soft block
/sɒft blɒk/
CommonBlocking and then unblocking someone to remove them as a follower without a confrontation.
The softness is deliberate. It avoids drama but still sends a message if the person figures it out.
Real-world examples3 examples
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | soft blocked my coworker. she was watching my stories and it was getting weird | Quietly removing someone who was paying too much attention. | x, 2023 |
| 02 | he figured out I soft blocked him and now he thinks we have beef lol | The technique backfired when the person noticed. | tiktok, 2024 |
| 03 | if you don't want drama but you want them gone, just soft block. simple. | Recommending the soft block as a conflict-free way to remove someone. | reddit, 2023 |
Use it when
- You want to remove a follower without notifying them or creating conflict.
- An ex or someone you want distance from is following your private account.
- You want to stop someone from seeing your posts without the hard statement of a full block.
Do not use it when
- You want to fully cut someone off and do not mind them knowing.Use “hard-block” instead.
Soft block vs hard block
soft block
A soft block quietly removes someone as a follower without permanently blocking them.
VS
hard-block
A hard block fully prevents someone from seeing your account or interacting with you.
Origin and context
Emerged as a recognized technique on Twitter (now X) around 2018-2019 when users discovered the block-unblock follower removal behavior.
- First seen
- late-2010s
- Confidence
- medium
Cite this page
Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/soft-blockUpdated: 2026-08-28License: CC BY 4.0