When Barack Obama left office, he said: “If you’re tired of arguing with strangers on the Internet, try talking with one of them in real life.” Of course, some people are too scared to talk to such people in real life and take the easy way out... the unimaginative way out — blocking friends. The exercise is at times about hiding one’s naked nervousness. Some people tend to take the step easily without thinking of the consequences. An easier option is unfollow. But if your mind is made up and you want to carry out the drastic step of blocking a person, here’s what you should be aware of while working on Snapchat and Instagram.

Snapchat

The popular social media platform with Gen Z allows an easy way to block a friend but getting back together is not easy. To block or remove a friend, swipe to the right to open the friend’s screen and search for the name. Next, tap on “more” and then on “Block” or “Remove Friend”. Once you confirm your move, the friend is blocked or removed. This can also be done by opening the app and visiting the search bar at the top. Next, type in the user name and then on their Bitmoji. Look for the three-dot icon and tap it to bring up the “Block” or “Remove Friend” options.

The consequence. Once a person is blocked, he or she will not be able to view the user’s Story, Snap or chat with them in the app. If a person is removed and not blocked, he or she will be able to see the user’s public stories. The history of past chats will still be visible on their phone and they’ll still be able to see any saved messages. Will the person know if you have blocked them? No. But it’s complicated when you want to reconnect or chat with the person after the rough times are over. You have to unblock the person from the settings menu. But to send a message to the now-unblocked friend, one has to again send a friend request. If the friend is not a public user, they will have to accept the fresh “add friend” request.
Instagram.

Before block a person, consider “Restrict” and “Mute” options. If you are angry with the overload of food photos a person is posting, it’s not worth blocking the user. First, how do you know that an account is blocked? The easiest option would be to look up the user — using a different account — who you think has blocked you. The other way is check the old messages from the person you think has blocked you. On clicking on the person’s name you would be taken to his or her profile but if you are unable to see any posts on that account, chances are you have been blocked. Also blocking a person would hide previous chats in the DM section. If you can somehow find the username through past chats, click on the account and then try following the person. However much you try, you won’t be able to.

“Restrict” is a lighter option. The person on the other end won’t know you have blocked him or her but at the same time they won’t know when you are online, they won’t know you have their messages and when they leave you a comment, only you can see that. And you can’t be tagged in comments. By muting a person you can isolate between posts and Stories.