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Ask HN: Will HN allow account and comment deletions?

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Re: Ask HN: Will HN allow account and comment deletions?

#51

Post by DoreenMichele »

the-dude wrote: post #12

I have been partially doxed here and HN refuses to remove the comment.

Ever heard of the Streisand Effect?

If you are genuinely concerned about your privacy, publicly complaining that you have been doxxed is one of the worst things you can do. It encourages other people to go looking for that info, check how easy it is to find, etc.

This inclines me to think your reason for complaining is probably something else. And that makes me wonder if the mods declined to do as you asked because the situation is more complicated than you are stating and their decision was more nuanced.

And I am posting my speculation because the mods are unlikely to say something like that. It would be a dick move and just make them look bad. I think they are reasonably up on when to just keep your mouth shut.

Re: Ask HN: Will HN allow account and comment deletions?

#52

Post by the-dude »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #51
the-dude wrote: post #12

I have been partially doxed here and HN refuses to remove the comment.

Ever heard of the Streisand Effect? If you are genuinely concerned about your privacy, publicly complaining that you have been doxxed is one of the worst things you can do. It encourages other people to go looking for that info, check how easy it is to find, etc. This inclines me to think your reason for complaining is probably something else. And that makes me wonder if the mods declined to do as you asked because t…

> Ever heard of the Streisand Effect

Of course.

I am not religious about it, just pointing out even when someone partially doxes you, HN won't remove the comment.

Re: Ask HN: Will HN allow account and comment deletions?

#53

Post by patmcc »

rwhitman wrote: post #40
matte_black wrote: post #34

Honestly, this should never be allowed. It’s archaeology-hostile. It pisses me off to no end when I am searching for information on reddit and come across people replying to deleted posts by some paranoid user who wishes comments were more ephemeral like Snapchat. This is what the next dark age of mankind will be like, people from the future looking for historical information and finding nothing but deleted or decaye…

Isn't the entire history of communication archeology-hostile?

Sure, but if we have the technology to make it archeology-friendly it'd be very nice to future archaeologists.

Any current archaeologist would give an arm and a leg for a few good reddit/HN threads from ancient Rome.

Re: Ask HN: Will HN allow account and comment deletions?

#54

Post by DoreenMichele »

matte_black wrote: post #34

Honestly, this should never be allowed. It’s archaeology-hostile. It pisses me off to no end when I am searching for information on reddit and come across people replying to deleted posts by some paranoid user who wishes comments were more ephemeral like Snapchat. This is what the next dark age of mankind will be like, people from the future looking for historical information and finding nothing but deleted or decaye…

Honestly, this should never be allowed.

I wouldn't go that far, though I am generally sympathetic to your overarching argument.

I wouldn't go that far in part because I'm a woman and women seem to attract stalkers a lot more than men. I was a homemaker for a long time and had a very private life. Trying to figure out how to interact effectively in the public sphere has been a struggle for me.

Part of that is me. Part of that is other people. People react differently to a woman than to a man.

So, on the one hand, I needed to figure out what I was simply doing wrong. On the other hand, I needed to figure out how to effectively navigate a situation that can, at times, be actively hostile and dangerous, even if I am not doing anything wrong. Those two things confound each other and I don't know of any good sources of instruction.

This has helped make me very aware that sometimes people get into real trouble and need extraordinary measures to help extract them from the mess.

I think those extraordinary measures should be made available at times. But I also think it should not be the default solution.

I generally agree with you that there are other approaches that we need to be pursuing that are more nuanced and that try to balance different concerns. I think gutting the value of a forum so that people can remove all their content at will on a whim can readily go bad places. I am not crazy about it as a policy/law.

Re: Ask HN: Will HN allow account and comment deletions?

#55

Post by WorldMaker »

goshx wrote: post #33
dvfjsdhgfv wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Facebook changed everything by encouraging people to match their online accounts to real names s/encouraging/requiring/

You can still create an account with a fake name if you like. They don't have anything to enforce it.

They enforce it when reported. Who cares to report it, though?

Re: Ask HN: Will HN allow account and comment deletions?

#56

Post by novia »

matte_black wrote: post #34

Honestly, this should never be allowed. It’s archaeology-hostile. It pisses me off to no end when I am searching for information on reddit and come across people replying to deleted posts by some paranoid user who wishes comments were more ephemeral like Snapchat. This is what the next dark age of mankind will be like, people from the future looking for historical information and finding nothing but deleted or decaye…

It’s archaeology-hostile. It pisses me off to no end when I am searching for information on reddit and come across people replying to deleted posts by some paranoid user who wishes comments were more ephemeral like Snapchat.

