Author Topic: Should a member be allowed to delete her/his own account?  (Read 24720 times)

Offline Brown Eyes

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Re: Should a member be allowed to delete her/his own account?
« Reply #10 on: September 06, 2007, 09:06:40 pm »
I'm a big advocate for the cooling-off/ waiting period policy as it exists.  I think it's very reasonable and well-thought out.
 :)

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Offline David In Indy

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Re: Should a member be allowed to delete her/his own account?
« Reply #11 on: September 06, 2007, 10:27:34 pm »
I like the "cooling off" period too. Although it sure did feel good when I deleted my "David-Indiana" account over at IMDb.

But that was different.

I've seen several people wish to delete their accounts, and then return. And I'm sure they were happy all their posts and hard work were not deleted into Internet Oblivion. And as others have already pointed out, the member always has the option of deleting all their posts. It might take a while to accomplish, but they can do it if they want to.

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Offline serious crayons

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Re: Should a member be allowed to delete her/his own account?
« Reply #12 on: September 06, 2007, 11:24:57 pm »
I've seen several people wish to delete their accounts, and then return. And I'm sure they were happy all their posts and hard work were not deleted into Internet Oblivion.

It's worth noting that, unlike IMDb, when you delete your account here your posts do not disappear. You can tell if someone has deleted their account here if you see a post or thread by someone whose username is not underlined -- and therefore you can't call up their profile or PM them, but their post remains intact.

Though of course you can always delete your posts yourself -- with or without also deleting your account.

(At IMDb, there is no way to delete your account without also deleting all your posts.)


Offline David In Indy

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Re: Should a member be allowed to delete her/his own account?
« Reply #13 on: September 06, 2007, 11:30:50 pm »
It's worth noting that, unlike IMDb, when you delete your account here your posts do not disappear. You can tell if someone has deleted their account here if you see a post or thread by someone whose username is not underlined -- and therefore you can't call up their profile or PM them, but their post remains intact.

Though of course you can always delete your posts yourself -- with or without also deleting your account.

(At IMDb, there is no way to delete your account without also deleting all your posts.)



That's very true Katherine! Thanks for pointing that out. Yeah, I've seen this. The user name will change to "guest" but the posts remain intact. I forgot about that.  :)
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Offline David In Indy

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Re: Should a member be allowed to delete her/his own account?
« Reply #14 on: September 06, 2007, 11:33:29 pm »
Or rather their status changes to "guest" but I think even their name remains too, doesn't it?
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Offline Ellemeno

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Re: Should a member be allowed to delete her/his own account?
« Reply #15 on: September 06, 2007, 11:58:47 pm »
What I've noticed is that ever since the 14 day policy has been implemented, zero people have come back 14 days later to say that yes indeed, after 14 days they still want to go through with the account deletion procedure.  And I think that zero people have left rather than re-request it after 14 days.

Also, be aware that once a person deletes their account here, they are unable to then access their previous posts.  So if they did decide to delete or edit their posts, they couldn't.  They have taken that option away from themselves.

Phillip has about 150 years of experience administrating websites, and I have learned quite a bit from his anecdotal experiences that lead him to shape his decisions here.   He's usually right.

Scott, I admire you for posting this poll to discuss a situation you don't agree with.  And thanks for PMing Phillip and me to let us know this poll is here.  I wonder if you would be willing to adjust the poll so people would be able to change their vote, if rethinking causes a shift in their perspective?  As poll-creator, you can do that by editing the poll.

(I actually voted opposite of how I meant to.)   ::)

Clarissa

« Last Edit: September 07, 2007, 12:11:56 am by Ellemeno »

Offline serious crayons

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Re: Should a member be allowed to delete her/his own account?
« Reply #16 on: September 07, 2007, 01:42:28 am »
Or rather their status changes to "guest" but I think even their name remains too, doesn't it?

Yes. Not to single anybody out, but for the sake of illustration some names you may still see appear from time to time, because they started/posted on a lot of good threads, are TJ, ruthlesslyunsentimental, and rtprod. All of them have deleted their accounts, but their names still appear on the threads, sans underlines.

