You don’t have to see pictures of beautiful beaches while you’re in the office in July, not knowing who your ex is spending the summer with or ignoring the constant criticism that brings that singer down what you like the most. Identify what makes you feel bad and take steps to avoid it. In a highly connected world, apps and social networks are a way to stay up-to-date and stay connected, but they can cause problems. Among them, being exposed to information, people, or ideas that are harmful to you. This is where blocking comes in, a tool that allows people to filter communications and interactions and helps the user manage their privacy. «Prevention is the first rule of self-respect so that others do not hurt you. Prevention is a way of taking care of yourself,» says Lara Ferreiro, psychologist Ashley Madison, opposing the belief that others they consider blocking social media and WhatsApp to be childish.
Last year the United States surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, the country’s top health official, pointed out that while social networking sites can be beneficial for some people, they also suggest a «significant risk of damage» to mental health and well-being. Last June, Murthy went further, and in a column published in New York Times recommended a measure to prevent the rise of mental health problems among young people due to exposure to social media: «It’s time to seek a surgeon’s note on social media, to «Social media is associated with significant mental health risks for young people,» he said.
According to a survey published in June by GfK DAM, the official measure of the digital audience in Spain, the Spanish public spends 46 minutes a day on social networks. This number is an average, but the study shows that it increases significantly when talking about Generation Z (those born between 1997 and 2012): they can invest 36 hours a month in the use of the Internet compared to 10 hours and 10 minutes among the rest of the population. And in this network there is a lot of poison, produced by people who interact with them, as confirmed last March by a study published in a scientific journal. Nature, which analyzed 500 million messages on different platforms during 34 years. «Poison is a natural consequence of online communication, regardless of the platform,» Walter Quattrociocchi, professor at the University of Sapienza (Rome) and co-author of education, he told EL PAÍS.
To avoid falling into these toxic things, the ability to block, both online and in applications such as WhatsApp, can be very helpful, as long as it is used correctly, experts say, because it is important not to you change the blocking action. to be a weapon with which they can attack others. Ferreiro explains that this happens sometimes because there are narcissistic people who prevent the execution of the «punishment of silence.» Therefore, active responsibility is important to prevent without making the person who is prevented feel bad, which is a clear sign of emotional immaturity. «Those who block try to avoid their conflicts to block as a clear solution. Blocking serves to protect oneself in certain situations, but it should not be done as a punishment or as something urgent, it must be something think and read. Moreover, those who are banned, if they are later opened, will have a deep hatred,» he noted.
Privacy, security
For many people, doing this is a control tool that can also act as a way to set limits, allowing the individual to control who has access to their personal information. , articles and updates. In this way, everyone decides who they want to interact with and who they prefer to avoid. When Elon Musk suggested last year that he would remove the blocking option from his social website X, a controversy erupted: many users claimed that they had the right to block, to avoid seeing certain comments and messages. «The ban violates our right to privacy. We have the right not to expose ourselves to information – and to people – on social media,» an article by The Prindle Institute for Ethics emphasized at the time. It also pointed out that blocking may be necessary for safety, because doing so «allows users to prevent future harassment, private messages, or hate speech from another user, thereby protecting lives they are intellectual.»
This is something that can be used in different situations, from protecting yourself against attacks that may occur due to emotional situations, to wanting to isolate yourself in situations of love separation. An inquiry has been called Facebook Tips to Happiness reveals that regular contact with your ex can increase your sex drive and make you crave that relationship. Amy Chan, head of the Renew Breakup Bootcamp – a four-day retreat whose price can exceed $4,000 and aims to help people end a breakup – explains that to avoid returning to old habits, it is important to prevent the number of spouse and public records. at least between one and two months after the end of the relationship, as continuing to see the affairs of the former partner can hinder the healing process and hinder recovery after the breakup. «Seeing that person regularly can make you feel intimate which is not helpful if the goal is to break emotional ties. In these cases, it would be good to tell someone about the need to prevent, so that they don’t think it’s an attack,» says psychologist and sexologist Arola Poch.
Block against dumb
Often, the act of blocking is not obvious, says social media consultant Sergio Magán. «It can act as an escape valve for a while, and then the situation can be reversed. We can call it ‘relaxation.’ Someone is satisfied with another person or their affairs and to avoid personal conflicts, they silence them or block them for a while, until the situation passes.” Magán considers this a good technological development with which to develop good relationships and have a better experience in the digital environment that can later be transferred to the real one. «The important thing is to protect our well-being and if necessary, we should not hesitate to use these tools,» he adds.
Deciding to stop the flow of information or communication with others for a certain period of time does not have the same meaning – nor does it involve the same effort – across generations. Fátima Martinez López, marketing and social media consultant, points out that Generation Z is very used to blocking and that while blocking in real life is often permanent, digital blocking can be temporary. «Being able to block is better to avoid being or feeling sad. But as we said, silencing is also good, because it can cause less problems than blocking, since by silencing someone he doesn’t know, so no conflict is created.
Experts also insist on avoiding self-deception. Do not block and try to see information in other ways: it is important not to use fake accounts – Instagram has an estimated 95 million profiles, a figure that represents about 9.5% of the total users – to continue watching. content that a banned person puts on their network, something more common than it might seem and that even the model Kendall Jenner has agreed to do so. «Prevention brings peace and is important for mental health. It is important to stop feeling guilty about prevention, as it helps to end emotional addiction,» emphasizes Ferreiro.
In most cases, turning ‘off’ is the only way to continue ‘on.’
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