Posts you've deleted

[Gopherbassist]

Every once in a while, it happens. You see someone else on a forum say something, and you're inspired. You have something apt to add, or a witty comeback, or some other perfect response. And then you type it up, read it back to yourself, and realize "I absolutely should not post this."

With new forum software, sometimes you'll come back weeks or months later and see your saved post, a reminder that not everything bouncing around in your head should be exposed to other people.

That is, until today. This is the place to share (without context) your malicious musings, maladroit mumblings, and other worthless diatribes. I will start us off:

If you feel that strongly, make a job out of it. Don't go until you've filled a five gallon water jug with pee to match up with the fresh urine.

What say (not) you?

 

[Oddly]

Not a chance.
You wanna get me banned?

 

[hbarcat]

Around 2002, I started posting on various political forums and one of the biggest sites made it so that once you hit the post button you weren't able to make any edits. Whatever you had posted was there for good. I was a member in good standing for many years and posting there taught me to be absolutely sure about what I was saying (including grammar, spelling, clarity, etc..) before posting. It was good discipline.

I managed to get banned forever about two years ago, after the place had evolved (not for the better) to being mostly intolerant of any views that differed from the owner and main members' views. I suggested that gays were no more or less moral than straight people were. They insisted that gays were "evil" and "depraved" and that I was probably one of them and then was told I was banned from their "family friendly" site in some extremely vulgar and ironically, un-"family friendly" terms.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

I delete posts all the time. Usually, it is just because I don't feel I am actually adding anything to the conversation but a lot of my deletions are because I realized how negative the post was and, let's be honest, TB has enough of that.

 

[Tom Bomb]

Grillers in the missed — gone for good.

Don't get me started, █████ ███.

 

[Chicory Blue]

One time I got super drunk and posted a picture of my adventures that evening in the "what beer are you drinking" thread. A few minutes later I realized what I had done and embarrassment quickly took hold, not because I was ashamed of my behavior in the slightest, but because I had been drinking whiskey, and not actually consumed any beer, technically rendering my post completely off-topic.

Woke up the next morning with a bloodstain on my bedsheets which as far as I have ever been able to discern was not my own, but my only intact memory of that evening was deleting that post in shame.

--^@

 

[Munjibunga]

Not a chance.
You wanna get me banned?

Ditto.

 

[Munjibunga]

I delete posts all the time. Usually, it is just because I don't feel I am actually adding anything to the conversation but a lot of my deletions are because I realized how negative the post was and, let's be honest, TB has enough of that.

Don't worry - I've got you covered.

 

[Killed_by_Death]

You went to the trouble of building that beautiful instrument & then covered half the body with a plastic pick-guard?

I've also seen folks mod their beautiful instruments in this way, same comment, but I can't.

 

[BurnOut]

Probably 75% of my thoughts never make it up.
I'm always sure to erase them from the auto draft save too.

 

[murphy]

I spend more time deleting my posts than the actually posting

 

[dreamadream99]

One time I got super drunk and posted a picture of my adventures that evening in the "what beer are you drinking" thread. A few minutes later I realized what I had done and embarrassment quickly took hold, not because I was ashamed of my behavior in the slightest, but because I had been drinking whiskey, and not actually consumed any beer, technically rendering my post completely off-topic.

Woke up the next morning with a bloodstain on my bedsheets which as far as I have ever been able to discern was not my own, but my only intact memory of that evening was deleting that post in shame.

--^@

Hollywood movie pitches have started with less.

 

[96tbird]

(post deleted)

 

[LBS-bass]

There are the posts I delete because I decide I don't need to be the one to say that. There are the posts I delete because I realize it's not adding anything to the topic. Then there are the ones I probably should have deleted but decided to post anyway.

 

[Lobster11]

Around 2002, I started posting on various political forums and one of the biggest sites made it so that once you hit the post button you weren't able to make any edits. Whatever you had posted was there for good. I was a member in good standing for many years and posting there taught me to be absolutely sure about what I was saying (including grammar, spelling, clarity, etc..) before posting. It was good discipline.

Personally, I wish TB worked like this. I think once you've said something, you should own it and take responsibility for it. Maybe people would (as you did) learn to be more thoughtful and responsible when posting instead of just writing whatever lame-brained or inappropriate thought happened to cross their minds at the moment.

 

[hbarcat]

Personally, I wish TB worked like this. I think once you've said something, you should own it and take responsibility for it. Maybe people would (as you did) learn to be more thoughtful and responsible when posting instead of just writing whatever lame-brained or inappropriate thought happened to cross their minds at the moment.

