I would feel safer here having a little more control over what I am sharing. There are many reasons why a person may need this feature. Especially when posting opportunities or real estate. Some folks post their email addresses but may later want them removed for security purposes. It really should be an option to be able to delete your own posts...without relying on a staff person.
If anyone is not feeling safe about information they've chosen to post, a neat technique is to simply change one's name in the profile settings. As long as it is a "real sounding" name, the staff is likely happy. It's really simple to do, just check out the "My Profile" section at the top on the browser.
It's a common question about "why can't I take back and delete what I've said", and I've learned over the past months of perusing around that there are many reasons that this site has a general non-deleting and low-editing policy.
1) I've come to realize that it makes the site more authentic: just like in the physical world, there are no takebacks once we speak, as the vibrations are out there forever, bouncing around the universe and affecting peoples lives and impressions. Authenticity is great.
2) There's also a saying that "the Internet is forever" in that everything we do can come back to get us, for better or worse; so the no/low deleting policy encourages us to be polite and kind to one another, and accountable for our words. Kindness is great.
3) It also helps preserve knowledge gained. If someone starts a cool
permaculture project, and then it fails miserably, and they become embarrassed and delete the post, then how will the rest of the world learn from the mistakes? Learning is great.
4) It respects the hard work and community effort of others. Imagine a person posting a very personal or unique question, and then a dozen people show up with a bunch of thoughtful answers, and then once they person gets their solution...*poof* everyone's effort is gone because the OP hit delete. Respecting other's time/effort is great.
5) It'd be a lot of work deleting things. And the staff are all volunteers. Respecting volunteers' efforts is great.
So you aren't "polluting" the site really. You're just learning the "
permanent"-"culture" along with the rest of us!
A year from now someone may have the same question, and then they'll stumble upon this conversation, and be like "oh...that's why they don't delete real-estate posts...hmm.
It has also helped me to remember that I'm only a
guest on this site. Like I'm in
Paul Wheaton's (digital)
living room. Since I'm not paying or being paid to come here, I'm not in the business of providing online system or policy recommendations, so I gotta' choose to wear my "guest" hat, rather than my "marketing" or "design consulting" hat. Even though I hate that Paul, say... drops the f-bomb
because...now my wife won't let me listen to his podcasts in the house anymore :(..
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