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Yes but times have changed and I think, depending on where you live in the world perhaps, that there is a growing expectation that you should be allowed to dele
by hoodoof 8y ago
Yes but times have changed and I think, depending on where you live in the world perhaps, that there is a growing expectation that you should be allowed to delete your digital tracks.
There's a certain level of hubris to an attitude in which a given site that feels it's needs are more important than users.
Saying you can't delete all your posts/account is the same as saying "you do not have the right to control your own posts here".
I think it should be OK on HN to delete all your comments on your account if you want. I appreciate that this would degrade the quality of impacted historical comment threads but hey that's the price for giving people back control over their digital lives.
It happens on Reddit and whilst every now and then I encounter a reddit thread with deleted items, in general it has not destroyed reddit, and I respect the right of those users to have deleted their digital comments.
I rate respect for user wishes over the importance of maintaining historical threads integrity on HN.
- combatentropy 8y agoHow is deleting your digital tracks possible? What about crawlers and archives? Getting them all to delete stuff at anyone's whim seems an undue burden to me. Who signed up for the account, typed out the post, and clicked Publish? What do you think about people in real life who will never forget something that you said or did, even after you no longer like it. I think it's just being an adult.
- candiodari 8y agoI believe the gpdr demands it be possible, at the cost of severe penalties if it’s not done. As to how far they’ll go, they’ve threatened companies with billion dollar fines if they don’t delete references to crimes. Being an adult, I believe, includes following the law.
- combatentropy 8y agoSo deleting references to crimes is following the law?
- nthnclrk 8y agoWhat are your thoughts on individuals being able to delete their account, with comments remaining attributed to a "[deleted]" username?
- hoodoof 8y agoThat doesn't give the users the ability to delete their comments, which under some circumstances they want to. Removing attribution to a username is not the same as deleting what was said.
- imron 8y ago> which under some circumstances they want to. Right, and the flipside is that not being able to delete comments makes people think a bit more carefully before posting, which improves the quality of the comments and the site.
- hoodoof 8y agoIt could also be argued that comment quality could be improved by allowing people to delete comments at any time, not just for 2 hours after creation of that comment. People should be allowed to look back on a discussion and say "hmmm.... seems an ill considered and negative comment, I'm going to delete it". As it stands, an ill considered comment is set in stone after 2 hours.
- imron 8y ago> It could also be argued that comment quality could be improved by allowing people to delete comments at any time Ok, but what's the argument? What specific incentive for good comments or disincentive for bad comments is there with such a system? If anything, there's no disincentive for ill considered comments because you can always come back at any time to clean up your bad behaviour, but in the moment of commenting, there's nothing holding you back. Compare that with: > As it stands, an ill considered comment is set in stone after 2 hours. Which is a clear disincentive for making ill considered comments. Having such a system in place certainly makes me consider my comments more carefully before posting.
- DoreenMichele 8y agoThere's a certain level of hubris to an attitude in which a given site that feels it's needs are more important than users. There's even more hubris in expecting individual rights to outweigh the value of a community in every instance.
- talaketu 8y agoBy "community" do you mean the website forum operated by Y Combinator Management LLC? That's some hubris.