It annoys me when people delete posts

I'd prefer it if the OP could just hide any comments they wanted and those who wanted to show it could show it, just like happens with posts with a certain number of thumbs down that automatically hide the post.

Like Neuro mentioned it's frustrating when you see someone has responded to your comment and when you go it's deleted or the whole IIN has gone.

Unless it's something extremely offensive, contains very personal information like name/address or maybe exposes the site to libel/slander then I don't think posts should ever be deleted.

I wish people wouldn't delete the post especially when I have a comment waiting for me and because the post is deleted I cant see it!!! :(

I hate it when they do this sometimes.

I find they do this to me only if I make a crude joke at their expense, or they thought it was mean-spirited or irrelevant to the question.

It's only happened to me a few times though, and I can see why it would get annoying.

if i get deleted i post more to give the op something to do, if someone deletes a reply to me i delete all mine too, i wont be outdone in churlishness

I think the idea behind the feature is to allow the OP to keep the comments on topic, but more often than not it's abused, and more often than not the off-topic comments are funny and/or interesting. And though I don't like it when my own posts are deleted, I suppose I understand its purpose.

If and when I ever make stories, I pretty much refuse to ever delete anything.

I've deleted troll posts on a story of mine before, and my own comments too. I don't like the idea of anyone getting to read deleted posts.

The way I see it is that the OP "owns" the poll or story and all the comments on it, NOT the community. The logical continuation of this is that the OP has a right to police their own stories however they want. The reason I think this is that the premise of the site is primarily to give advice to the OPs, not to contain a community (in my opinion).

In the case of poll creators like nobleserpent, I personally think they go too far in deleting comments. I think they should be allowed to do so, but the consequence is that the ideas aren't taken seriously by anyone. In a story where the OP removes any comments they disagree with, the punishment for them is that they don't get good, various advice.

Maybe a good compromise is that the OP could hide comments and give a reason, such as "this comment is offensive" etc. It stays hidden until the mods see it, and the mods could choose to over-ride that decision and bring back the comment if they thought the OP was wrong to delete it. Does that make sense?

The main problem with all this is that it creates extra work for the mods. TheManagement has said before, if I remember rightly, that there's only a very small number of mods (hence why stories don't get approved instantly), and taking responsibility from OPs to delete offensive comments and giving it to mods would just make more work for them. Changes to the site might slow down, stories and polls might take longer to approve.

Finally, what is offensive and what is funny is not black and white. Some people might find a post funny while others could be offended. Whether it's a mod or the OP, somebody has to make that call and it isn't always going to be a call you agree with.

I'm not saying yours is a bad idea, just that I disagree with it. I think it works fine as it is.

When I was monitoring how many posts I was up to because I was coming up to a milestone, I was surprised at how quickly my posts were being deleted. I know mine do disappear but, for every ten things I typed, five disappeared within hours.

It made me think seriously about the level of care I put into replies. This may sound ugly but I did start to wonder why I should care at all. It's more a waste of my time and effort than at any time in the past. I was surprised how many people were noticing that they are in the same position.

Thinking along similar lines as nobleserpent, maybe the key is to understand why it's happening. Maybe there is something we can fix in other ways. wigsplitz has already said why she deletes posts. If others follow suit, maybe we'll find the issues aren't what we expect.

P.S. I fully expect this to be deleted.

I only delete things like when two or three idiots use MY poll as their personal message board. Go buy a damn Gold membership and PM each other, you're not doing that shit on MY poll. Fuck that.

Otherwise, I leave it alone. I like to hear all opinions, and allow idiots to prove their idiocrity with their dumb posts.

I don't think anyone should be able to delete anything.

I think offensive comments should be reported to the mods and a decision made by them.

I had three notifications today and the posts connected to them had been deleted.

I have deleted a string of comments to one post as they where quite personal but relevant to the OP. I asked their permission to delete the comments once they had read them.

I would subscribe to gold if it meant I could read all of the deleted posts and comments.

You posted this again?

Why?

Perhaps TheManagement didn't like your idea.

I don't delete posts very often... unless THEY LOOK SUMTHIN LEIK THIS AN THEY BE ALL: DEY SEE ME TROLLIN DEY HAYTIN...

*trollface*

I like your suggestions. People abuse the delete option and it would stop them from doing so. I can understand why my stuff gets deleted. Sometimes I accidentally post my answer in the wrong post. Sometimes they just take one look at my username, assume its a troll, and delete it.

They can delete it if they wanna.

good point.

i dont delete comments

This has happened to me multiple times.
I will come on here and see my news feed packed with responses to a comment on my comment on someone's story and I will click on it and see nothing, and I will heavily suspect that it is because this is deleted.

It's very annoying, although I don't fault myself is a post of mine offends someone. If one is the type of person to become so easily offended, especially by what they read on the internet, which is basically a cesspool of everything that is right and wrong in the world, chances are, they are not mature enough to use the internet.

This is a great Thread OP and I feel you and I see eye to eye on this one.

But it's pretty much irrelevant.

Also, I don't think you understand what's happening here. There will be no change. There will be no compensation.

All posts are owned and governed by Is It Normal site, not the OP.
Therefore only Admin/Moderators/Staff should have the right to delete posts.

Not liking a post that adheres to all Is It Normal guidelines is not a good reason to have a post deleted.

By the way I don't feel this is a normal Is It Normal question, so should have been handled through the feedback form only.

Can a Moderator please remove this topic, as it opens up even more concerns about other areas of Is It Normal that some users may want removed or kept. I don't feel this type of public community topic is what Is It Normal site was originally meant for.