On the IMDB message boards one can choose to ignore an individual user, so that the text of their postings is replaced by a message to the effect that they are on one's ignore list. The list of ignored users can be managed within ones user profile.
Any chance of implementing something similar here?
The moderators would need to go without that facility. Otherwise someone (who they'd all chosen to 'ignore') could be posting really offensive stuff without ever getting suspended or banned, simply because the moderators were all unaware of the problem.
They don't know that anyone has ignored them because it's the postings are only replaced when they are displayed to you. So, if you find someone particularly irritating, you choose to ignore them, and then you can still view a thread without having to read anything that they have posted.
Simply choose not to ignore them; it could be implemented as clickable text next to Report that is currently available for both questions and answers.
And if one could manage the list of ignored users within one's user profile then the option would be there to let individual user's posting be directly available again.
So you choose the option to ignore someone when they are particularly annoying, but after a few days you relent and remove them from your ignore list so that you can see what they are posting again. It's all under your control who you choose to ignore at any time.