i'm curious what benefit people see in knowing who has blocked whom. i find it sort of burn book-esque, but i'm sure there's a good reason for wanting it
It is true, I don't know what kind of concrete benefit would come from it, but I think it could help people navigate the social groups and get a better feeling for who is who, how they moderate their posts, and what types of posts they're likely to share. The profile already shows users we follow, for that purpose, I assume. For example, if a person is sharing a bunch of pro-GMO articles and has a bunch of anti-GMO contributors blocked, I might want to avoid (or seek out, depending on who's who) following that person and engaging in their posts. With the current tools, I don't think there's any way to do it. I suppose it could be used as some sort of "burn book" but I don't think there is any shame in blocking people you don't want contact with. Let it be open and honest, though, so users can see and navigate the social web.
Hmm that's interesting -- framing it as positive social lubricant. That didn't occur to me. I've been picturing it as lines in the sand. Of course there's no shame in blocking people; life's too short to get flustered over internet jerks.