Jun 13, 2023 20:00:00

What is the reason why it is possible to operate 'Browse posts ignoring blocks' and 'Check block information of each user' on Twitter alternative SNS 'Bluesky'?

SNS such as Twitter and Facebook have a blocking function, and by blocking users, you can exclude specific users' posts from your timeline or prevent your posts from being viewed by specific users. '

Bluesky ', which is attracting attention as a Twitter alternative SNS, is also equipped with a blocking function. It is possible to perform operations such as 'know if it is blocking The development blog explains why we use such a block system.

Why are blocks on Bluesky public? | AT Protocol
https://atproto.com/blog/block-implementation

The blocking procedure in Bluesky looks like this. First, open the profile of the user you want to block and click 'Block Account' in the menu.

When the following screen is displayed, click 'Confirm'.

You have now blocked the user. If you block a user, you will not be able to view the posted content of that user on the Bluesky official app. In addition, blur processing has been added to the profile image.

Also, 'Blocked users' will not be able to see the posts of 'Blocked users', and a notification will be displayed on the profile to the effect that 'This account has blocked you'.

As long as you use the Bluesky official app, it looks like a block system similar to Twitter, Facebook, etc., but in fact, if you use the API for developers, you can view all posts regardless of whether you have a Bluesky account, so you can use specific There is no way to completely hide your posts from people. You can also get a list of blocked users by using the API.

The reason why Bluesky adopts a block system different from general SNS has a lot to do with Bluesky's basic philosophy. Bluesky is a decentralized SNS protocol ' AT Protocol ' that aims to create an 'ecosystem where each user can completely manage their own data and migrate to other SNS servers and clients while maintaining post content, follow/block/mute information, etc.' ”, and in order to maintain block information even on SNS servers other than Bluesky, it is necessary to make the block information itself public information.

In addition, AT Protocol allows developers to freely develop their own clients, and it is up to each developer to decide whether or not to display posts from blocked users. In other words, it is possible to develop a ``Bluesky browsing application that does not consider blocking at all''. On the other hand, as long as you use an ``application that does not display posts of blocked users'' such as the Bluesky official application, you will not be forced to see posts you do not want to see even though you have blocked them.

At the time of article creation, the 'list of blocked users' is displayed in plain text. The development team of AT Protocol is considering a method to strengthen privacy by encoding the 'blocked user list' into a data structure. In addition, the development team is seeking opinions on a block system that protects privacy while maintaining the design philosophy of AT Protocol at the following link.

Mechanisms for private 'block' relationships between Bluesky accounts bluesky-social/atproto Discussion #1131 GitHub
https://github.com/bluesky-social/atproto/discussions/1131