on wordpress and needs to be fixed ASAP. I hope they install this feature soon.
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hi there,
I realise this is frustrating, but WordPress.com is not a social media platform. We’re a hosting provider, and your page with us is a full, independent website, not just a profile page or news feed like you’d have on Facebook.
It’s simple for a platform like Facebook to block one registered user on the platform from viewing or contacting another registered user. But it is completely impossible for Facebook to block a particular person from accessing Facebook itself, because Facebook is a public website and as such can be accessed by any person who has access to an internet connection and a device that can browse the internet.
In exactly the same way if you have a site on WordPress.com it’s a public website that can be accessed by anyone.
Even if we were able to block someone from following your site via their WordPress.com username account, it will not prevent them from viewing your website on their computer, subscribing to it using different email addresses without being logged into a WordPress.com account, or even following the RSS feed directly in a third-party feed reader app.
So even if we were to implement that type of blocking, at most it would give you a false sense of security while not actually blocking anyone from accessing your site at all. That type of total blocking simply isn’t possible on any public website, no matter where it is hosted.
I know that’s not the answer you want to hear, but this is intrinsic to how websites and the internet works, and the difference between owning your own online space (having a full website) and merely renting a bit of space on someone else’s website (having a profile on a social media service).
This does not mean we might not make it possible to block registered users from following and liking your site, interacting with it in the WordPress.com Reader, etc. – we definitely want WordPress.com to be a safe online space – but you also have to realise there are very definite limits to what is actually possible to block.
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OK, I guess I just continue as I have been doing. It is not a big deal for me because I delete a follower whenever they choose to follow me. It just gets a bit annoying because they don’t seem to understand who I am really. Everyone is different. Some people want followers. I don’t. Its that simple. I am a Universe Healer so it all goes on the Universe for me. Thanks for your response. I have been here for 5 years! I enjoy bring here. Just thought this idea would help us all.
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Maybe there could be a way to disable the follower function. Just a thought. I am not an expert in this at all. Just trying to be helpful.
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And she is back again just now, at 6:09 AM, so I removed her again. She continues to follow me and I continue to remove her. That is what is happening right now. It is a very stupid game, but I will continue to remove her every time she follows me. See, I still have the control. She cannot really follow my blog. Following establishes a negative connection to me. I cannot let that happen.
I don’t mind if she reads my blog. In fact, I want everyone to read my blog.
I would like this option on my website: there should be an enable or disable function for followers.
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Thanks, we’ve noted your request. Just know too that this individual could still easily follow the site with another service (IFTTT, an RSS reader, etc.) so there’s no true way to block access to a public site. So my best guess is that it’s unlikely that this feature will be built out, as it could give folks the impression that their site cannot be followed, which is not true.
So for now you might simply allow them to follow for a while, then delete them when they’re not paying attention. Good luck.
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Thanks for your advice. For now she is gone, but as you know could return anytime. Hopefully she has forgotten all about me.
FYI, It would be nice for me as the blogger to have more control over the features I suggested above on my website. I mean, for example, a disable function for things like comments, likes, and follows. I do believe that is totally feasible in the future. Perhaps there is a blog site somewhere with this is mind.
Thanks again for all of the great feedback and support on how this all works.
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Well 2 weeks later and this wordpress blogger is still harassing me with the follower function. She abuses the follower function daily! I have contacted her 3 times and told her to please stop. We have absolutely nothing in common. This is simple stalker behavior.
I have contacted support about this too. Really, for what we pay here we should be getting better customer service. Instead of changing color schemes this company needs to make our site safer!
Wordpress creators, why haven’t you done that yet? It is becoming less user friendly all of the time. Even Patch has safety features built in. Bloggers need to have more safety controls on our blog sites. The creators of blog sites messed up. They did not give us the power to allow or disallow followers and likes (ie enable or disable).
How simple is that these days? I now the staff always gets defensive and says there is nothing that can be done. I cannot believe that in this day and age nothing can be done.
But all the wrong things get done quite easily. I am so glad I do not have to use that new editor. I tried it and was so frustrated. if I was a new blogger I would just give up.
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Eric just responded to me from support, says “The only thing you can do is make your site private”. That is the lamest response I ever heard. This is why our needs are not being met. They don’t care about us. They only care about changing all of the wrong things and making it harder for us to do our blogging. And want us to constantly upgrade our plan.
That will not help anything.Their customer service stinks on this one. I am still going to keep my blog public. In fact, I will never make it private. That is totally insane. I want anyone to rad my blog. I won’t restrict access because of one crazy stalker.
You guys built this blog site wrong and put in some weak “remove” button on the follower part. It does not solve the problem. All that does is keep the stalkers going. Get real! Admit your mistakes and make it better. We don’t just want to remove followers, we want to block them. Or we want to disable following totally. Either way it should be up to us, not you. But your site is not allowing us to do that.
I won’t be coming back here again because you cannot seem to get it. You are being so negative. It is not productive conversation here. You did not make the blog site user friendly and safe at all.
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This person is continuing to abuse the follower function. She follows my blog everyday! I really don’t care any more. Just shows how inadequate this follower function is. Please make positive changes. It is very simple to do the right thing.
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She is a stalker. She continues to stalk me. I guess stalkers are allowed on WordPress. That is not a good reputation to have.
WordPress should make a change. And that change is to stop stalking behavior from other WordPress members. So simple and easy yet it is not done. Has WordPress become just another negative business on the internet? I hope not.
Let’s see what WordPress can do in the new year. A few positive changes are due.
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@universefamilyhealer even if there were a block feature here, as long as the site is public, they could follow via any other service out there. They don’t even need an account with us.
If you are blogging out to the universe and don’t want any followers at all, I also recommend making the site private.
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Also one reason we don’t offer this feature is we don’t want to offer a false sense of security. Blocking a user here would not prevent them from seeing a public site.
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Actually, I am a Universe Family Healer. I know that the UNiverse wants me to be public. And stay that way now.
I still say that we need to have control over our blogs. And that means giving us options, ie to enable or disable followers.
I know most blog sites are built the same way pretty much. But not everyone who blogs these days wants those activities. It can get very negative.BTW: that freaky person today followed me and then removed herself before I could do it. It was instantly done by her! So I guess my healing is working finally. I just put her on the Universe and off she went.
And I adjusted my blog to reflect only healing and not growing food, etc. My blog is only healing now. Those organic gardening people will never find me again.
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And again, it helps when there is a stalker. I noticed the same thing happened to another WordPress member last January. Very few followers are stalkers. So for those very few, it would be good to disable them here on WordPress. It stops their negative activities. And we take the control away from them here. Most would not do anything elsewhere. They are just set up to do that activity here on WordPress. Those people are highly negative, believe me!
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I have no problem with anyone even stalkers viewing my blog. That is not the issue. I want my blog open and available to everyone. so I do not want a private site. I just don’t want stalkers following my blog.
It feels so negative for me. Believe me, I can feel it!
Please make the follower function optional here on WordPress.
Thank You.
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She just followed again and I removed her. Please close her account.
Thanks,
Julia Angel
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I don’t see a follower there now, but please understand we would not be able to close their account, anymore than we could close yours for removing her from following.
Please understand, for most people, following a blog is a normal, non-stalking experience. They just like your content and want to read more.
If there is a particular red flag with this user that makes the account seem spammy, please leave the follower there next time, and we’ll check it for you.
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Removing her from WordPress would be the best option available at this point. It is not a good thing to have her among us. She will spread her negative mess everywhere
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