Change ability of users to delete whole threads

[Nomad Z]

That is an option of course. But certainly not my decision.

My feeling, from emails I get, is that the vast majority want the option to delete posts, some have even gone so far as to say without deletion they would not be on the RFF. Most people want control over their content, on the RFF, on Facebook or Twitter, on their blogs. People's opinions change, they are sometimes embarrassed by what they wrote in the past.

Well, I come from the days where the phrase "Open mouth. Insert foot. Echo internationally." could be seen at the end of many a post. Then, as ordinary people got access to the internet, mailing lists and Usenet came to the fore, followed thereafter by the web and forums.

Only in the latter were users afforded the luxury of being able to readily delete their own posts, rather than have to deal with means that were tortuous at best, if they even existed at all. Before then, you learned to live with the idea that you've posted what you've posted and there's no going back, which in turn led you to consider whether what you've written is really what you want to say, or be seen to be saying.

 

[GeorgeD]

Changes to the software would change nothing in this particular case. I believe Dave was banned and therefore had no access to his posts. They were deleted by a moderator at Dave's request, which is/was a breach in the TOS:

"By posting your comments or images on RFF, you are giving permanent irrevocable permission for those posts and images to be used at RFF on the RFF site, even if and when you are no longer a RFF member."

 

[GeorgeD]

If rules are posted--and they should be clearly posted for all to read--that say all your posts are hard-coded forever it would not improve this site.

This is already the case. Members should reacquaint themselves with the TOS which all members should have read and agreed to before signing on to RFf.

 

[sig]

Just keep it as it is. Rff seems to work, why change it? In the few cases an important tread is gone, it can be reopened.

 

[TheGodParticle]

I can understand if a member decides to leave RFf
and deleting their Name/Avatar, membership so to speak
BUT
I do think it is a tad selfish and babyish
when one wants to Delete ALL one's personal Posts and Threads.

You are participating in a community effort once You decide to start a Thread and entice people to contribute..
its unfair to those who have put time and effort into the Creative process

My vote would be if one decides to Leave the posts and threads remain the 'property' to ALL who have contributed :angel:

Fully agree.

It is not uncommon to have some disagreement but this should not mean loss of the entire thread and the work of all the contributors.

Anybody who wants his/her twigs and branches to be deleted should have the freedom to do so but without digging out the roots and felling the tree!

 

[Murchu]

Curious about what posters feel the powers they should have over their posts, in terms of ability to delete or edit them, I thought to create a little poll and see where people stood: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=135494

 

[CameraQuest]

Changes to the software would change nothing in this particular case. I believe Dave was banned and therefore had no access to his posts. They were deleted by a moderator at Dave's request, which is/was a breach in the TOS:

"By posting your comments or images on RFF, you are giving permanent irrevocable permission for those posts and images to be used at RFF on the RFF site, even if and when you are no longer a RFF member."

Not true. The TOS also states " The administrators and moderators of RFF have the right to remove, edit, move or close any thread, post or posted image. "

Stephen

 

[zauhar]

Changes to the software would change nothing in this particular case. I believe Dave was banned and therefore had no access to his posts. They were deleted by a moderator at Dave's request, which is/was a breach in the TOS:

"By posting your comments or images on RFF, you are giving permanent irrevocable permission for those posts and images to be used at RFF on the RFF site, even if and when you are no longer a RFF member."

Which Dave was banned?

Randy

 

[sepiareverb]

Which Dave was banned?

Randy

I think everyone named Dave was banned.

 

[daveleo]

I think everyone named Dave was banned.

😱
I'm always the last to know 😀

 

[MickH]

I can understand if a member decides to leave RFf
and deleting their Name/Avatar, membership so to speak
BUT
I do think it is a tad selfish and babyish
when one wants to Delete ALL one's personal Posts and Threads.

You are participating in a community effort once You decide to start a Thread and entice people to contribute..
its unfair to those who have put time and effort into the Creative process

My vote would be if one decides to Leave the posts and threads [ought to] remain the 'property' to ALL who have contributed :angel:

Well put, Helen. It's a shame that when someone decides to throw their dummy out of the pram, the whole pram goes with it. Unfortunately spite isn't restricted to children.

Roger made a dignified exit. Others less so.

 

[msbarnes]

Roger made a dignified exit. Others less so.

I thought this was a rumor? I lose track in who leaves these days...

 

[Gumby]

That is not the problem.

The problem is with all of the "innocent" posters and all of the time and effort that they put into their posts. Is it fair that they get flushed down the drain?

I am not a "heavy" poster, but I bet I lost at least 100 posts because of this recent episode.

This is EXACTLY why I have become very scarce around this forum.

You last visited: 4 Weeks Ago at 06:56

There is a specific person who was in the habit of starting interesting threads and then deleting his OP, thus deleting the entire thread, when he has the info he sought or if it went even mildly off topic... or providing opinions he didn't like. That is shameful and disrespectful behavior because the threads had information that would be very interesting for others too.

 

[Gumby]

... but now that I found out that all "Dave's" have been removed I might return more often!

 

[sevo]

Many of the other forums are significantly larger than RFF so it doesn't appear that not having these features has affected membership.

It certainly does not. That said, even forums with a technical a no delete/edit policy do sometimes suffer vanishing posts and threads as members leave - cases like the current probably cannot be stopped, as disgruntled members may threaten the site site owners/moderators with going to court if they do not delete all their posts. And the site owners usually have little incentives to risk fighting it out.

But having the site set up so that the initiator can't delete a thread by himself would stop the far more common and frustrating habit of some posters to delete a thread once their question has been answered to their satisfaction, so that the answers are lost for future reference - in these cases, the effort and knowledge generally is all with the responders, and I consider it extremely rude to outright insulting to abuse the forum members as a personal support hotline.

 

[newsgrunt]

snip...I do think it is a tad selfish and babyish when one wants to Delete ALL one's personal Posts and Threads.

You are participating in a community effort once You decide to start a Thread and entice people to contribute..its unfair to those who have put time and effort into the Creative process...snip

Couldn't agree more with Helen. Don't want it cached forever, don't post. Didn't really mean what you posted, then you shoulda given more thought before hitting 'POST'.

 

[Cold]

People want to control their own content.

Great point.

So why does this site allow other people (the thread starter) to control the content of others?

I don't see the problem with disallowing post deletion, but allowing unlimited editing. Editing will create a timestamp, so if someone goes back to change their story after the fact, this will be duly noted. It also prevents a thread author from controlling the content of those who have replied.

 

[j j]

I'd rather leave the freedom to delete. But deleting long and popular threads in their entirety is a miserable act.

 

[brbo]

Personally I do not post if I cannot control content especially copyrighted images.

You can control your content even if forum does not permit post deletion. Just edit your post.

 

[CameraQuest]

Which Dave was banned?

Randy

He was not banned in the usual sense of the term. This discussion started as the result of a member asking for his posts to be deleted. I finally agreed. The first step to deleting posts per member request is banning, as it makes no sense for them to continue posting after asking for their posts to be deleted. That also deleted threads which he started, which started the discussion.

Stephen