Good morning,
I ran an online wordpress site for a few years where I encountered spammers and aggressive users wreaking havoc in the comments section. But since I didn't do any aggressive marketing myself or include any form of advertising or indirect promises in my online presence, I kept it to a minimum and simply ignored such provocations. Or I set myself the challenge of whether I would be able to reach a level of conversation with someone that I was not sure I would be able to reach beforehand.
If, for example, I were selling a product or a service or running a blockchain, it would be clear to me that I would be required to use a thousand per cent more thoughtfulness and clever strategy in my communication at all times, as much more would depend on how I express myself than for a single user who provokes me.
There are clear rules for spam, I would no longer allow such an account after a short time or set it to inactive.
For other types of provocation, such as users who don't leave me alone and constantly complain about something or don't let up, I would consider the following:
- What does this user really want?
- Is there something in what he says that points to a problem I might be blind to myself?
- How do I manage a measured communication with a provocateur?
- Can I find a level with him that turns hostility into cooperation?
- What can I do so that the aggressive or provocative user is satisfied in the end?
- Have I checked myself to see if I am using all means in a measured, moderate and wise way to prevent a conflict from escalating or to see if I have contributed my own share to even aggravating such a conflict?
- Did I consult with people who asked me wise, if uncomfortable, questions in this regard?
If I can answer all this in the affirmative, no further reasons are needed to deny access to my business to someone to whom I showed my cooperation and willingness to communicate in this way. However, if I feel pure contempt, anger and rage towards someone who, in my eyes, is damaging my business, not only will it not get me anywhere, but I may not realise that I am further damaging myself and my business by handling a very hot potato in the same manner that is now called "cancel culture". Unfortunately, we have plenty of bad examples, don't we?
I understand. That's your strategy to do things. But other people will like to do it their own way as well. We can't push everyone doing just like we do, or thinking as we do. Here I also feel a suppression of freedom, when a group of people push for something, why everybody should be like them ? They can always fork, or create their own frontend and do what ever they want there. That's the beauty of the blockchain. That people with different ideas, different point of views, different looking at things can co-exist. You and the other folk can create a frontend where there will be no muting, we will keep posting on blurt.blog and others that have the muting option. And that will create a competition between both folks, and the better will be used by the most. ☺