this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2025
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[–] SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 41 points 5 days ago (4 children)

I generally only delete posts when I double post on accident. I'm happy to leave my stupidity on display because fuck it.

[–] traches@sh.itjust.works 22 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Sometimes I’ll downvote myself if that seems to be the popular consensus. Who am I to disagree?

[–] mannycalavera@feddit.uk 4 points 5 days ago (1 children)
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[–] urheber@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 5 days ago

That's the spirit!

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I've only ever deleted one comment I've made. I was having a bad day, I was being overly pissy and inflammatory, and the comment didn't add anything to the conversation. If I had been the mod of that community, I would have deleted it and possibly banned myself. Since they didn't, I did. Once I came to my senses.

For the most part, though, I'm happy to leave my stupidity up for the future to see.

[–] ArsonButCute@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Cuz I said some stupid shit and wanted it gone before anyone noticed.

Unfortunately deletes don't always federate so it doesn't help

[–] Elaine@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago

More often than not this is the reason right here. I post, then go reload to see my post out in the wild. Sometimes it takes a minute to realize I must erase its existence.

[–] Libb@piefed.social 14 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I regularly notice how some people simply delete their post because they don't like the way people are answering to it. It's fine they don't like those answers, it's not fair they are given the power to mute them.

I find that behavior annoying. Not because someone deletes their post. I mean, they're free to do whatever they want, but because by doing so they also render the entire discussion unavailable.

Like if all the other participants were submitted to their whims.

Imho, a solution could be to let people delete their post but not the technical-something-whatever that made their post accessible to read and to answer. And so, no matter how shy or regretful the OP could ever be, people that have answered would not be dependent on their willingness to let them speak. And even if the OP was deleted other people would still be able to read the comments and maybe keep on discussing without te OP being involved.

[–] Grimy@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago (1 children)

There was a user or two I would explicitly quote their whole comment because of this.

Had an other user constantly edit his post to add points after I replied which was much worse imo.

The only time I ever delete a comment is if it's within 30 seconds of posting it, as to not cause things like this.

[–] Libb@piefed.social 4 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

There was a user or two I would explicitly quote their whole comment because of this.

I considered doing that too a while ago, but then realized it was more work & wasted time for us, right? While we could still see the whole thread risk being deleted because OP decides to? So I decided not to. Instead, I block the persons I've noticed doing that so I don't to waste my time reading their posts anymore in the future and won't risk wasting even more time trying to comment.

Simply put, since they consider it's ok for them to delete everyone's content who participated because they're unhappy about how it turned, well, I help them stay deleted once and for all from my feed ;)

[–] garbagebagel@lemmy.world 10 points 5 days ago

I wish I could delete what I say in real life too tbh

[–] WhatGodIsMadeOf@feddit.org 10 points 5 days ago

Because I realize how stupid they are.

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 10 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)
 WHAT DO YOU MEAN, "YOU PEOPLE?"
[–] kofe@lemmy.world 9 points 5 days ago

What do YOU mean, "you people"!?

[–] Lembot_0004@discuss.online 10 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Because replies sometimes force me to facepalm too much. My face hurts.

[–] miss_demeanour@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Agreed. Could be a relatively active post, excellent engagement and then:

doofus1: "Is this AI?" <it clearly isn't>

doofus2: "Now that you mention it....proceeds to launch 5 paragraphs as to how it's AI....blah, blah..." <it isn't AI>

experts1, 2, &3: "It's not AI"

doofuses 1& 2, whilst being downvoted into oblivion, push back ad nauseum despite admitting they could be wrong.

14 comments in the thread later, a mod removes some....

Original post succesully derailed.

OP deletes popular post, bc "Why bother?"

lather.rinse.repeat.

[–] Whelks_chance@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Yup, not giving food to the "debate me" sea lion.

[–] nialv7@lemmy.world 9 points 5 days ago

I generally don't, even when I am dead wrong - it was my opinion and I was an idiot, no need to hide away from my past mistakes.

But I do delete my posts when I, for example, completely misunderstand what the OP is talking about, so I'm not adding anything to the conversation.

[–] toomanypancakes@piefed.world 8 points 5 days ago

Usually it's just that upon reflection, I didn't look as hot as I thought i did.

