Blocking former co-workers

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I had most recently been laid off from a job that I had worked under for numerous years. I had been trying to seek a different jobs closer to home for the last few years. I had found a job closer to school which makes me happy. Anyway, I had decided to cut all ties with most of my former co-workers at my previous jobs for various reasons. Two of them were that A) I was never that close with most of them and they didn't really seem to take much of an initiative either. B) They had the tendency to gossip about you while appearing to be your friend and then lying behind your back or just being dishonest to your face. Sometimes they would twist the truth as well.

I had decided that I would block them from Facebook and any other forms of internet communication devices since I did not want them budding into my life and them going back and gossiping or spreading things about me that were not true.

Do you think I am being a little too over reactive?

Due to my Asperger, I have been a victim of

1. Being blocked/ignroed
2. Being gossipped about by others

This makes it very funny trying to respond to your post. Because in terms of 1, I sympathize with your coworkers while in terms of 2, I sympathize with you. So this makes my sympathy 50/50.

By the way, I know I am getting off topic but could it be the reason why blocking exists to begin with? People block whoever is not their friend in order to make sure that person wont gossip about them? Now in case of an aspie, we all know aspies never gossip but perhaps NT-s wont know that so that they apply the same rule to aspies? Could that be an explanation of why aspies suffer the fate that they do in terms of being ignored part?

By the way here is yet another thought. Perhaps the whole purpose of gossip about person X is to reduce a legitimacy of person X in order to protect person Y if/when person X would gossip about person Y? If so, could that whole gossip business be self-perpetuating mashine; kind of like you have to kill in order not to be killed?

I think it's a bad idea to unfriend people on Facebook unless they are posting totally heinous stuff. One reason to keep them as FB friends is you never know when you might need to ask an ex-coworker for a reference when seeking employment. Another reason is that you might end up working with them again in the future, and it would make for a way awkward situation if you had previously unfriended them.

Why don't you "unsubscribe" instead of "unfriend"? They would know if you unfriended them but they wouldn't know if you unsubscribed. This way you won't see their posts all the time and you won't hurt anyone's feelings.

I agree with Sally7171. What she said makes a lot of sense, and frees you from having to see their posts without causing offence.

I agree that unsubscribe is a option to consider. And, since you said block, not unfriend, I would also suggest unfriending rather than blocking is an option. There's no need to block someone if it's just that you don't want to be Facebook friends anymore. Unfriending is sufficient. But, unsubscribing without unfriending does give you the option that you know how to find them if you do need to contact them.

I had unfriended them a long time ago back when I was working with them for other reasons that was because I was trying to keep my personal and work lives separate. I had only decided to block them recently after speaking with someone fairly recently and they pretty told me to take them out of my contacts due to explaining some issues that I was had with them and then two other situations that would make you angry but I won't discuss them here.


The main reason as to why I blocked them was because I felt like they were rather misunderstanding of my situation in addition to them also being jerks in general.

As for going back to work there, I don't think that will be an option since A) They knew I had been looking for work and that I found another job. B) I am a whistle blower type and had made several waves.

If anyone wants to ask me why, I am open to PM.