also i think a lot of us who have been attacked online by hordes of people who view our existence as somehow counterproductive to their entire identity learn tiny ways to tell if someone is going to be Bad. what looks like blocking on sight could be surprisingly informed.

This is so real. My friend told me once that when managing comments sections, he knew a guy who always blocked commenters that started their comment with the writer’s first name. It was always a sign of condescension. There are tells!

If a person's first msg to me is an attack or assumes things about me that they have no way of actually knowing...that's a block.