Reddit is trying to make the internet a bit more civil.
The online message board has long been known as a place where users can say anything. But such open dialogue has been known to devolve into personal attacks, and users have fallen victim to trolling, harassment and spam.
With a new feature announced Wednesday, Reddit now lets you block people you don t want to hear from. The function removes the offending person s profile, comments and messages from your view, and prevents you from being alerted when he or she messages you. And the person won t know you blocked them.
Our changes to user blocking are intended to let you decide what your boundaries are, and to give you the option to choose what you want—or don t want—to be exposed to, Reddit wrote in a post announcing the change.
Reddit, based in San Francisco, previously had a blocking feature that only applied to private messages.
The new feature is the latest in an ongoing effort by Reddit to crack down on online harassment, The New York Times reports. Last May the company created a policy forbidding harassment on the platform, and shortly after CEO Steve Huffman spoke out against vulgar online behavior.
Reddit also has a new mobile app to go along with its new anti-harassment feature. USA TODAY reported that 10 years after its launch, Reddit finally has a mobile app that is sleeker and more modern than its traditional platform. The app is available for iOS and Android.
The app is already the fastest way to browse Reddit, and it will serve as the foundation for many updates to come, Huffman said in a statement, reported by USA TODAY.
Image: Reddit logo (Reddit.)
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