Blocking a Contact
To block someone on KakaoTalk, you can go to your friends list, select the contact you wish to block, and choose the option to block them. This will prevent them from sending you messages or viewing your profile [1:3]. However, blocking does not automatically delete the contact from your list, so you may need to manually delete them if you want them removed entirely
[1:4].
Visibility After Blocking
Once you block someone, they will not be able to see your updates, such as changes to your profile picture or status [2:2]. This ensures that blocked contacts cannot keep track of your activities on KakaoTalk.
Managing Blocked Contacts
KakaoTalk maintains a list of blocked contacts locally on your device, rather than server-side. This means you have control over this list and can clean it up as needed [1:1]. While some users wish for a feature that allows both blocking and deleting simultaneously, currently, these actions must be performed separately
[1:2].
Hiding Profile Information
When you block someone, you can also choose to hide your profile information from them. This includes photos and other personal details [3:2]. If you opt to block messages and hide your profile, even options like sending money through KakaoTalk will disappear for the blocked contact
[4:11].
Cultural Context
Blocking people on KakaoTalk is quite common in Korea, often used as a way to avoid confrontation or resolve issues without direct communication [4:6]. Understanding this cultural context can help manage expectations when using KakaoTalk, especially if you're interacting with Korean users.
Is there a way to delete a blocked contact in Kakaotalk? Or am I stuck with a list of all blocked contacts forever?
Unblock
Delete
Right -- but then wouldn't the unwanted contact remain unblocked, and could therefore re-initiate communication? I was hoping there's a way to have someone BOTH (a) blocked AND (b) completely deleted from my contacts. Is that impossible?
You can’t block a contact that doesn’t exist. You are asking Katalk to maintain a list of contacts you blocked so you don’t have too. No it doesn’t work like that. Think of all the spam numbers people block.
These 1000 numbers can’t call or message A but can message or call B. B’s 2500 blocked numbers can call A and C but not B. This isn’t manageable server side.
Your local app/account on your phone decides if you see or receive the message to do that your account/device maintains your list for you. Clean it up or don’t that’s your call.
Go to the friends list and click them, then on the list it says delete.
If someone blocks you in KakaoTalk. Can you still see his updates in KakaoTalk? Like if she change pictures, update his status?
you cannot.
So is this person a he or a she??
To simplify things, let's call them they.
Thankfully no. Why would you want to?
Just leave the person alone
[deleted]
They can see it, but all your info/photos, Etc. Is not visible for them.
Toxic relationship/friendship?
😆😆😆😆 good luck.
They can still send you gifts and kakao knows this
I originally posted part of this as an answer to a poster in another topic, but I thought it might be useful as its own standalone post.
This is based on my own personal experiences and observations as a foreigner in Korea.
Koreans love to block people on KakaoTalk. It almost seems like it's their national pastime. It can be quite jarring if you're coming from another culture where blocking/ghosting isn't that common outside of online dating. I know when I first got to Korea and started interacting more with Korean people I found the texting culture to be a bit confusing. I've made friends all over the world and never experienced anything quite like it with people from other countries.
I think the problem is twofold. The first is the way KakaoTalk is set up. It's less work to block a contact than it is to delete them on KakaoTalk. On most other texting platforms it's easy to delete a contact when you no longer need them. For example, there's an old classmate you haven't spoken to in ages and you're unlikely to speak to or see them again, but blocking that person seems unnecessary and harsh. Not blocking them also gives them the ability to still message you if needed in the future. So, deletion without blocking seems like the better default choice from an American perspective when the contact appears to no longer be needed but wasn't an otherwise harmful individual. However, because KakaoTalk makes deleting a contact extra work that includes first hiding the contact before being able to delete them that leads most Koreans to block an unneeded contact by default.
For example, I took a course at a Korean university where the teacher required all the students to add her on KakaoTalk to contact her outside of class. Within a few days of the course ending I figured out she had blocked all the students from the class. It seems reasonable that she wouldn't want to keep all the new students she adds term after term. That would clutter up her contact list significantly with former students she is unlikely to interact with again. Although, it also seems very extreme because I literally couldn't contact her after the course had ended to thank her and to ask for some of the class photos.