And, as Elle pointed out, once they deleted their accounts they couldn't come back and delete their individual posts (not that they'd necessarily want to, since as I say all three wrote good posts).



injest

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Re: Should a member be allowed to delete her/his own account?
« Reply #17 on: September 10, 2007, 08:54:07 am »
This is a tricky one!  I'm definitely in favour of a "Cooling off" period. 

The internet brings out the best in us ... but it also brings out the worst in us.  Paranoia runs wild when you can't "see" the other person's expressions .... Were they joking?  Are they having a dig at me?  Do they hate me?

Believe me I know ... been there, done that!!

I've only had one person tell me they found me irritating, but it nearly sent me heading for the hills, so I do know what it feels like to want to run away!

I voted "No", not because I don't think that anyone has the right to leave, but because I think that it gives a person the opportunity to talk calmly to someone who's not caught up in the middle of things, and a chance to cool down and get things back into perspective!

I'm so happy you stayed Scott!  Who else could I share my love of Tibetans with?  :-*

Susie  :)




a long time ago...back in the distant past...we had an option called 'ignore'. If someone just got on your nerves you could hit that button and they would disappear.

That power was taken away by the Powers That Be.

now we have a situation where people feel it is not enough to ignore someone or avoid them. They MUST share their disgust and displeasure with the object of their derision. I have had four people tell me just exactly what they thought of me. Some things you can't take back. I often feel like I am not wanted here. I have had people write me and tell me they read my posts but won't speak to me. It hurts. Used to be I came online to get away. To have fun. It is rarely fun anymore. I come back now because I have a handfull of friends to keep up with.

If you don't like someone. If someone gets on your nerves...can't you just let them be? I had an arguement over a misunderstanding with another member. I do not talk to her. I don't go to threads she starts. SHE on the other hand DOES come on the ones I start. She responds to my posts. WHY? If you really loath another person why keep talking to them.

Offline serious crayons

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Re: Should a member be allowed to delete her/his own account?
« Reply #18 on: September 10, 2007, 09:59:55 am »
I have had four people tell me just exactly what they thought of me. Some things you can't take back. I often feel like I am not wanted here. I have had people write me and tell me they read my posts but won't speak to me. It hurts. Used to be I came online to get away. To have fun. It is rarely fun anymore.

Wow, Jess. That is really surprising and disturbing, and I'm sorry to hear it. I can where you'd be very upset by it.

I'll have to say that, for myself, I haven't had those kinds of problems at BetterMost. I like everybody here -- not absolutely equally, of course, that wouldn't be human nature, and here and there people get on my nerves from time to time, but I can honestly say there's nobody here I really dislike (at least at the moment!  ;D). So for me, BetterMost provides the sort of online escape you mentioned, Jess, which is what I seek, too.

IMDb, on the other hand -- not so soothing. There are always plenty of people there to dislike in the form of trolls. And even among the Brokies there, I feel more interpersonal turmoil and stress. So I do know what you mean, Jess. I can't experience that sort of blissful escape at IMDb that I do here. Gets tiresome.


 

Offline Phillip Dampier

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Re: Should a member be allowed to delete her/his own account?
« Reply #19 on: September 10, 2007, 10:16:25 am »
The internet brings out the best in us ... but it also brings out the worst in us.  Paranoia runs wild when you can't "see" the other person's expressions .... Were they joking?  Are they having a dig at me?  Do they hate me?

Believe me I know ... been there, done that!!

I've only had one person tell me they found me irritating, but it nearly sent me heading for the hills, so I do know what it feels like to want to run away!

Never ever take anything you read on a website too personally.  People shoot from the hip with comments they wouldn't think of ever saying to a person standing in front of them.  It's real easy to make careless side comments about people they often only mean at the spur of the moment, and if you give them undue weight, the remark that took them ten seconds to write and only half-mean will bug you for ten days.  Trust me, most people who write negative attacks on others spent seconds contemplating them, and that is exactly how long you should consider paying attention to them.

Also, flame wars and personal attacks are a game for some people, and you can be sure those who engage in them have long since run out of things of substance to say, so all they are left with is namecalling.  That's a person of low character and intelligence anyway, so why would you even waste a moment of your life caring about what they have to say?

And as always, we keep those of low morality, character, and intelligence away from our community.  :)  That's why we never allow personal attacks here.
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