The site I described was once a very well known socio-political forum that was constantly referenced by the national pundits as a sort of bell weather for current American sentiment.

They had their moment of real fame in 2004 when one of their members posted some comments in a thread about a "60 Minutes" story that had huge repercussions for the upcoming presidential election and eventually led to the downfall of news anchor Dan Rather.

It's fascinating to go back and read the evolution of that thread, knowing that every word from every participant is preserved exactly as originally written. The thread remained open for several weeks before being locked so participation was huge.

The poster who made the original historic comment got his 15 minutes of fame as he was interviewed on dozens of news shows for a week or two.



I have mixed thoughts on this. I really like the idea of making one absolutely responsible for their written word, but there are tines when some editing is genuinely useful.

Although "editing" is different than "deleting". It's extremely rare that I delete a post. A decade ago, I used to drink while posting. I deleted or heavily edited a lot of posts, usually the next morning.

I now live by the unbreakable rule- never drink and post.

 

[JRA]

I think once you've said something, you should own it and take responsibility for it.

i've probably deleted a post or two but i'm not sure: i could have several tabs going and sometimes realize that i'm writing a post which is not relevant to the current thread.

i have edited, usually for "clarity," when i read the post (after posting) and realize it didn't convey what i was attempting to convey. so i add or delete a word or two in an attempt to better make my point. i doubt if it makes much difference!

generally: i don't think anything i'm posting is particularly earth-shaking...it's just a POV, so: i'm good with the process of 'let it stand'.



i can't tell the difference between my sober/drinking postings! could be one of the few 'old-age' advantages...or disadvantages!

 

[Bozendoka]

Like others here, I'll often type up a response, read it, realize I'm not adding anything, and delete it. Or I'll type up an unbearably awkward sentence and feel too lazy to fix it and just delete it.

 

[Lobster11]

I have mixed thoughts on this. I really like the idea of making one absolutely responsible for their written word, but there are tines when some editing is genuinely useful.

i have edited, usually for "clarity," when i read the post (after posting) and realize it didn't convey what i was attempting to convey. so i add or delete a word or two in an attempt to better make my point. i doubt if it makes much difference!

Agreed that there are sometimes perfectly good reasons to edit a post. Another example is if after starting a thread, it becomes clear after the first few responses that your OP is being consistently misinterpreted or that you left out an important piece of information, etc. In that case you can save everyone a lot of trouble by clarifying the OP or adding the new information. So I'm all for a system that can accommodate that, while still effectively discouraging people from substantively editing or deleting posts just because they didn't really think about what they said until after they had posted it.

Maybe a reasonable solution would be if you could not delete a post or edit one post except for adding to it. That would prevent people from being able to "un-say" what they originally said, but still allow for adding information you had inadvertently omitted, or adding a correction to what you previous said, or apologizing for what you said if necessary/appropriate. Thoughts?

 

[JRA]

Agreed that there are sometimes perfectly good reasons to edit a post. Another example is if after starting a thread, it becomes clear after the first few responses that your OP is being consistently misinterpreted or that you left out an important piece of information, etc. In that case you can save everyone a lot of trouble by clarifying the OP or adding the new information. So I'm all for a system that can accommodate that, while still effectively discouraging people from substantively editing or deleting posts just because they didn't really think about what they said until after they had posted it.

Maybe a reasonable solution would be if you could not delete a post or edit one post except for adding to it. That would prevent people from being able to "un-say" what they originally said, but still allow for adding information you had inadvertently omitted, or adding a correction to what you previous said, or apologizing for what you said if necessary/appropriate. Thoughts?

i doubt if i've ever tried to "un-say" something. i'm not always thrilled to re-read a post, but i'm with the group who favors "let it stand." we are who we are. my infrequent edits are an attempt to better convey my POV. except for occasional impulsiveness ( ) my stuff tends to be simple and fairly consistent, 'philosophically'.

so, while i don't delete posts: there are a number of threads where i've drafted a post/response but never hit the post button: "deletion a priori."
- i was too drunk
- i was too confused
- i was too 'angry'
- i was too 'humored'*

(also: a poster can always apologize for misinterpretations, heavy-handedness, stupidity, etc.)**

* this place is way too funny at times (to me!) --- even when the subject matter is meant to be serious.

** the apologies may say more about the 'character' of a poster than any post...although some apologies seem gratuitously PC to me, sometimes...but probably appropriate for this (TB) format.