Is There a Way to Block Someone on Twitter Without Them Knowing?

By Aaron Charles

Blocking someone makes Twitter more private, but less open.
i Dan Kitwood/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Twitter staff want their social platform to be a safe and open community. However, sometimes you need to have a little less of one to have a little more of the other, which is the case when you block someone on Twitter. Overall, you can block someone without alerting him to that fact, but there's still a way a blocked user can discover you've blocked him.

Blocking

Blocking someone on Twitter is pretty straightforward. You simply visit the profile page of the person you want to block, click the person icon next to the Follow button, and then click "Block." When you do this, Twitter won't notify the person that you've blocked her. However, from that moment on the person won't be able to follow you on Twitter nor add you to her Twitter lists.

Reporting

Another and more serious way of blocking someone without him knowing you did so is to report a person for posting spam. Obviously, use this feature only when someone is actually tweeting spam. To do this, access a person's profile but select "Report for spam" instead of "Block." This will not only block the person from following you but will also put that person's account under investigation by Twitter. It won't automatically suspend the account.

Warning

Although Twitter doesn't inform someone that you've blocked her, there's still a way that she can find out. For one, once she realizes that she's no longer following you -- if she was once -- or that she can't follow you, then she could rightly conclude that you've blocked her. Also, when you block someone and your Twitter profile is set as a public and not a private profile, anyone, including the blocked Twitter user, can read your tweets and see your overall profile.

Criticism

Not everyone is pleased with Twitter's blocking feature. While it's true and people appreciate that Twitter doesn't send a message to the blocked user informing him of the block, to some the block isn't complete enough, since, as mentioned, the person can still view your public tweets. The blocked person can also retweet your tweets, suggesting somewhat that you're friends. If you have growing and sustained concerns about your privacy on Twitter, the most private way to go is to set your profile to private.

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