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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?

#81

Post by throwaway4719 »

matte_black wrote: post #76
throwaway4719 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. Thankfully, there's a really easy solution that HN today will not consider/is not taking seriously enough: Just change the goddamn displayed username for each comment to " " or whatever. 1) this kind of (seemingly; it's all a black box in reality though) naval-gazing-based decision making is…

GDPR is one of the reasons I’m hoping for the collapse of the EU. If a US company has no physical presence in Europe I see no reason why they should comply with their bullshit. And under a Trump administration... good luck.

That's the beauty of it all.

Do you really think YCombinator has no EU exposure? It's a multi-billion dollar company.

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

#82

Post by DoreenMichele »

throwaway4719 wrote: post #69
DoreenMichele wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> 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. Thankfully, there's a really easy solution that HN today will not consider/is not taking seriously enough: Just change the goddamn displayed username for each comment to " " or whatever. 1) this kind of (seemingly; it's all a black box in reality though) naval-gazing-based decision making is…

Redacted so I can pointlessly make it a blog post without Google penalizing my blog like I am plagiarizing or something.

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

#83

Post by DoreenMichele »

the-dude wrote: post #68
DoreenMichele wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not worked up. You posted anecdata and then followed it with a sweeping conclusion rather than stating "in this specific case, they would not delete it." I rebutted that with my own anecdata and assertions that your sweeping statements are not accurate. Like so many people here, I'm pretty pedantic. This is a problem space that interests me. Also, I frown on character assassination justified by "It's just anecdat…

My original comment: "I have been partially doxed here and HN refuses to remove the comment." Then you start questioning my motives, throwing your anecdata and accusing me of character assassination. My original comment just stated a fact. I was polite to the moderators. I did not 'beg' for the dox, the other commenter was a raving lunatic.

One of your follow up comments is just pointing out even when someone partially doxes you, HN won't remove the comment.

You are wanting to have it both ways, to suggest this is policy while claiming you are doing no such thing. I have provided my anecdata that supports the idea that, no, this is not true in all cases.

If you weren't trying to smear them, you could have replied to my rebuttal with something like "I stand corrected. It isn't HN policy, though I am still unhappy with their decision." instead of accusing me of being worked up, which veers into personal attack territory and amounts to a cheap shot intended to undermine my points without actually addressing them.

But I said I didn't plan to argue this further, and would not have had I not felt your cheap shot was seriously out of line. So I intend to stop here.

Edit: And the primary reason I don't intend to argue it further is because this is a personal issue for you. I am trying to be respectful of that fact. But I don't think that fact justifies smearing both me and HN moderating policy.

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

#84

Post by the-dude »

jacquesm wrote: post #79
the-dude wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your knowledge base is out of sync.

HN doesn't support programmatic content or I would have been happy to make it real time.

This is strange, there was another, very very similar comment here from another user, which disappeared after about 10-15 minutes.

Then 15 minutes later, this comment appears, with only a slight variation in wording.

I am starting to doubt myself. Eerie.

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

#85

Post by DoreenMichele »

spondyl wrote: post #65
DoreenMichele wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Oh, hey! I was gonna say, your writing style seems familiar for some reason but I knew you by your previous handle. Nice to see you're still around

Nice to see you're still around

Thanks.

I went through a lot of changes in a short period of time and basically rebooted my entire internet life for various reasons. Some people have noticed I changed handles here and some haven't. To try to clear up any remaining confusion, I recently noted in my other profile that I am now posting under this handle.

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

#86

Post by the-dude »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #83
the-dude wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My original comment: "I have been partially doxed here and HN refuses to remove the comment." Then you start questioning my motives, throwing your anecdata and accusing me of character assassination. My original comment just stated a fact. I was polite to the moderators. I did not 'beg' for the dox, the other commenter was a raving lunatic.

One of your follow up comments is just pointing out even when someone partially doxes you, HN won't remove the comment. You are wanting to have it both ways, to suggest this is policy while claiming you are doing no such thing. I have provided my anecdata that supports the idea that, no, this is not true in all cases. If you weren't trying to smear them, you could have replied to my rebuttal with something like "I st…

> One of your follow up comments is just pointing out even when someone partially doxes you, HN won't remove the comment.

Which is after you accused me of ulterior motives and you are merely getting worked up about phrasing. Of course I will extrapolate my anecdata just as you do.

> If you weren't trying to smear them,

I have not smeared anyone and take offense at this accusation.

The thread has been buried, this has turned into a one-on-one.

Take care.

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

#87

Post by severine »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #82
throwaway4719 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. Thankfully, there's a really easy solution that HN today will not consider/is not taking seriously enough: Just change the goddamn displayed username for each comment to " " or whatever. 1) this kind of (seemingly; it's all a black box in reality though) naval-gazing-based decision making is…

Redacted so I can pointlessly make it a blog post without Google penalizing my blog like I am plagiarizing or something.

Please make this a blog post, you raise very interesting points.

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

#89

Post by drewmol »

jacquesm wrote: post #45
drewmol wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If you are trying to be anonymous you really should try harder, it took me less than a minute to get your home address. It may be insightful for others if you divulge your methods.

When you have more than 50K HN Karma an extra toolbox opens up next to the usernames, one of those is 'autodoxx' (clearly a weak pun on autodocs). You click the link and it will automatically query google, various Whois tools and other lookup services to get a fix on the user, the end result is a nice little one-page mash-up listing all the domains you own, a bunch of recent photographs, your political leanings, your…

AI, got it. If I get that many, I'll send you a sexy postcard from your previous address.

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

#90

Post by grzm »

the-dude wrote: post #84
jacquesm wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HN doesn't support programmatic content or I would have been happy to make it real time.

This is strange, there was another, very very similar comment here from another user, which disappeared after about 10-15 minutes. Then 15 minutes later, this comment appears, with only a slight variation in wording. I am starting to doubt myself. Eerie.

I removed it for a couple of reasons: I try to keep my posts substantive (though I have been known to slip) because I strongly value that aspect of HN. And in particular I don't like to feed conspiracy theories, even when it's clear they're in jest. 'jacquesm's post upthread overwhelmed my usual caution, which led to a moment of weakness that I tried to correct.

Apologies if it may have (hopefully only temporarily) contributed even in its removal!

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