The second and the biggest reason Koreans tend to block is that they are extremely conflict averse on average.
You had a minor disagreement?
BLOCKED
You had a slight misunderstanding?
BLOCKED
They were embarrassed about something they did or said around you?
BLOCKED
Many situations that could be resolved in a single short conversation that wouldn't have been considered a big deal and would've been quickly forgotten in most other cultures will often lead to being blocked on KakaoTalk by Koreans. It seems common for them to block a person to avoid even a single slightly awkward conversation that would resolve everything. This aversion to even basic conflict resolution doesn't seem healthy or productive, but it is what it is. Keep that in mind the next time you are blocked you may not have done anything wrong. Talking to my Korean friends it sounds like locals have to endure the same blocking culture, so it's not exclusively foreigners having to suffer from this but everyone in Korea.
What's the easiest way to know if you're blocked on KakaoTalk?
Their profile picture disappearing can be a sign, but not everyone always has a picture and it's also possible to block and not hide your profile picture.
Are your messages remaining unread?
That could be a sign or the person could also be ignoring you or hasn't gotten around to reading your messages yet.
Is there a way to know for sure?
The workaround to definitely know if you're blocked or not is to start a group chat with that person and 1 other person and send a message. It's handy to keep at least 1 contact that's blocked you for this sole purpose so you don't need to annoy friends with this. Either way if the person has blocked you the group members will drop. So, in my example using a contact you have already confirmed to have blocked you in addition to the contact you're trying to confirm the group will go from 3 members to 1 (just you) if they had indeed blocked you. However, if you're not blocked they'll get the weird group message, but they won't see the other blocked contact because that contact never actually made it into the group.
If they've blocked you?
Do nothing. You have your answer and know not to waste time sending messages that will never be read.
If they haven't blocked you?
You could say you were testing something, ignore it, or just say it was an accident.
I hope some people will find this short guide helpful.
What have your experiences been like with Korean texting culture? What quirks have you experienced that seem unique to Korea? From my experience no country has more prolific blockers than South Korea, but Japan may be second. Although, they seem more likely to just stop reading messages or responding to contacts rather than outright blocking them.
Ah, yeah I had to do this once my first year when I was young and naive and trying to date. Got ghosted on my birthday with the story of a grandfather in the hospital, yaddi yadda yadda. A couple of weeks later, I had a friend call this person so I could get closure, which confirmed that I'd been blocked (as the person answered, my friend just said she dialed the number by mistake and hung up) About a week after that dude changed his profile pic to romantic vacation photos...yeahhhh I felt pretty dumb, but you live and learn.
I actually didn't realize I could delete people from the hidden folder, so thanks, just took a walk down memory lane deleting 9 years of hidden contacts haha
These days I barely even use Kakao anymore except at work. I mostly use instagram to talk to friends.
Thanks for sharing! It's nice to get closure. I don't agree with blocking people you've been dating with no explanation but I understand why it happens in both Korea and elsewhere. What seems strange to me is blocking platonic friends.
It'd be interesting to see the statistics on hiding versus blocking. Does KakaoTalk publish any usage data?
Yeah, I haven't had that experience I don't think. Most of the blocking on my part has been dudes from dating apps (ick, not people I've dated, just talked to, like one guy admitted driving drunk and was like proud of it, so I told him off and blocked him) or ex-coworkers i don't want to be contacted by. Again, my friends are so integrated with instagram that any blocking or unfollowing would be rather obvious and happen there first. Like, I've grown apart from people and we just naturally go from muting content to unfollowing during an account purge, not really all of a sudden or after a small disagreement.
I assume kakao keeps data somewhere, but I have no idea.
The money icon when you click their profile picture doesn't appear. It says if the money icon is not available/you can't send money to the profile, there's a high chance that you've been blocked by that said person.
I never saw that money Icon I use kakao from Europe and I speak to other ppl and never saw that icon. What is this to send money? I only see the photo of my ex this means he didn’t block?
omg going down my kakaofriends list and seeing all the random people who blocked me 🥲
I don't have the money icon for any of my contacts including ones I'm literally texting with right now. Maybe that's only an option if your account is linked to a Korean number rather than a foreign one?
