Google has been on a roll lately adding in features
that come from other social networks, functions users on the site want
and just commonsense functionality to Google+. The latest feature to be
added to Google+ is the ability to ignore users. This is a widely
accepted function across social networking platforms, because it allows a
user on a site to ignore those that are spamming, harassing or
otherwise causing problems for them.
Instead of having to give up on a social network, being able to
ignore other users allows you to take advantage of sites like Google+ on
your own terms.
What’s the difference between ignoring and blocking someone?
Google+ now has two ways of dealing with people on the site you do not want to interact with: Blocking and ignoring.
When you a block someone on Google+, the following happens:
- Will not see any of their content on your Stream
- Removed from your Circles, but they can still keep you in their own Circles
- Removed from your Extended Circles
- Will not be able to comment on your posts, even content posted before they were blocked
- Will not be able to see your content when shared with specific Circles, but they can see it if you post publically
- Cannot mention you in comments, posts or tags
When you ignore someone on Google+, the following happens:
- Removed from “People who have added you”
- Will not see their newly posted content, content they have already shared with you will be removed, too
- Will not see posts mentioning you, nor will you get notifications that they have mentioned you
Blocking someone on Google+ pretty much eliminates their ability to
interact with you, including content posted before you blocked them.
Ignoring someone on Google+ removes their content from your Stream, but
they can still comment on your updates, photos and more. Blocking is the more extreme method of getting rid of a person in your Circles.
How to use the ignore feature in Google+
If you want to ignore someone, you can do so from three places: The
notifications bar, your Stream and while editing your Circles. Someone
has to specifically share with you when you have not added them to your
Circles for you to be able to ignore them.
If you have a notice in your notifications bar where someone tagged
you a post but you are not following them in return, you can ignore them
directly from there.
If you are browsing your Stream and click on “Incoming,” you will see
where people have tagged you but you have not added them to your
Circles. You will see an “Ignore” option next to each post for you to
use.
If you click on the “Circles” button on your Google+ header bar, you
can then click on “People who’ve added you.” This will bring up all the
people who have added you, this is where you can ignore those you do not
want to deal with anymore.
Simply click on a person, and you will see the “Ignore” option in the
right hand corner of your options bar. Click on it to ignore the
person.
A box will pop up asking you to confirm it. Once you do, that person will be ignored until you choose to change that.
Until you have a larger Stream going on and have Google+ users
sharing with you, you will not necessarily see how the ignore feature
works effectively.
Is the Google+ ignore feature effective?
On a smaller feed, the ignore feature in Google+ seems mediocre.
Blocking seems much more effective and easier to do. As Circles grow,
you will see how to use the ignore feature and might actually be able to
put it to good use.
As Google+ increases the way you interact with others positively and
negatively, adding features such as ignore and block are a good way to
combat spam and avoiding people online on the social network.
No comments:
Post a Comment