I would like to take a moment to orient people to a brand new and highly innovative feature that was recently introduced in mastodon and many other fedi-apps. This feature enables you to not have to see posts from or interact with people whose posts you don’t like, don’t agree with, or are otherwise offended by.

I like to call it the “block button”.

Does someone on the fedi support the “other side” in the Israel/Hamas conflict? Instead of asking your moderators to figure out which side is objectively right in a no win situation, BLOCK! It’s amazing!

Did someone just say that they are frustrated that they got Covid after having gotten all the vaccines? That’s not disinformation, it’s an opinion and you can block them!

Does someone seem a little too happy that one of Biden’s staff got in trouble or that a democrat is getting charged? BLOCK! It’s amazing!

Did someone use the word Nazi in a way that offends you? Yep, you guessed it! BLOCK!

I have no idea what the median age of people on the fediverse are, but it’s disappointing that moderators are effectively having to act as camp counselors for 13 year olds who are having a disagreement. Yes, the substance of these disagreements tend to be much more consequential, but the pettiness is about the same or perhaps worse.

If someone is harassing you or otherwise violating your instances rules, please do report them, but try to apply some perspective.