I had my friend block only my messages to test this, because I was curious! But even after she blocked me, the money icon was still visible on her profile. I didnt try to send money though. Maybe then it would have stopped me
Just tried it.
If you only block messages from a person, the money sending option will be there.
If you click the ''block messages, hide my profile" that is when the money sending option would disappear.
I’ve never been blocked by anyone and I have tons and tons of people on Kakaotalk
Sorry that happened, it's extremely common. I was just confused about it, but now I somewhat expect it. One time someone asked for my kakao and then blocked me 30 mins later for no reason haha. I do think it's easier to block because of the no delete button and obviously if someone I never talk too blocks me I don't care. From friends it's quite a shock when it happens. I think Koreans are a bit rejection sensitive too. I've met some koreans that say they think blocking is rude so it's obviously not all.
I had a small falling out with a friend, sent a message today to clear things up and it seems like I'm blocked. Phone number too. It's happened to me a few times, like you said, it often seems to happen over something small. Instead of resolving the issue, just block. If they block and hide profile it's obvious, but if they just block there is no way to tell. I kind of hate this, and I don't want the trouble of making a group chat. It's one of the things I really don't like here, that problem solving is too hard for some people. Also even if they block you, you can still see the money sign and even send gifts.
Anyone else enjoying this completely reasonable and not at all disgusting practice?
I pretty much can't delete kakao but I'll never buy anything from the kakao store again so long as those ads are there, utter bs.
Fuck this so much.
Also, you can swipe it to the left (on iPhone) and close it.
I hope kakao gets a ton of flack for this and changes it. Get your trash ads out of my messages. If it continues or becomes more invasive, I will just use some other better chat app.
I hope they get grilled by Koreans and remove it.
I’ve heard some rumblings that Koreans were pissed and wanted to switch away from Kakao because of it.
Literally gone as of this morning lol.
Depressing indeed. KakaoTalk was at the top of my "best executed software" list and was a high recommendation for anyone looking for fine tuned app work examples...
But to add ads to the conversation list? Terrible. The amount of money they already bring in must be huge, why would anyone try and scrounge more by destroying a perfectly viable product.
They did this to Facebook Messenger as well but luckily they have a "Lite Messenger" app which excludes all ads, all gimmicks and just gives you a messenger app. If they had a Kakao Lite, I'd be happier.
KakaoTalk is the best, why?:
KakaoTalk checks all the boxes for a blatantly anti-consumer chat service. Yeah, the UX is nice, but you're calling a nice-looking but ultimately toxic meal "well-executed". I agree it should be a lesson to serve the software engineering profession, but not in the sense you mean.
Nope. Those aren't anti-consumer chat points.
>but you're calling a nice-looking but ultimately toxic meal "well-executed".
Nothing about Kakao is toxic. What you are describing are not even in the same ballpark as "chat app". You are scoping way down the line into some weird "privacy chat app". Almost as if someone were scoring Kakao based on how many cat pics it had in it. Both dumb comparisons to a broader scope than themselves.
It's almost as if you heard something on BuzzFeed or Wired and are parroting it here. You're wrong though and so is whoever told you that garbage.
I agree, but I will provide some very brief context. I've been online for 25 years or so and all messenger apps follow the same pattern: Get mass following, improve program, have massive team of programmers with nothing to do and tons of management trying to justify their jobs, continue to add shit until the messenger program falls over and dies from the weight of not being able to just keep their hands off of a perfect product
It doesn't take much of a team to program something like this nor maintain it and run the servers. This is people trying to justify their jobs to profit seeking management/investors. Go to another app....it will turn out the same there eventually, too. I hate it.
It's really annoying... any way to block it?
Not sure. I know on samsung phones you can get a root level ad blocker from Samsung themselves, that is pretty good but I switched from Samsung to a different brand so not able to check if that works.
Only other option for something like this, afaik, is to root the phone and block all ads as a root admin. Not really an option for most folks.
