Posted by Dinah on December 8, 2009, at 8:09:22
In reply to Re: editing posts after submission, posted by Dr. Bob on December 8, 2009, at 0:35:15
> Since this is a support group, I think it's reasonable to assume that most posters don't intend to hurt and to trust their motivations for amending. But as a backup, deputies and I could check the copy of the original saved by the server to see if someone's denying something that did happen.
Deletion/amendment *is* a denial. Not a verbal one, but a denial.
> That's true, those who didn't see the first post could be said to have an incomplete version of reality. To some extent, they would need to try to accept not knowing the original message.
Because of you. Because you said so. Not because it's inherently better. It *is* your site, true. But this seems very arbitrary, and without, IMO, explanation other than what you keep repeating without much elaboration. That this would be a way to lessen or avoid hurt feelings. I don't even understand that. You are proposing a change that is of minor benefit to anyone at all, given the limitations, but that takes away one of the fundamental advantages of Babble.
> Where did you get the idea that my goal was avoiding administrative consequences for incivility?
Because you proposed it as a way to deal with incivility. Not as a way to correct technical issues, but a way to deal with incivility.
> Responding to any post would be sufficient. Just the most recent post would be amendable.
Thank you for clarifying.
> It would be a way to avoid, or at least lessen, hurt feelings. It would also give posters more control over what they post.
You say this over and over, and yet reject without explanation a proposal that actually does give posters significantly more control over what they post, and a lot more over what can be found by Google. And don't really explain why it would avoid or lessen hurt feelings.
Dr. Bob, I know this is a support site. And ideally no one would ever troll here. Or bait. Or behave childishly. Or be deliberately unkind. And at its current size and google visibility maybe that's true. But you've been here longer than I have, and you know that this is not an idyllic enclave. You warn us of that over and over. You have always believed in leaving incivility up as a warning of that fact. And that I do grasp, because it is true. Disappearing posts (or disappearing them and substituting them with other posts - per your own description of revision) does not represent reality. My memory is not so short. I remember things that were far from supportive.
I remember times when you refused to remove posts that were enormously hurtful to the poster involved. And if that's what you're trying to fix, that's admirable, but this proposal won't do it. The facts of the situation would be all wrong. I can't say what is more similar, for fear of being uncivil or insensitive.
I get that you're going to do this. I don't think I'll ever understand *why* you would mess with reality, mess with something that made Babble special, for the reasons you have given.
poster:Dinah
thread:660662
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20091103/msgs/928504.html