Do you remove posts when members ask you to?

[writespeak]

A member contacts the mods and asks to have a post s/he wrote removed. Some possible reasons:

(a) The topic isn't necessary any more. The member got the intended results or answer.
(b) The member got caught in a lie.
(c) The member doesn't look good because of the post content.
(d) The post contains personal information such as the member's full name or email address.
(e) The member reacted in a post and is now having regrets.
(f) The reason for wanting the post to be removed came up after it was posted.

There are more, of course, and there are some overlaps with the above. That's just to get us started. :)

Do you remove the post when requested to? Always? Never? If sometimes, for what reasons?

I got thinking about this in connection with this situation floating around online. Someone had applied for a job at a university and was scheduled for an interview. A member of the search committee googled this applicant and found that she (?) had written negative comments about that committee member in her blog. Yup, the interview got cancelled. See Ethics: Googled out of an interview (http://www.sltrib.com/faith/ci_3544923) for more.

Now that was a blog, but let's say that something along those lines had been posted in a forum. The member realized much later that having commented negatively on a company or an individual, even politely, perhaps as part of a review, would hurt his or her chances of getting a desired job. Would you remove that post if asked to?

There are times when we can easily edit out such details as last names and email addresses, but other times, the whole thread loses its meaning if key information is taken out. Selective editing can sometimes be the answer but not always.

OK, your thoughts?

Lois

[Brandon]

I'll move it to a private forum and prune it later if i don't want it..

[Scott]

This is a tricky one, I don't think the decision to remove it would ever be very straight cut.

My main concern is why the user should want something removed which they posted. There may be a good reason behind it, but if it's something along the lines of "that thread made me look bad" - I'd be inclined to close it, but not move/delete it. This would be especially true if it was a industry forum (such as WHT).

On the other hand, I would probably remove the thread if it included personal information the user didn't want disclosed. As Lois said, this can usually just be edited out.

In the example of the person who lost the interview because of the post, I don't believe that should be removed. Screen names exist to give users a certain level of anonymity, and reviews exist to give every side of the story. Valuable information may be lost if a post is removed.

As I said origianlly, it depends on the circumstances. Interested to hear opinions of others.

[writespeak]

Screen names exist to give users a certain level of anonymity

But a lot of members have links to their sites and sometimes their full name as well in their sigs.

...reviews exist to give every side of the story

True. But what if the post is just a comment that can be seen as negative, such as pointing out where negative reviews are, and much later, you've applied for work at that company?

Something sort of like that happened to me. Recently I came across a post I'd posted years ago that was like what I just described. It turns out that I've since done work for that company (and the owner is a fine person to work with). I doubt the owner saw that post, but what if he had and I'd applied for a permanent position with that company? Not that that was a particularly negative post, but I'm trying to paint a scenario here. :)

Everyone Googles these days. People Google potential dates before meeting them and potential employers before going for interviews. As we've seen, employers Google too. A post that may have been useful at the time may do more good by being removed later.

Here's an example that might be easier. Let's say that someone shares something personal because the forum feels like family and she wants to share it. Later, she realizes that that information could be used against her. She might have discussed a health problem, for example, or something about her family and now she's in a custodial battle. Would you remove such posts if requested to?

I'm not arguing for either way; I'm just looking at both sides. :evilb: I agree with you that it depends on the circumstances, and I'd like to hear what people would decide on in different circumstances.

Lois

[Jan]

As there are a possible 1,000,000 different circumstances as to why someone would want a thread/post removed, it is hard to answer one way or the other. WHT for instance has a warning right there on top of the rules page. "Warning. Your postings on this public forum will become public. Your text will be available to anyone with an internet connection."

Something like this can really only be decided on a case by case basis. However, it has become apparent that some we have been approached by, have had their similar posts removed on other forums and can't understand why we don't. So obviously it will vary from forum to forum as to what their policies are. It will be interesting to see how the differing forum admins handle it :)

The three I admin at, will not remove by request, except in special circumstances.

[writespeak]

So obviously it will vary from forum to forum as to what their policies are.

That's why I posted the question. ;)

It will be interesting to see how the differing forum admins handle it :)

The three I admin at, will not remove by request, except in special circumstances.

WHT has to be fairly strict with its rules because of its size and its mix. But some situations may not fit into the policies of particular forums.

Personally, I think there are situations when we (not speaking specifically about WHT) should remove posts on request, and I'd like to know what those situations might be for different people.

Lois

[Jan]

To summarise your points:

(a) The topic isn't necessary any more. The member got the intended results or answer.

Lock it and leave it. The answer might be helpful to someone else down the track

(b) The member got caught in a lie.

Lock it or let it die a natural death. Postential dealings with this person will show him/her in their true light

(c) The member doesn't look good because of the post content.

Leave it. How they conduct themselves in public is helpful to all and encourages him/her to think before posting

(d) The post contains personal information such as the member's full name or email address.

Edit it and lock (depending on the circumstances).

(e) The member reacted in a post and is now having regrets.

If he/she reports it immediately, maybe. Again, depending on the circumstances.

(f) The reason for wanting the post to be removed came up after it was posted.

More information? :P

[vito]

Let's say that someone shares something personal because the forum feels like family and she wants to share it. Later, she realizes that that information could be used against her.Speaking from a member's rather than a moderator's standpoint, I've had something similar happen to me. In retrospect, I realized that when happily and proudly talking about my family members, I should have thought twice about "privacy" and should not have been so open with certain information. It ended up exposing my family to certain risks, and I felt quite responsible for that. I submitted requests to a couple of forums to remove or edit the posts. Thankfully, my requests were graciously accommodated.

As already mentioned, there is no clear cut answer to this. You can put general guidelines in place, and for the most part, they will serve well to determine your decision in simple cases (member caught lying, etc). But when it comes down to it, you need to rely on your gut to tell you whether the special circumstances requests deserve merit.

Vito

[Webdude]

Ok, accidently hit thanks instead of reply...lol. Anyway...

(c) The member doesn't look good because of the post content.

Leave it. How they conduct themselves in public is helpful to all and encourages him/her to think before posting


If it is generally a good member, wouldnt he deserve a second chance?

[SoftWareRevue]

If it is generally a good member, wouldnt he deserve a second chance?That depends.

To me, if this generally good member thought about what he said and requested removal within the hour, it would probably be okay to remove.

However, if what he posted was referenced by another and perhaps more, and he realized that it was making him look bad and wanted it removed, then there might be a problem.

Can only take them one at a time and see if it's better to leave for historical accuracy, or remove in the interest of humanity.

accidently hit thanks instead of replyhmmm . . . . maybe that button should go over on the other side. :think:

[Jan]

If it is generally a good member, wouldnt he deserve a second chance?
The above was only a rough guide, any or all could change depending on the circumstances at the time :)

[dojo]

Although i hate being told what to do, I still realise that i am not there all the time, so that sometimes I might not notice something. So, if the request is really about something I failed to notice and it's correct, then i act accordingly

[SoftDux]

I only remove posts for the following reasons:

1. Double post. This is most often a mistake, and looks ugly.
2. Spam. I hate spam, especially ppl advertising viagra or rolex watches.
3. Something which is totally against policy, and unrelated to the forum, especially slander / excessive swearing and degarding posts

For most other reasons listed above I'd either just close the thread, of cencor out ppl's private info on request

[Kaizen]

I don't remove post when a member asks. I usually use my own judgment and decide if the post is good enough to stay.