so, I guess, let's talk about chain blocking.

I'm seeing a lot of confusion as to what it means, and how / why it's used. Maybe this will help clear it up?

checks notes, always start with a definition. A chain blocker is a piece of software that allows you to block a large number of users at once. This means that you can block, generally, anyone who follows a particular account, for instance.

Why might you use such a thing? Well, there are accounts of both size and celebrity (tech, gaming, politics; we all know some) that have followers that let's say are, somewhat toxic. Part of a larger conversation about fandom culture, I suppose. Out of scope for this one.

"That's not danger, Eric; if you make an opinion online you should be able to deal with the fallout"

ok I hear you.

Not everyone leaves these debates online. Some people follow women at conventions. Some people send threatening mail to people's houses. Visibility is danger.

If you've been the subject of harassment campaigns, it's often safer to chainblock certain accounts, which lessens (note: does not eliminate) the increased risk of harassment from their followers.

Why is this necessary? Twitter isn't great at enforcing their rules around harassment, hate speech, and the like. Trust me on that one. Facebook is worse, but, that's out of scope for this conversation.

So. You've gotten blocked in a chainblock.

Your first reaction is almost certainly confusion or frustration, which scans.

Not everyone vets their following, and I get that. Some people follow accounts (esp. certain major political figures) as an accountability thing. I also get that. That's your prerogative. We all use this hell site differently.

Generally speaking, it's not usually a judgment on you! It's a safety procedure taken by people in vulnerable groups / victims of prior harassment. In their situation, a false positive (non-harasser blocked by software) is FAR better than a false negative (harasser not blocked).

I also use a chainblocker, but generally only on specific instances of accounts delving into anti-black racism. It's usually safer.

And political misinformation accounts, but, y'know, 2020.

If you are confused about or by chainblockers, I'm happy to answer questions about them. I'd highly recommend them! It's a great way to curate your feed without having to deal with a lot of the more hateful noise you often see as a black person on social media.

If I may ask politely, though, please try not to make more of it than it is? I get the occasional email / message from someone asking why I blocked them and, uh, I blocked 100,000+ accounts the other day. I don't get a list of who gets swept up in it. It's just how that works.