Deleting account

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Anon 8 posts
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Deleting account

Post by Anon 8 posts »

Hi
I'd like to delete my account and all my posts completely (not just deactivated), but can't find a way to do so, nor can I send PM's to mods. As of now, there isn't even an option to change my username. Get this fixed, please.
Please don't ask me why, it shouldn't matter, I just want everything deleted.
Thanks.
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Red
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Re: Deleting account

Post by Red »

You only have 6 posts, is it really worth going through all that trouble? You're better off just leaving the forum.
Learning never exhausts the mind.
-Leonardo da Vinci
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miniboes
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Re: Deleting account

Post by miniboes »

RedAppleGP wrote: Tue Apr 18, 2017 7:52 am You only have 6 posts, is it really worth going through all that trouble? You're better off just leaving the forum.
If he wants it deleted, it can be deleted. Brimstone is currently the only one who can do this, so once he sees it he'll get on it.
"I advocate infinite effort on behalf of very finite goals, for example correcting this guy's grammar."
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Anon 8 posts
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Re: Deleting account

Post by Anon 8 posts »

What trouble? No, I'm better off deciding for myself if something's worth keeping online, and this isn't.
I've only posted in my own introduction topic, so no interesting discussion is lost there.
Thanks for your help.
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Red
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Re: Deleting account

Post by Red »

I mean, alright, if that's what you want, I'll delete your posts (somewhat).
And hang on, what do you mean you can't send a PM to mods?
Learning never exhausts the mind.
-Leonardo da Vinci
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brimstoneSalad
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Re: Deleting account

Post by brimstoneSalad »

What do you want your username changed to? This is only done by request and rarely, but I can change it for you.
We don't want people randomly changing their names, since it would get confusing.

Looks like Red already removed your posts. I can see why, since somebody recognized you and there was a link.
We'd be happy to have you join again more anonymously. :)
Anon 8 posts
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Re: Deleting account

Post by Anon 8 posts »

Inactive members can't send PM's.
Thanks for deleting that topic. Now if you'd just delete this topic (or if not, change my name to anon) and my account too, it'd be much appreciated ;)

Not being able to change usernames I understand, but you should be able to easily delete your own account. Don't be like Yahoo or Facebook.
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brimstoneSalad
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Re: Deleting account

Post by brimstoneSalad »

Not being able to change usernames I understand, but you should be able to easily delete your own account. Don't be like Yahoo or Facebook.
Members spend a lot of time and effort on discussions here. The difference between a forum and Facebook or Youtube comment sections is that a forum is search indexed, and so that effort is not wasted because the thread becomes a resource for others.
Threads here are linked to; they are a public resource.

It is not my place to delete the posts of other members without their consent. It would be like deleting somebody's blog. If you (or another member) were involved in a discussion here, those posts are an integral part of the conversation and can not be removed without losing the context of the discussion and devaluing the other members' contributions. It would be a 'feature' which would hurt the forum and active members.

The only thing deleting your account while leaving all of your content in place would do is make it impossible for you to post again. There is no purpose to spending an inordinate amount of effort finding (if it even exists) and installing an addon that allows members to delete their own accounts, and would only create more work for admins and complaints from members wishing to restore their accounts (which is currently impossible to do, even for an admin) in the future whether they deleted it by accident, in a temporary fit of rage-quit, or their accounts were hacked. This is not technically trivial, and it's not something users should expect admins to do manually.
It doesn't make any sense, and it's just bad policy to let users do something that can't be undone and that would represent a security hole that puts other users accounts in danger... all for the sake of users who don't even want to use the forum or contribute to the community.

I will change your username for you. Sorry, that's all I can do.

(The other thread had some somewhat personal info in it and wasn't a really substantive discussion, I'll leave it in the trash for now where Red put it unless somebody involved in that thread really wants it restored, in which case I'll remove the links and personal info. This thread has no personal info in it and asks a question that others may want to see the answer to.)
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EquALLity
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Re: Deleting account

Post by EquALLity »

^So admins shouldn't be expected to manually delete accounts, but users shouldn't be able to delete them either?

How does allowing people to delete their social media accounts result in putting other accounts in danger? :?

You should be able to delete your own posts on your account, especially if you only have 8 post and have not contributed much to a discussion. It's your account. If that results in a tiny amount context being lost, then that's unfortunate, but privacy should over-weigh an inconvenience. It was your content posted in the first place.
"I am not a Marxist." -Karl Marx
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brimstoneSalad
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Re: Deleting account

Post by brimstoneSalad »

EquALLity wrote: Tue Apr 18, 2017 9:25 pm ^So admins shouldn't be expected to manually delete accounts, but users shouldn't be able to delete them either?
Admins should not be expected to put in a lot of work for a user who is uninterested in using the forum.
A deleted account can not be recovered. We would have to manually move every single post to make it so it can be recovered.
EquALLity wrote: Tue Apr 18, 2017 9:25 pmHow does allowing people to delete their social media accounts result in putting other accounts in danger? :?
See above; it can not be recovered, period.
If you left your account logged in somewhere and somebody decided to have some fun and delete your account and ALL of your posts permanently, you wouldn't see that as dangerous?
EquALLity wrote: Tue Apr 18, 2017 9:25 pmprivacy should over-weigh an inconvenience.
If there are privacy issues and the user is polite, we can help with that. That's a reasonable request.

If there are no apparent privacy issues, and the user just wants to remove the context from discussions to inconvenience others out of malice (rage quit), we should not be expected to go out of our ways to help do that (down even to editing every post that ever quoted the user, or deleting every thread the user ever posted in or started).
I am concerned with user privacy, but context and the value of discussions here should be maintained as much as possible. There is a limit to what can be erased on a public forum. People need to know the other half of discussions they spend time on won't just vanish and leave the thread (and all of the work put into it) useless.
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