While everyone has their own genuine reasons for blocking messages from another person, being on the receiving end of a shutout can be an incredibly painful experience. We’ve probably all been blocked on some form of social media for one reason or another, whether is be by a bitter ex or through a friendship fallout.
And understandably, when the ball is in our court, it’s incredibly useful to be able to disappear from an annoying, upsetting or difficult conversation – while also holding a helpful hand in security when the scammers come knocking. But when you find yourself blocked bizarrely without reason, it can take a serious toll on your mental health.
WhatsApp won’t tell you who has blocked you, nor will they send a notification telling you that you’ve been blocked – which leaves a certain amount of ambiguity as to whether someone has cut ties completely, or if they’re just a terrible replier. Fortunately, there are some tell-tale signs that someone has hit you with the big red ban hammer though – as reported by The Mirror.
Read more: Join ChronicleLive’s WhatsApp community for breaking news and top stories
How to tell if you’ve been blocked on WhatsApp:
Calls don’t work –
Simply put, if you ring someone who has blocked you, the call just won’t go through.
Missing ‘last seen’ or ‘online’ status –
In most cases, you should be able to see whether someone is online or at least access their ‘last seen’ status. If a contact has blocked you, you won’t be able to see either of these. However, it is also possible for a user to change their privacy settings to hide their information.
Profile picture missing or not changing –
Some people only allow their approved contacts to see their profile picture, so again, this could be a giveaway that you’ve been blocked or deleted.
Messages won’t send –
This is the biggest giveaway. If you send a message to a contact who has blocked you, it will only ever show one ‘sent’ tick, rather than the second tick to confirm it has been delivered. Just be aware that this is also what happens when someone has their phone off or no mobile reception, so don’t panic straight away if you see it.
As you may have noticed, a single one of these settings might just be a result of a privacy setting or other technical issue. But, if you’re trying to get in touch with someone and all of the above things are happening, you can be fairly certain you’ve been blocked.
In a blog post, WhatsApp explained: “If you see all of the indicators above for a contact, this could mean that the user is blocking you. However, there are other possibilities. We have made this intentionally ambiguous in order to protect your privacy when you block someone.
“Thus, we cannot tell you if you are being blocked by someone else.”
