Message blocking vs Ignoring Messages

Question.

What's the difference between message blocking & ignoring messages?

Answer.

Ignoring messages affects specifically selected people. You may choose to click 'ignore his/her messages' when you receive a message from someone that you'd rather not talk to.

Whereas...

Message blocking affects more than one person based upon the criteria that you defined in the message blocking page.

Note: "message blocking" only shields you at the point of first contact. So if someone has already contacted you before you managed to set your message blocking options, they won't be automatically blocked; you'll need to click on 'ignore their messages' to block them.