I've never black listed anyone. At least not yet. I will say that I have had my feelings hurt before. If I write a blog that is on a sensitive subject, I have learned to keep those for myself not public consumption or destruction.

I know exactly what you're talking about. My blacklist is empty and I don't know that it's ever had anyone on it. But, I have often thought of using it very much the way you described. I think I'm lucky, though, in that the people that I try to avoid and hope won't visit my blog rarely, if ever, do come by my blog or are interested in what I write. But, I wouldn't hesitate to use it if I felt it necessary. Additionally, if prompted to use it on someone, I would likely be even more careful to avoid them on other blogs.

some of the names on it are of people who started blogging almost 2 years ago,

I clear out the names when it becomes evident the people have disappeared or been banned.

Currently I only have one person on my blacklist, and only because he insisted on being permanently blacklisted.

I used to be much quicker to blacklist. If I saw someone being a jerk anywhere on the site, I'd add them just to make sure I didn't have to deal. I don't know if I've mellowed, my skin has thickened, or what, but I don't bother anymore. Someone would have to make a royal jerk of themselves on one of my threads to get a timeout these days.

I have 2.  One who is just a troll, and one who decided goading me was more fun than discussing the issue at hand.  And he succeeded in goading me on 2 occassions, so I later issued 2 appologies to those that got caught in the fall out.

just 2 tho.  Even tho there are several that I do ignore.

A blacklist can be a good thing. Some people are perpetually in a feud, so I think there's little that can be done with them. I've got one person on my blacklist, and frankly she's a perpetually-wounded drama queen who blacklists people just out of spite. She decided to blacklist me for the third or fourth time, so there she'll stay.

Blacklisting is good I think for people who are just here to feud. When you go down the list of someone's articles and see that about every fourth one is a whine about being slighted, or griping about another blogger, well, they don't really need to be blogging. It's better to blacklist than to give them a venue they don't deserve.

It's whatever makes you more comfortable. If you dread particular people answering because they are abusive, then there's no problem. Other people simply want to declare themselves the winner of every conversation by removing the people whose points overcome theirs. I don't think you abuse the blacklist in that way.

To me, the blacklist is for blocking harrassers, not merely putting on a blindfold towards people who disagree with me.

Of course, it is available to everyone and to each his own (blog), so...

I'd add that every single person I have ever permanently blacklisted has eventually been banned from JU.

Maybe that is a good way to look at it. JU isn't our site, so we can't decide who should be banned. Our blogs are our own little parts of it, though, so when we see someone that we would ban if we were admins, we have the right to at least see to it they don't abuse OUR area of JU.

I'd add that every single person I have ever permanently blacklisted has eventually been banned from JU.

Same here, or on their way towards it, I'd guess.

I clear out the names when it becomes evident the people have disappeared or been banned.

Those on my blacklist generally pop back in after a couple of months to start it all up again.

I would likely be even more careful to avoid them on other blogs.

I do the same.

not public consumption or destruction.

It's too bad that some people take it that far.

for blocking harrassers

It seems like most who use it, do so for this reason.

Thanks all for reading and responding.

Nic:

I have had a few names on my blacklist as well. And it wasn't because they even came to my blog that often, they just proved themselves to be trolls who had nothing pisitive to offer any conversation.

However, I have since cleaned my blacklist out and there just aren't that many people who visit, so there has been no need to have people on there.

Just recently though, I did get blacklisted. Only the second time I am aware of, and the first was quickly reversed.

nothing pisitive

Is that a freudian slip?