This article is about how content control features help stop people from having PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder and users of this tool get ridiculed.
The author first talks about how criticizes say that content control features are for the weak and sensitive and that the problem that a victim is having is all in their head and they need to deal with their problem and get over it. She backed those opinions with exposure therapy. Exposure Therapy – a type of therapy designed to combat severe anxiety through gradual and controlled exposure to its source, to inure an individual to these triggers and lesson the disruptions they can cause.
Then she argues that people can get PTSD from not only being in the army but also getting abused online. She explains that by stating how prolonged and repeated abuse can later cause PSTD.
One of the biggest content control features she explains is a block list. A block list is just simply a list of people/groups blocked so an abuser cannot contact a victim online. She describes how the block list has its effects on the abusers and victims. Some people think that being “blocked” is being held back or restrained from posting their beliefs and opinions online. But it’s just a tool to help people who cannot handle situations that deal with bullying. The cons for having a block list is that people who are not abusing or harassing someone sometimes get blocked and categorized as an abuser. But really they haven’t done anything the author explained. And also separating the abusers with the victim can also be hard to distinguish. The author then explains how these reasons don’t justify how severe harassment can get. Like when people threaten someone and their other family. So by blocking that person allows the victim to put a wall in between themselves and the attacker which will make it much harder from the abuser to reach the victim online.
Next the author begins to compare the abuse online to women abuse. She explains how when women get abuses can also lead to PTSD. Women in a predominately male industries tend to be the most commonly victims. She then comes to a conclusion that only a certain type of person will truly understand the use of the content control feature and are willingly to stand up and support it as well.
Lastly the author sums up her argument that people should be able to block certain content or people online for personal reasons. She goes into details by saying that having the choice to listen or view someone else’s opinion should be allowed and by leaving those boundaries or choosing to close off those boundaries should also be allowed. The tools are just there to help someone that needs to take care of the emotional and mental that can be alter by online abuse. To summarize the faults of content control features they are a one fix solution which leaves out diversity and some things that may not fit into one the features.