NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Google+ Blocking Issues Redux
Google+ Blocking Issues Redux http://j.mp/sL43cX (Google+) [ Note, any not-logged in user can see any public G+ posts, regardless of "blocking" status. This is as it should be, since "public IS public," and I oppose efforts to dilute the concept of "public." ] +Kee Hinckley - Regarding the discussion of blocking at your referenced link below. Much as I love Google+ overall, as far as I'm concerned, the entire "blocking regime" in G+ has become a hopeless (and in some cases even dangerous ) jumble. And it's getting worse, not better. There are a number of problems, but among the most obvious are that blocking is a "feel good" gesture only -- it doesn't actually prevent anyone from seeing any public posts. This means it gives the impression of blocking but in a fundamental sense doesn't actually block. This is the worst of all possibilities, because it tends to lead people into an inaccurate impression of people's profile postings, the contents of message threads (where some replies simply vanish, leaving the rest of the threads confused) and so on. Even worse, by tying the concept of (supposedly) preventing someone from seeing your posts with preventing you from seeing their posts (when logged in) it puts the "blocking" party at risk of not fully understanding the actual postings that can still be seen by other persons, either logged-in and/or not. This is a mess that needs to be rethought out from first principles. And significant changes should not be made on an ad hoc basis (especially without prior notification) when they have these kinds of effects. Many of the issues otherwise associated with blocking could be avoided by more flexible thread moderation mechanisms: http://j.mp/v7t2fV. Also see my original discussion of G+ blocking issues: http://j.mp/pjR4nE. Thanks. (Ken's referenced message on Google+: http://j.mp/se32lj ) --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org Founder: - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com