Status: Available Understand how following, connections, and blocking work so you can answer members' questions about them.
Members build their own social graph inside your community. There's nothing for you to configure here; members manage all of this themselves. But it helps to know how each piece works so you can support them.
Follow: one-way and instant
A follow is one-directional and takes effect right away. When someone follows another member, no approval is needed and the other person doesn't have to follow back. It's like following an account: you start seeing their activity, and that's it.
Connection: a two-way request
A connection is mutual, and it has to be accepted. One member sends a connection request, and it only becomes a connection once the other member accepts it. Until then it's just a pending request.
A follow happens instantly and is one-sided. A connection needs both people to agree. Note that sending a connection request also starts a follow — so connecting and following overlap; a connection is effectively a mutual follow that both people opted into.
Blocking: mutual and effectively permanent
When one member blocks another, the block applies both ways: neither can interact with the other, including direct messages.
Blocking is effectively permanent. Unblocking does not restore the relationship that existed before. If they want to follow or connect again, they start over from scratch.
One important limit: admins, moderators, and course managers can't be blocked. This keeps your team able to moderate and support every member.
What this means for you as an admin
You don't set up or change any of these. Members decide who they follow, connect with, and block on their own. If a member asks you to "block someone for them" or "undo a block," explain that these are theirs to manage, and that a block can't be cleanly reversed.