Recently I started using kakaotalk to communicate with my korean friends. And suddenly one of my friends stopped replying me and his profile pic was dissapeared. I guess he has blocked me. But now again his profile pic is visible to me. Does that mean he has unblocked me?
Two months ago and no answer yet...this subreddit is so dead they should have kept it in the Korean subreddit :/
Anyways, you probably already have your answer by now but just in case anyone else searched the same question and still need answers: it's hard to say.
I'm not 100% sure on this, but I believe with the new update KKT allows you to either 1) block someone's messages only or 2) block their messages AND block them from seeing your profile pictures. So if you block only their message, they can still technically see your profile picture and see anytime you update it (I'm unsure on this but I think even if you block someone, you will still be listed as a friend on their side and they could still have your chat thread, so they can see when your profile pic changes). However if you choose to block both their messages AND your profile from them, then why won't see anything besides the generic "blank" profile pic.
So far, beside from asking them directly yourself, the only 100% way of knowing someone blocked you is if their DP and cover picture disappeared - in addition to them never reading your messages.
What if I see their profile pic but it's the second pic I see? Am I blocked still?
What if i only see their cover photo but not their profile pic? Am i blocked?
2 years ago, and still useful. I have the same question now.
best way to see if you're blocked
make a group chat with that person and someone else you know who didn't block you
type a message and if it immediately drops to "1" that means the other person didn't join and thus blocked you
n
Ive blocked this person but they keep coming back from other numbers..
Or do I just have to delete my account?
If I delete my account can I create an account that is not tied to my phone numbers? I cannot have this person texting me but I have some people I only have on whatsapp
just continue block, whatsapp team won't let them create new number anymore , you are not wrong , don't need delete account , take care and stay safe
This isn't a WhatsApp problem. Your account is linked to your phone number, so if WhatsApp sees a different phone number (which they presumably get by using a different SIM) it will be a different account and there's no practical way for WhatsApp to track that it's the same person.
Ah fuck:/
Your options are: keep blocking and hope they stop creating new accounts. Delete your account, get a new number.. then open a new account.
If it is something really serious you can file a complaint for harassment, at least in my country.
Yes but don’t give them a response weather mad or angry as that’s a response, best action is no action, if they arrive you back away
(not helpful but) POV: The person sending you those messages replies on this post.
😂😂😂
Just ignore it.
Just ask a absurd amount of money (like $6000) to keep that creep away... If he did pays you that much amount sell it 🤣
Go to your friends list and remove him from there.
Hi!
Ive recently made a KakaoTalk to be able to speak to some Landlords as I will be going to Korea to study this September, but I got suddenly restricted for... no reason? I was in openchats with two landlords and I got a pop up saying my account is now restricted and cannot use OpenChat anymore.
This ofc is... bad, cause most places I was interested in require me to speak to them on KakaoTalk, and I am kinda unsure what to do at this point? I contacted CS of KakaoTalk but no response just yet, and I read that it might take weeks before its lifted off, if at all (as told by few international people who used their native numbers to create accounts)
I also tried to reinstall the app as I saw someone recommend it, but this didnt help.
Does someone have any advice on what I could do?
https://cs.kakao.com/helps?service=8&category=702&locale=en&device=2631&articleId=1073200211
2. What are user protection measures?
◼ You may be subject to user protection measures if you use the service as follows:
• If you add too many users as your KakaoTalk friends in a short period of time
• If you use the service in a similar environment with the one where evil users are active.
• If you use the service in an environment where illegal speculative websites have been promoted or obscene contents have been transmitted
• If you create too many chatrooms or Open Chats in a short period of time
3. Please cancel user protection measures.
Our system automatically imposes/cancels user protection measures; therefore, it is unable to notify specific protection periods or lift the measures at discretion. We sincerely ask for your kind understanding.
The user protection period may be extended if anything abnormal repeats or additional message reports are filed during the same period.
Some of the phrasings by Kakao are hilarious, but it's basically an anti-bot anti-spam algorithm of Kakao that singled you out.
\\evil users//
WTF is this company run by a Christian cult?
Had Kakao belonged to a certain retail group, it might not have been too outrageous to think so.
But the original Korean text for the same bullet point simply means 'abuser/malicious user'.
