Why You Shouldn't Delete
Your Blog Posts and Comments

I have a post on my company blog that addresses this from a business level - http://www.twincitysam.com/blog/deleting-comments-...

I teach my clients that the ONLY time it is acceptable to delete a comment is if it's vulgar, profane or threatening. That's it. Any other comments should not be deleted but rather handled in a professional manner. I think the same goes on a personal blog. If you've put the post out there, you have to be ready for both sides of the argument. 9 times out of 10, it isn't personal.. we all have opinions.

I have deleted posts that have hurt feelings of those close to me but keep them saved, just in case they piss me off later.

AK

www.exwwifenewlife.net

I'm fine with deleting posts, if I write it, I should also have the right to delete it. For instance, I have a post I would like delete on BlogHer, but I don't know how. If it was on my site I would do it. It's not because I have offended anyone, it simply isn't a post I wish to keep up. Changed my mind. Doesn't happen often, I think only once before, but still I like to remain in control of what is out there to some degree. I rarely have ever had to delete a comment on my blog, once because I couldn't translate it well enough and the other because of the expletives the person used...and they were in agreement with my post. God knows what would have happened if they hadn't been. :)

I'm okay with people deleting their blog posts- the way I see it, if you wrote it, you own it. I think it's a good thing to reconsider & remove things that are hurtful or don't accurately reflect your thoughts. As far as comments, I agree with your take- if they're very negative & hurtful, I believe they should be taken down, but not just because they express a different opinion.

I recently had a family member find my blog and they didn't like what I wrote and even though no names were used they were correct that I since I had my family pictures up and if someone landed on my blog they could put pieces together. Everything I wrote was truthful and I stated everything was my opinion, my reactions to factual events in our family. The family relationship will never be fixed and I did not apologize for my words. I owned them and I did delete the posts to pacify the family member and gave my word that I would never refer to them personally on the blog again, once again, I never used names. Oh, and it did bother me to delete my posts because I stand behind my words but I did it for family reasons. I am a firm believer that you learn through your mistakes, so I chalked it up as a blogging lesson, painful, as many lessons are, but a lesson, none-the-less.

I have deleted some of my posts. New to blogging and still trying to find my voice and what I am passionate about writing. Thinking it through more now than I did when I started.

I agree with Mindy. I try to give it some time to simmer before I post. I have many posts that I started and then didn't publish.

The typos make me laugh and remind me that we're all human.

I can honestly say I haven't deleted blog posts in some time. I had a Livejournal account for years, however, and I routinely went through it once a year and deleted more than half of my posts. I chalk it up to OCD tendencies (never been diagnosed). I just can't let stupid posts exist. Not that they were diversive, but because they were literally stupid posts of YouTube videos or those chain letter "what would you do"/tests things that go around blogs (or used to, I don't see them much these days). But on my current blogs I don't delete posts. This has more to do with how I blog these days. In my Livejournal Days I was younger and more likely to treat it like a diary. Now I think before I write and while I still use my blog to work out my feelings I don't talk about any specific people so much as my own internal struggles. Or, you know, talk about my kids, post recipes, review books I'm reading, post about crafts. How you use your blog, in my opinion, greatly influences how likely you are to delete posts. If you are using it to rile people up, like the Dilbert guy and Girl Scout chick, then sure you're going to retract. You weren't thinking things through. Just reacting. Because people who use their blogs for those reasons forget, until there is backlash, that their words are not private and there are more than a handful of people who have access to them.

My original blog is private now because I had posts that I regretted -- the potential consequences for others as well as myself.

I came into blogging from message boards ... where anonymity was the norm and as far as I had seen, anonymity was rarely, if ever blown. A couple of the boards I'd become a part of were support-style boards where people could discuss things that you would almost never small talk about IRL. I saw the good that came from that support (support that was possible only because of such forums) and I thought blogging had the potential to be a great extension of that good (it is -- if done right). I was slower to recognize the dangers of online diary-style processing; I only saw the potential for connection with others of similar experience.

Over time I began to see bloggers getting into hot water leading to regret for sharing that made them personally vulnerable or for ranting that was not intended to ever wound, but did once anonymity fell. And I had a chance to reflect more on the power of words and the utter permanency of the internet. Words that could not be taken back even if views evolved, words that could cause problems/wreckless damage regardless of how "true." I understood better what belongs on an open blog and what doesn't. I have also become more aware of what material/approaches/styles "works" on a blog and what doesn't. It's been a learning process.. I think professional writers who blog might come into the 'sphere with greater awareness of these accountability issues up front than do amateurs. Pros have editors; bloggers do not.

Lately I have taken a stance to not commenting on certain blogs or news articles, especially if these are of a political nature. So many people love to argue about politics, and I just got to a point I felt my opinions on certain issues were never going to change the world. I would rather just keep some stuff to myself, and not have someone tell me I am so misinformed because I am a liberal.

Sorry, I was having trouble adding my comment RE: Mindy's point about typos. I'm sorry that this is a big tangent Mel. It just raised a sore point for me.

While I completely agree that impressions are important and that sloppy writing makes a regrettable one ... I have ever-evolving perspective about giving people the benefit of the doubt on this count. My son was diagnosed last year with dyslexia and ADD (the inattentive-type, which runs rampant in his father's family). Dyslexia is common (10-20% of the population). It exists on a spectrum ranging from severe to very mild. And it is often undiagnosed. It is also frequently co-morbid with giftedness (which can mask the challenges as well as the benefits and foil diagnosis). For example, dyslexia is found in higher concentrations among populations of highly successful entrepreneurs than it is in the general population ... in part because of their quirky thinking and also in part because they have to work harder than everyone else from an early age in order to be successful. American public schools do not screen for it, they don't catch it early (except maybe in severe cases) and if it is caught at all, they don't support it ... even though there are proven, very effective ways to do so. If they don't have good support, many dyslexics end up leading lives of quiet desperation. My son's verbal IQ is in the gifted range, but if you saw his handwriting and his spelling at the moment, one might easily assume he was slow or lazy (dangerous labels for children in his shoes). Hopefully he will learn to overcome his (lifelong) challenges and use technology effectively so that he can be successful in life. But when you see errors and "try" to cut people slack ... dyslexics and those who love them would rather that you give the benefit of the doubt and maybe feel gratitude for assets that you have the luxury of taking for granted. Sometimes issues with spelling and written expression are not what they appear to be. Would you call someone with a lisp a plebe? Just food for thought.

I try to live by the age-old rule of writing, leaving it alone, then reading it over (perhaps an hour or two later), and THEN posting. This may not always work if you are on a tight deadline, but it works for me. With regard to deleting things that have typos, grammatical errors, etc., I have come to realize that not everyone is a stellar typist and speed encourages typos. Lately I am trying to cut everyone a little slakk by not automatically assuming they are careless plebeians because their posts contain tpyos.