Soft Block

What is a Soft Block on Social Media?

Soft block means to remove a follower on Twitter by blocking and then unblocking them. On Twitter, the way the block feature is implemented is such that if someone follows you and you block them, Twitter forces them to stop following you, so blocking and unblocking effectively removes them as a follower.

Soft blocking is a trick Twitter users came up with and relies on an implementation detail of the blocking function. It isn't officially support by Twitter. Other social media websites may implement blocking differently, in which case soft blocking won't work. For example, on Bluesky, blocking and unblocking doesn't remove a follower.

Quotes

A soft block is when you block and then immediately unblock someone who’s following you. This will automatically force them to unfollow you, without alerting them to it. HOWEVER: If your family members are determined, like mine, they may simply follow you again.

An Emergency Plan Of Action For When A Family Member Follows You On Twitter, "Posted on Feb 22, 2016" [https://www.buzzfeed.com/fijiwatergod/family-twitter-follow-emergency-action-plan] (accessed 2024-10-04)

The earliest webpages talking about soft blocks I found were from 2016. It seems Twitter officially added this "remove follower" functionality in 2021.

Twitter is trialling a feature that allows users to shrug off unwanted followers without officially blocking them.

It provides a less stark alternative to hitting the “block” button – a move that is often publicised across timelines when the blocked user screenshots the notification and publishes it.

With the new “soft block” feature, users can remove followers by going to their profile page, clicking “followers” and then the three dot icon next to the follower’s name, and selecting “remove this follower”. The former follower will not be notified by Twitter.

Twitter trials ‘soft block’ feature to let users remove followers [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/sep/08/twitter-trials-soft-block-feature-to-let-users-remove-followers] (accessed 2024-10-06)