【1995 Archives】

Spotify's social features995 Archiveswhat set the streaming giant apart from its competition, but now, those same features are the root of a very real problem: harassment.

As reported by BuzzFeed this week, unlike other social media platforms, Spotify does not allow its users to block followers from viewing account activity — which has created a new avenue for abuse and intimidation.

The piece shares a story from Meghan, a 26-year-old who has been excessively targeted by someone from a previous relationship.

Her ex would “follow what I was listening to and send me emails about it, convinced that what I was listening to was proof I wanted to be with him again,” she told BuzzFeed News. The messages were often angry. “This was frightening — it revealed the depth of his desperation to monitor my activity as well as his delusions about getting back together.”

Spotify did remove the messaging feature in 2017, but the activity feed that shows followers what music you're listening to remains.

While there is a "private session" feature that blocks everyone from seeing what you listen to (and limits the social capacity of the service), users have allegedly been requesting a user specific block function from Spotify as early as 2012 — and even recent tweets have suggested folks are still are fed up with the lack of action.

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According to BuzzFeed, the company "does not have any timeline on plans for a block feature," despite its acknowledgment that it's a "good idea."

In May, the streaming service bungled an attempt to control the promotion of artists who fell under the company's "hateful conduct" policy. Hopefully the same energy that was intended to prevent hate speech on the platform will eventually apply to those using Spotify to harass others.

[h/t BuzzFeed]

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