Since the launch of Twitter in 2006, it has become one of the most important social media platforms in the world for both positive and negative reasons.
While this is a great place to build relationships with others, not every Twitter user is worthy of your attention. Blocking other Twitter users (and blocking yourself) is an unfortunate but sometimes necessary part of the user experience.
Here’s how to block someone on Twitter and check if you’ve blocked yourself.
What happens when you block someone on Twitter?
Create a Twitter account and soon someone will come along and try to spoil your fun. Unfortunately, this is the Internet – people are not always good. This is why Twitter and other social media platforms make it possible to completely remove these people from sight by blocking them.
When you block someone on Twitter, you completely remove any links you have to that user. If you subscribe to each other, both of you will be removed from each other’s subscriber lists, and they (nor you) will subsequently be able to re-subscribe unless the block is removed.
You won’t be able to see their tweets, be tagged in photos, be added to lists, or receive messages (or even messages) from a blocked user. This user can still create a new account to work around the issue, but in this case, you can report the harassment using Twitter’s built-in messaging system.
However, this does not guarantee much – you may need to engage the lock button to fix the problem if new accounts appear.
How to check if you have been blocked on Twitter
Before you block someone on Twitter, it might be worth checking to see if you have blocked yourself. You won’t receive a notification if another user blocks you, but you can find out for yourself.
While you won’t be able to interact with their profile, you can check to see if you’re blocked by opening Twitter search and entering their Twitter account username (or by opening their Twitter account directly from the URL).
Twitter will immediately inform you if you have been blocked, and the message “You are blocked” will appear in the profile center. You will be able to see the name, picture and username on the profile, but that’s about it.
Unfortunately, there is no way to get around this except to create another account. We do not recommend doing this either. If you have been blocked, it may be better to take the time to assess your behavior and think about what you could have done to get blocked.
However, keep in mind that users will block other users from time to time for no real reason, and that’s okay. If that happens, accept the offer, go ahead and interact with other Twitter users who like your content.
How to block someone on Twitter from your web browser
Blocking another Twitter user is easy. If you are using the Twitter web interface, you can quickly block another user by following these steps.
- Start by opening the Twitter website in your preferred browser and logging in. Once logged in, enter the Twitter username you are looking for in the search bar at the top and click the Go to @profile button or enter the direct URL of his Twitter account in the address bar.
- Once you are in the profile of the user you want to block, click the three-dot menu icon next to the message and follow the buttons.
- From the menu, click the Lock @profile button. You can also click Report @profile for seriously abusive users, as reporting the user will also block them in the process.
- Twitter will ask you to confirm that you really want to block this profile. Click the “Block” button to confirm.
- To unblock a user after they have been blocked, click the Blocked button.
- Twitter will ask you to confirm that you really want to unblock the user. Click “Unblock” to confirm this.
- To block a user on Twitter, open the Twitter app and find a user who you can do this by clicking on the search icon in the bottom menu.
- With a user profile open, tap the three-dot menu icon in the upper right corner.
- In the menu that appears, click the “Block” button. You can also click Complain to block users and report them.
- The Twitter app will ask you to confirm that you really want to block the user. Click “Block” to confirm.
- Click the “Blocked” button in the upper right corner of the blocked user profile.
- Twitter will ask you to confirm that you really want to unblock the user account. Click “Yes” to confirm.
After confirmation, the profile will be blocked immediately. Instead, a red “Blocked” button appears instead of message and subscription buttons.
If you unblock a user, your profile is immediately visible to them again. They can follow you again, write you messages, and interact with your profile like any other Twitter user.
How to block someone on Twitter using the Twitter app
Blocking a Twitter user is a simple process for mobile users too. The Twitter app is nearly identical for Android and iOS users, so these instructions should work on both platforms.
Twitter will immediately block the user as soon as you confirm your choice. As with Twitter’s web interface, it is easy to unblock a user in the future if you wish.
After confirmation, Twitter will unblock the user. Both parties will be able to immediately interact with each other at this point, but if you unblock the user by mistake, you can immediately block them again using the steps listed above.
Build Better Relationships on Twitter
Blocking other Twitter users is sometimes the only way to deal with trolls or prevent problematic content from entering your own Twitter feed. If you want to improve your Twitter relationship, create Twitter Lists to categorize your favorite accounts, like sports or news.
You can of course decide to leave Twitter entirely and create your own Twitter-like website, although this is a useful option only for existing communities. If Twitter is too complicated, you can always delete your Twitter account and switch to other social networks like Instagram instead.
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