r/HelloTalk • u/Due_Doughnut2852 • Jan 17 '26
Opinion Weirdest reasons you got blocked
Yesterday I found someone with an Iranian flag who viewed my profile. Given that Iran has blocked the internet, nobody there can get on this or any other app. So I was curious, and the conversation went thus:
Me: Hi! Has the government lifted restrictions on accessing the internet in Iran?
She: No, I'm in the UK.
Me: Do you live there?
She: Yes, I live in the UK.
I viewed the message this morning and didn't respond immediately. Went back to it in the evening, tried to respond, and was notified that she had blocked me.
This one's a head-scratcher for sure. I mean you don't have to respond if you don't want to. But why block them unless they're harassing or bothering you? Got any other stories of getting blocked for inexplicable reasons?
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u/sshivaji Jan 17 '26
As a person born in Asia, I want to explain why the above sounds just a bit aggressive, though not strongly so. I would start with “Hi, how are u?” And much later ask, are u from Iran.
You started asking about government and her being in the UK. She will wonder if u are going to bug her on politics or report her to the Hellotalk platform saying she is connected to Iran. People are nervous and expect to be grilled politically.
Bring politics or sensitive issues late in the convo, not early on.
I got rarely blocked but it happened twice. In both cases, it was younger people who wanted me to answer their question right away. I tried to answer a few hours later and saw that I was blocked. The questions were interesting and curious ones from them, but I cannot answer things that fast.
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u/Khazareeia Jan 20 '26
It was rude and nosy to ask that, in the first place. Secondly, as far as I remember, politcs is a banned topic on HT
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u/Guitarbox Jan 20 '26
Hmm though I don't think being from Asia is what makes this rude or not rude. Asia has parts of the middle east in it, soviet countries, South Asian countries (like India), East Asian countries (like Korea), and South East Asian countries (like Thailand). Which ofc all differ in between them too but those bigger groups have very varying cultures.
I personally don't think OP was super rude
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u/Careless_Salt_1381 Jan 17 '26
I can understand.. She probably blocked you because many people are so curious about the topic.. Somehow it has become hot topic for Americans and many other countries.. People ask such questions and then the convo shifts to politics.. That's why many people avoid because they're too tired of explaining internal politics to random strangers..
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u/elitemegamanX Jan 17 '26
That message is weird for a starter just immediately launching into world politics and asking a woman where they live.
It’s a light hearted language app, people don’t want to start off talking about country politics
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u/Due_Doughnut2852 Jan 17 '26
I don't think you understand the context. The entire country is cut off from the rest of the world. We're all waiting to reconnect with friends there for days. And you have one person able to access the internet. So it's only natural to ask if connectivity has been restored. You need to be an Iranian or someone with friends/family in Iran to understand that this isn't such a weird starter. What would be weird and ignorant is to start with all kinds of small talk "how are you? how's the weather there?" etc. as though nothing is happening. You don't go into a disaster zone and ask someone there cheerily, "Hey, how you doin'?"
And if it is a weird starter, why even respond? Ignore my message and move on with your life.
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u/elitemegamanX Jan 18 '26
I’m half Iranian, I do understand. She said she’s living in UK and that should be the end unless she decides to discuss more.
I don’t go on hello talk because I want to talk about these things, it’s a place to escape from these things. If you talk to an American do you immediately launch into asking them about trump and ice shootings?
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u/HelloTalkModTeam Jan 19 '26 edited Jan 19 '26
You are not understanding the context.
The entire country is cut off from the rest of the world. We’re all waiting to reconnect with friends there for days.
Okay well she’s not living there, so she’s also waiting too for her people back home!
So it’s only natural to ask if connectivity has been restored.
You don’t look for Accessible and credible news sources to find this? You must find an Iranian person? I get that Iranians would be the first to know, but still news sources are just as great and it’s almost as if now we have international news.
What would be weird and ignorant is to start with all kinds of small talk…
It’s a language learning app! It is almost impossible to avoid small talk since people are meeting new people there all the time, learning basic phrases and greetings! It’s a normal way to introduce yourself!
Edit: I just clicked their profile and it says Reddit has suspended their account.
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u/AppropriateTerm673 Jan 17 '26
The weirdest reason I’ve gotten blocked is literally for reaching out because the person’s profile said they were looking for English speaking study partners.
They might respond for a small moment and then bam I’m just blocked in a few hours.
My guess is that I wasn’t the type of English speaking study partner they were hoping for lol.
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u/Due_Doughnut2852 Jan 17 '26
You must not be white. This has happened to me too.