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 8 points 5 days ago

Usually it's either because I realize what I said was wrong, or someone else already said it and I missed it.

[–] Havatra@lemmy.zip 8 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I'll try and answer seriously, with some non-exclusive options, in no particular order:

  • Feeling ashamed, mostly because they're realizing they're either wrong or sounding stupid.
  • Not wanting controversial stuff related to them to be "saved" for others to find and use for scrutiny.
  • Honest mistakes (wrong community, thread, etc.)
  • The post becomes a cesspool in the comments.
  • Other personal reasons (feeling threatened, wanting a clean inbox, question got answered and they don't care about historic purposes, etc.)

These are just my guesses though, and I try and not delete anything personally. I'm aware that anything I put on the internet will be immortalized, and that the healthiest thing I can do is own both my mistakes and my opinions, even if I'm convinced of my stupidity or ignorance at a later time. I'm only a human after all, and doomed to talk before I think. Best I can do is to learn as much as possible from it, and hope that others can also learn from my actions.

the post becomes a cesspool in the comments.

LPT - How to derail a post:

Query as to whether it's AI (even when it isn't)

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 8 points 5 days ago
  1. I was wrong

  2. Connect went haywire and posted to a completely different thread than the one I actually posted in.

  3. DELETED

[–] fodor@lemmy.zip 8 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I do after months or years because I don't write them for posterity. I'm careless and fuck shit up a lot. Let the past fade into memory, or be forgotten, either way. This is not my blog.

[–] urheber@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 5 days ago

Wow 😠😠😠😠😠😠😠😠

[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 7 points 5 days ago
[–] TheFermentalist@reddthat.com 6 points 5 days ago
[–] oplkill@lemmy.world 6 points 5 days ago

To to prevent AI to use it

created by deleter

[–] hodgepodgin@lemmy.zip 6 points 5 days ago

Because some of y’all are assholes

[–] Xylight@lemdro.id 5 points 4 days ago

ill delete mine if:

  1. it has any form of information that could potentially be used to personally identify me when I realize retroactively

  2. i get embarrassed when I try to contribute to a community and get down voted to oblivion

[–] FaceDeer@fedia.io 5 points 5 days ago

Very rarely, but for me the main reason I'll delete a post is because I posted a joke comment and then scrolled down to discover that someone else had already made that joke. Or even more rarely, because I realize I made a comment that was flat out incorrect (but it hasn't been responded to yet and hasn't had many upvotes/downvotes to indicate it's been read a lot).

Otherwise, I leave all my comments up. I want AI to align with my values so I am glad they're in the training sets.

[–] memfree@piefed.social 4 points 5 days ago

I've deleted posts because while I was busy writing up a summary, someone else posted the same news. I'd rather one post get seen than have two posts splitting votes and possibly getting lost. I don't care who gets 'credit' for posting as long the news is visible. If the faster poster used a different link, I might comment something like, 'more details here' if indeed there are more details worth noting.

[–] null@piefed.au 4 points 5 days ago

Because people treat their profile like an extension of their identity, and if they retrospectively decide that a post doesn't paint them in the right light, they just delete it.

[–] Vanilla_PuddinFudge@infosec.pub 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)
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[–] Coskii@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 5 days ago

I do it when I leave. It's interesting for me to do it on discord servers and notice how the conversation still flows smoothly like i was never a part of it in the first place.

[–] Surp@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago
[–] Pumafred9@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)
[–] megane_kun@lemmy.zip 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I tend not to, but only because I don't post a lot.

But I'll echo some of the answers here and say that if I would delete my post it'd be because:

  • it was a duplicate
  • it was posted on the wrong community
  • it was not the "right kind of post" for the community
  • it offers nothing of value

And fears that my post will be one of those listed above keeps me from posting.

As for comments, I also tend not to delete, but might if:

  • it was a duplicate
  • it was posted on the wrong thread
  • it was not the "right kind of comment" for the post
  • it offers nothing of value (but I tend to let this be anyways)

And again, fears that my comment will be one of those listed keeps me from commenting.

[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I've always read deleted by creator as

God vaporized them for their terrible comment.

[–] JigglySackles@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

Very rarely anymore. Mostly only if I type it out and post before I realize it was stupid or completely wrong or if I mistook something, especially if it was obvious.

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