I think it's a good feature. Me personally, I was happy just to scroll past the noisy posts. But now it's here, I'll use it. As an ex-professional S/W developer, I appreciate the effort put in to please the users that wanted action. So good on you Laurie for making them happy 
I won't be bothering to hide anyone, I'll just continue what I do now, just scroll past their post without reading it. You get a feel for the those whose posts you want to read I reckon. Having said that, I've gradually become less interested in this site due to what's been posted over the last couple of years. Still visit the buy/sell section religiously.