This is what the next dark age of mankind will be like, people from the future looking for historical information and finding nothing but deleted or decayed data

No. It absolutely should be allowed. Sites like the internet archive exist to preserve internet data.

Re: Ask HN: Will HN allow account and comment deletions?

#57

Post by DoreenMichele »

the-dude wrote: post #52
DoreenMichele wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ever heard of the Streisand Effect? If you are genuinely concerned about your privacy, publicly complaining that you have been doxxed is one of the worst things you can do. It encourages other people to go looking for that info, check how easy it is to find, etc. This inclines me to think your reason for complaining is probably something else. And that makes me wonder if the mods declined to do as you asked because t…

> Ever heard of the Streisand Effect Of course. I am not religious about it, just pointing out even when someone partially doxes you, HN won't remove the comment.

An acquaintance of mine with some personal issues derped and posted a link to info about themselves when they are normally pretty careful about such things. They requested that the mods delete it and it was deleted.

I have talked to the mods at times about privacy concerns for myself. I'm a woman and I get weirdly personal interest and invasive questions at times. They have been consistently responsive and supportive.

Though I have not as yet ask them to delete anything. I am typically looking for a more nuanced approach to the problem space.

So my experience differs from yours and I know of cases where they have been highly responsive in deleting info, even when it was the poster themselves who doxxed themselves.

I don't intend to argue this further. I'm sorry you're unhappy with the call they made, but your experience does not warrent the sweeping statements you are making about HN policy. It is simply not an accurate picture of HN policy and moderating practices.

Re: Ask HN: Will HN allow account and comment deletions?

#58

Post by DanBC »

legohead wrote: post #10
FrankBooth wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a nice summary of how to do this available? Or, if not, would you mind posting a few pointers?

It's nothing fancy. I'm simply deleting all my comments/posts on reddit and other forums I've participated in, manually. Of course, you can reach out to the admins and ask them to delete your data, but they may not be responsive... One thing I haven't got to yet, and am not sure how to even approach, is removing my old Usenet posts, which you can find on Google Groups (from 1995!). I still comment on reddit and such,…

Google used to have a page for this. You had to make a solemn declaration that you were that person. I think (but this is a long time ago and maybe I'm misremembering) that you needed to be contactable on the From: or Reply-to: headers.

I think they took it away?

https://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-way-to-delete-your-old-USEN...

Re: Ask HN: Will HN allow account and comment deletions?

#59

Post by et-al »

stagbeetle wrote: post #30
et-al wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not just create a new account every few weeks? It's trivially simple on reddit and HN, and they offer you some degree of anonymity unlike Facebook. Like Sharparam, reddit search results can be fruitless because of all the deleted answers. Imagine if StackOverflow was like that.

I tried doing this, but many subreddits have a restriction against account ages. I frequently find myself being unable to post (or I am, but my posts are in the "shadows" with no notice), without getting an AutoMod telling me: 1). Your karma is too low 2). Your account is too young 3). You haven't been subscribed long enough It's always a turn off when you've written a long and properly sourced info dump, but then th…

Yeah those are good points.

It is a pity Reddit has become the go-to discussion platform because you have one identity tied across multiple interests (unless you happen to create specialised accounts). It's also plagued with the eternal September because users easily hop between subreddits. As such, few people bother reading the FAQ or searching before asking a question.

Re: Ask HN: Will HN allow account and comment deletions?

#60

Post by mstolpm »

novia wrote: post #56
matte_black wrote: post #34

Honestly, this should never be allowed. It’s archaeology-hostile. It pisses me off to no end when I am searching for information on reddit and come across people replying to deleted posts by some paranoid user who wishes comments were more ephemeral like Snapchat. This is what the next dark age of mankind will be like, people from the future looking for historical information and finding nothing but deleted or decaye…

It’s archaeology-hostile. It pisses me off to no end when I am searching for information on reddit and come across people replying to deleted posts by some paranoid user who wishes comments were more ephemeral like Snapchat. This is what the next dark age of mankind will be like, people from the future looking for historical information and finding nothing but deleted or decayed data No. It absolutely should be allow…

If the 'right to be forgotten' is enforceable worldwide, it will be enforceable regarding the internet archive as well.
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