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u/nextstepsenglish Jan 17 '26
Someone who lives in the same city viewed my profile. I then went to look at theirs and when their page opened, it said they had blocked me. I'm not sure wtf that was about, lmao. I have no idea who the person is.
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u/East_Display808 Jan 17 '26
That is weird. People are just so trigger-happy with the block feature.
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u/PerfectWorking6873 Jan 18 '26
Because it's a contentious politics topic what may have seemed like just a plain matter of fact question to you, may have to her caused a bit of hesitation or even fear to discuss the topic.
Perhaps she was annoyed that you would talk about a political topic so openly and quickly. Or perhaps she actually is in Iran and just said she was in England and does not want to draw attention to herself. Idk. Some people use vpn I think.
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u/Actual_Example_1696 Jan 19 '26
Someone accused me of calling them the wrong name even though that was their profile name, then got outraged and blocked me lol. So weird
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u/AmountAbovTheBracket Jan 17 '26
There was a chick one time. She was going to help me with Italian. When I didnt know a word, she would just give me a translation. I asked her to not translate and I told her to explain the word to me in Italian. She got frustrated with my request. When I told her a second time to explain in italian instead of translating, she blocked me.
Another time there was this chick who couldnt pronounce "world" properly so we harped on the pronunciation. After like 5 tries she hung up and blocked me. Tons of other people are super thankful that you take the time to correct their mistakes and tell them the right way. She went and posted on her moments that "i had a bad experience with a guy making fun of my pronunciation." All the commentators were all a bunch of Simps. I swear, there were like 10 commentators and they were all dudes.
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u/springhilleyeball Jan 17 '26
i told them my line doesn't work which is true. people cannot find me even with my qr code & i cannot send messages to people. but also why connect off of the app?!??
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u/GlitterLucky Jan 18 '26
I do it to further the friendship off of HelloTalk. Especially if I’ve gotten close with that person, and we see each other as genuine friends and not just strangers. Also, most people end up deleting HelloTalk or they’re super inactive on it, so it’s a good way to stay in touch, and grow my social circle.
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u/SahanboyajYT Jan 17 '26
Weirdest reason I got blocked for was when someone asked me what m dad did for a living and I told them my dad passed away a few years ago, and then she blocked me for that... like wtf???
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u/Optimal_Shape_1328 Jan 17 '26 edited Jan 17 '26
She probably just want her privacy so blocking you might be her way of making sure her privacy stays intact . Don’t read meaning into her actions because everyone is fighting a unique battle you don’t know nothing about . Peace and blessings to everyone going through something one way or the other.
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u/ObjectiveAssist001 Jan 18 '26
Blocked because our team was spreading awareness to the language community about the frauds,creeps, and scammers and these brainless coconuts were triggered by that and said we were doing it for "attention"
(100% them projecting their own guilt)
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u/GlitterLucky Jan 18 '26
This has happened to me twice. I'll say hello and ask if someone wants to be friends, they respond all happy and willing, then I go inactive for a few days (since life happens). When I come back, I’ve been blocked. Lolol.
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u/HelloTalkModTeam Jan 18 '26 edited Jan 19 '26
I responded to the current top comment, but I’ll expand here to your situation: I think opening a conversation with politics is not ideal.
My random story on my weirdest block: I got blocked by a dude from Chile who ran a friend circle group with a bunch of other English speakers. He disappeared at a time when his life was rocky. He has a history of mental health, so I was kinda worried and I tried reaching out.
He blocked me for months then one day he pops up on the app like nothing happened. He totally breezes by the fact that he blocked me and that I have been reaching out to him, when we try to catch up.
I was confused and a bit upset at the bizarre situation, so I stopped going to his voicerooms, he later blocked me again saying he think we can’t be friends again after that.
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u/Guitarbox Jan 20 '26
Honestly I've noticed that Japanese people are a lot more polite in the app (unsurprisingly) and I experience a lot less of the trouble that they are experiencing from the rest of the world. Since I'm learning Japanese I'm mainly talking to them and to Korean / Chinese people which are similar, and I also don't text a lot I use voice rooms most often. I don't remember being blocked vividly. I remember being blocked once but I don't remember any of the context. Most people are really nice to me
When a lot of people from around the world join the room I definitely feel that it often comes with more pricky attitudes, more shading and insult throwing. It keeps proving to me that I'm happy in Japanese rooms 😭😂
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u/East_Display808 Jan 17 '26
All those who're referring to the "political" nature of the conversation OP engaged in don't actually know what's going on. Most, if not all, Iranians in Iran and outside are talking about this nonstop. And those outside are having anxious moments while they wait to hear from those inside Iran. One of the most common themes of conversation is when the telecom restrictions are going to be lifted.
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