Given that 'malice' shares the same root word with 'evil' in Korean, you can probably chalk it up to machine translation without human proofreading.
Why would you put both of landlords in the same chatroom?
It would be like if you applied to jobs and put all perspective employers in the same group chat... Or if you were going on blind dates and you threw all of perspective dates in one group chat and were like "discuss your finer traits, why should I be with you"
If KakaoTalk CS doesn't reinstate your account, ask an acquaintance to create an account? Or get a prepaid SIM (if that's available in your country) and get a new account?
Or if you have another device (an tablet/iPad, or a computer you can download the desktop version) can try creating another account that way?
Just a piece of advice, usually the way house hunting, leases and such work in Korea is most people start looking about a month or so before they need a place. Things happen quickly here and real estate and rental flats are not really listed online like they are in other countries. There are these 2 apps that are used a lot - 직방 and 다방 - that people search for flats for.
You may run into difficulties trying to lease a flat from abroad, especially if you don't speak Korean.
I also recommend always always looking at the flat first before signing any leases.
Best of luck~
Yeah, putting two landlords in one chat room is going to be confrontational.
I suspect one of the landlords reported messages, maybe from the other landlord to try and block them from the group chat, and your account has been identified as responsible and your account has been restricted.
Sorry i think you guys misunderstood me, here is the screenshot of how it looks like
https://imgur.com/a/cx2rxXB
I guess these were just their channels? Sorry im not native English speaker so im not sure im actually suppose to explain it.
Anywho, thank you for your advice in regard to the flat hunting! Ill definitely look into it, since Im pretty new to it and rely a lot on translator and hope. Sorry about the trouble!
I also received message from CS, and they just responded with automatic message my acc should be unrestricted in few weeks... so we will see, since according to the message here, this should be the optimal time for the lookout :)
Why are you using Open chats rather than 1-on-1 chats?
Ive used Open Chat room twice to speak to two landlords, yep
Sorry i just realised what you meant! I actually was invited to their "open channels" or channels? I suppose that what it is, where its 1-on-1 conversation, but for some reason it seems to be an open... channel? Im sorry, I have no clue how it actually works and Im just as confused as you might imagine - just wanted to clarify to not look like a total dumdum
Halos everyday ako nakakareceive ng text message naganito nakakatakot kasi baka bigla ko mapindot yung link na sinesend nila. Paano ba iblock to?
Ako din op, tinamad na ako mag delete kaya hinahayaan ko nalang everyday. Hahahahaha
Hindi ko kaya ng may unopen na message hahaha 😭
Mas ma i stress ka lang nyan op kaka open and delete ng mga messages.
Wala bang "Mark all as read"?
Sameee, simula nung tinry ko mabiliscash. Pero nung gcash, maya, and billease lang gamit ko wala namang nangsspam saken.
Wait.... di ka nagduda sa "mabiliscash"? Sa pagka-construct pa lang ng pangalan halata ng hindi pinoy eh....
Yung iba nga tawag pa e, may text na tapos may tawag pa.
Totoo to, tumawag sakin mocamoca. Accidentally ko nasagot kasi I was expecting a parcel that day.
Meron namang natawag para malaman if nagriring and active yung number tapos magsesend na nang kung ano-ano. Nakakaalarma na ang mga scammer ngayon.
report spam and block
oo ikaw lang talaga sa buong pinas
Haay nako. I’ve been receiving these same spam messages these past few days. Where do these come from??
how to block someone on KakaoTalk
Here’s how to block someone on KakaoTalk:
Open KakaoTalk: Launch the app on your device.
Go to Chats: Navigate to the chat list where you see all your conversations.
Select the Contact: Find the chat with the person you want to block and tap on it to open the conversation.
Access Contact Info: Tap on the contact's name or profile picture at the top of the chat screen to open their profile.
Block the Contact: Scroll down and look for the "Block" option. Tap on it, and then confirm that you want to block the user.
Confirmation: Once blocked, you will no longer receive messages or notifications from that contact.
Key Considerations:
Takeaway: Blocking is a straightforward process and can help you manage your contacts and maintain your privacy on KakaoTalk.
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