Previously, Google Plus users were able to block people on Google+, which basically meant that those people would be removed from a user’s circles and would lose the ability to comment on a user’s content or view contents shared with that user’s circles.
Google Plus users are not notified that they have been blocked, but it is possible that they find out about it because of the restrictions that goes along with it.
The new ignore option is a lighter form of limiting what you see from a user on Google Plus. Google+ users won’t see posts of ignored users in their incoming stream, won’t get notifications about their activities and won’t see them on their circle page.
Ignoring basically hides the ignored user on Google Plus, while blocking removes the user and blocks interaction. Google has uploaded a video about the new ignore option and the existing block option.
Google Plus users can ignore other users from three different locations. The ignore option becomes available under notifications next to each user’s name there.
Users can also be ignored directly from the incoming stream or from the circles page.
Google has built-in an option to remove the ignore again. This is done under More Actions on the Circles page.
The ignore option is not yet available for my account, which indicates that Google is rolling out the new feature gradually.
Blocking people on Google Plus makes sense, as you may need that option to remove spammers and annoying users completely. Ignoring on the other hand feels like a strange addition. What’s the difference between ignoring a user and not adding the user to your circles? Is it the notifications part that gets blocked out when a user posts a comment or mentions you? There is actually a third option available for users, the mute post option.
This is again different from ignore and block, as it only mutes a specified post on Google Plus.
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But it already had one. I’ve been successfully ignoring Google+ for a while now :)
lol, good one. Yeah, Google Plus ignored me until I changed my name to a completely fake one that *looked* right.
You will see a person’s posts, even if he is not in your circles. It suffices that he has you in his circles. Friendships are not symmetric like in Facebook.
For that reason, the Ignore feature is useful.
I love the idea. Would like it even better if it worked.
I clicked someone in the Circles, the options in the right hand corner are Remove, Clear Selection, View Profile, No “Ignore” there.
What I would like is a circle that does not show up in my stream. Creating a circle of ignored persons comes close but is not quite right.
Why would I want such a thing
Some users post great content (especially photographers)
I want to be able to see this content sometimes
But their high rate of posting makes the stream move too quickly – drowning out other voices
I can switch to the various circles – but I would like more control over whether a circle contributes to my default stream.
I have seen lots of extensions – the problems with extensions is I use multiple computers in the course of a day – getting the extension properly configured on all my computers is very time consuming, not too mention the extensions have to change frequently to keep up with Google Plus.
I guess I could start my own social network – pretty sure it would not catch on.
Thanks for the post and the info. Very helpful.
I agree with the other David above…. to not have a certain circle in your default stream would lessen the noise a lot, while inciting me to ‘follow’ more people with awesome posts
Recently “block” seems to have changed from what is described in the video above, to something much stronger: it now seems to mean “prevent following”. So, for example, I was following a fairly popular blogger (Derya Unutmaz; he has 12 thousand followers). I really like what he writes, and find it interesting … however, this feeling was not reciprocated, and he blocked me. I know that he is still active, as I see my other friends repost various posts of his; however, I cannot view them.
Will there come a day when public posts become visible again to blocked individuals, or am I banished forever?