Social Media Etiquette

Social Media Etiquette

If Person A blocks you and Person B, whom you're still connected with, shares Person A's posts, is it a violation of some etiquette rule to comment on the shared post?

Is it unethical to show your disdain for the person who blocked you?

I know people get blocked for a lot of reasons, but there seems to be a lot of blocking on social media sites currently based on political beliefs and around political discussion. People who are posting pro-political beliefs (or, pro-party, pro-policy) are blocking others who debate the essence of those beliefs. Those same people who are posting anti-political beliefs (or anti political party, policy) again are blocking people who want to discuss the hows and whys of those beliefs.

In real life it's not uncommon to tell one set of friends that you're not speaking with another friend over an argument or disagreement, so why should it be different on social media?

A couple of weeks ago I had dinner with a friend whom I didn't know had severed ties with the people who actually introduced us years earlier. She explained why they're no longer talking and then we moved on in our conversation.

Why can't we do that in SM? Is there some unwritten rule, or _faux pas_ that only applies to internet communication? Can friends or acquaintances not speak about other friends or acquaintances? Is the internet some politically correct social structure where everyone is an angel and no one is allowed to speak ill of the another?

Social media certainly makes it easier. We don't see those we're not talking to at work, at parties or at happy hour. There's never an uncomfortable silence when _that_ person shows up unannounced. We simply move our mouse over to the unfriend, uncircle or the block tic-box and move on with our lives. But is that how real social interactions are? 

I can promise you it happens in the business field. Behind closed doors, in private meetings it's a office political arena of who is currently in who's good graces. Who not to invite to a project and who is being shunned by the office or a team, or a manager.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I've been blocked and I know I've had people in real life stop talking to me for a variety of reasons. I'm not in the business of making sure everyone loves me, respects me and thinks I am the center of the universe. I'm in the business of being me. It's that simple.

“A man with no enemies is a man with no character.” ― Paul Newman

A few times now I've seen posts where Person A shares a post by Person B. Each time I've made a comment along the lines of: "I can't post on the original because Person B has me blocked for disagreeing with him on another matter, but ..."

Usually the response is "don't bring your drama to my thread," or some variation thereof.

It's not drama it's a statement of fact and yes, sometimes I'm a little annoyed and let my annoyance show with a jab to Person B. Especially if a block or unfriending happened for what I believe to be childish reasons.

Recently, on Google+ I have been blocked by three people (that I know of) and on Facebook I have become a "hidden" friend.  I can go on to talk about the acceptable reasons for blocking, but if you get 10 people in the room you're going to get 100 reasons on what is an acceptable policy, so I'm not going to get into that particular discussion.