Why are people closing/deleting their accounts?

John Mason

Sergeant wrote: »

I eat my words. The user changed their name, then closed their account. The posts weren't deleted.

see i dont understand that either, we all know the new name of that poster

i mean if you are going to leave then leave, why set up a new account?

AckwelFoley

I expect to leave boards.ie at some point this year, for personal reasons - nothing fantastic

I would like to do something for SSF though..

Lets say..members donate and if a target is reached snyper and his ip fcuks off for good.

Target 20 quid.

Money raised to get rid of snyper = Irelands National debt

Zaph

irishbird wrote: »

see i dont understand that either, we all know the new name of that poster

i mean if you are going to leave then leave, why set up a new account?

People often have their reasons for doing things that appear to be illogical to everyone else. This is one of those occasions.

Dudess

irishbird wrote: »

i mean if you are going to leave then leave, why set up a new account?

Not wanting to leave, wanting to be less well known.

snyper wrote: »

I expect to leave boards.ie at some point this year, for personal reasons - nothing fantastic

Ah feck it, don't... :-/

Even if it's just a case of posting very occasionally...

Silverfish

snyper wrote: »

I expect to leave boards.ie at some point this year, for personal reasons - nothing fantastic

I would like to do something for SSF though..

Lets say..members donate and if a target is reached snyper and his ip fcuks off for good.

Target 20 quid.

Money raised to get rid of snyper = Irelands National debt

I believe this will possibly have the opposite effect to what you imagine.

gbee

MitchKoobski wrote: »

The door slamming "I WANT EVERY DETAIL REMOVED OR I WILL CONTACT MY SOLICITOR" ones are my favourite.

You better believe it.

ozt9vdujny3srf

I'd imagine this has been discussed before, and I have on a number of times thought of creating a new thread to discuss it, but here seems to suit:

First of all, good to see Boards.ie are allowing you to close your account. However, one thing that bothers me is the fact that Boards are unwilling to remove your posts as well. This strikes me as Boards having their cake and eating it. I own my words, but its up to boards whether they continue to be published on the web or not. Why is this the case?

Dudess

But then there'd be past threads with the closed account person's posts missing, people quoting someone who no longer exists, etc.

gbee

Dudess wrote: »

But then there'd be past threads with the closed account person's posts missing, people quoting someone who no longer exists, etc.

My counter to that argument is time related.

I will say something at a time in relation to circumstances that effect me at the time of posting. These circumstance3s can change, views can change and maybe I now work for an organisation that I criticised in the past and so on and so forth.

I think, with the exception of technical discussions, all posts should be deleted every 12 months, and the the Google search bots disabled too.

Search functions now are so powerful it's frightening. I work as a social photographer, already many young children want to know about where their photo is going, "in case it ends up being used to blackmail them then they are older"

What one types into the internet remains for ever, somewhere.

hardCopy

gbee wrote: »

What one types into the internet remains for ever, somewhere.

Exactly, we all know that and have to accept it.

There are lots of old funny and interesting threads still on boards, it would be a shame to lose them because some of the posters have left or become inactive.

In years to come there may also be academic value in understanding trends and fads of the time.

RoundyMooney

gbee wrote: »

My counter to that argument is time related.

I will say something at a time in relation to circumstances that effect me at the time of posting. These circumstance3s can change, views can change and maybe I now work for an organisation that I criticised in the past and so on and so forth.

I think, with the exception of technical discussions, all posts should be deleted every 12 months, and the the Google search bots disabled too.

Search functions now are so powerful it's frightening. I work as a social photographer, already many young children want to know about where their photo is going, "in case it ends up being used to blackmail them then they are older"

What one types into the internet remains for ever, somewhere.

I don't agree with that at all, and I've been known to post things in the past that I later thought better of, or jumped the gun on.

But they're out there, and that's it, it would be easier to ask to have them purged, and some vB forums even have an unlimited edit time allowing people to do just that.

But I think boards has it right with the 48 hour window, and deletions/edits by request after that.

There are cases where people for personal/privacy, or more sinister reasons, may wish to have certain things taken down, and that's fair enough, but why wipe the slate clean, for good, bad, mundane, or otherwise, just because?

The Left Hand Of God

RoundyMooney wrote: »

I don't agree with that at all, and I've been known to post things in the past that I later thought better of, or jumped the gun on.

But they're out there, and that's it, it would be easier to ask to have them purged, and some vB forums even have an unlimited edit time allowing people to do just that.

But I think boards has it right with the 48 hour window, and deletions/edits by request after that.

There are cases where people for personal/privacy, or more sinister reasons, may wish to have certain things taken down, and that's fair enough, but why wipe the slate clean, for good, bad, mundane, or otherwise, just because?

The more legal issue is the stance that a poster is "responsible and the owner of their posts" versus boards.ie saying they own it and won't delete it.

Very grey area.


If boards.ie says that posters posts are not thier responsibility but they don't allow posters rights on their posts... grey...

Hank Scorpio

I want to close my boards account

admin " ok, np just email help@boards.ie "

silence/shock

i WANT to close my boards account

admin " you've been told what to do, this thread is now locked "

enter nearest thread/forum

me " hi guys im closing boards account "

them " why? " "please dont " " dont be silly "

" phew someonecares, lets start a rebellion "

my point isssssssssssssss

if you want to close your account pm some admin and do it, otherwise your seeking attention. they are millions upon millions of unique and indiviual users on the internet, you're no different

k thx bai

ozt9vdujny3srf

Pearl Melted Cloak wrote: »

However, one thing that bothers me is the fact that Boards are unwilling to remove your posts as well. This strikes me as Boards having their cake and eating it. I own my words, but its up to boards whether they continue to be published on the web or not. Why is this the case?

Would be cool if an admin could address this.

Darragh

Pearl Melted Cloak wrote: »

I'd imagine this has been discussed before, and I have on a number of times thought of creating a new thread to discuss it, but here seems to suit:

First of all, good to see Boards.ie are allowing you to close your account. However, one thing that bothers me is the fact that Boards are unwilling to remove your posts as well. This strikes me as Boards having their cake and eating it. I own my words, but its up to boards whether they continue to be published on the web or not. Why is this the case?

There's a few answers to this one, so bear with me.

Firstly, we're a platform / site that allows you to discuss matters with other people. By signing up to the site to be able to discuss these matters, you are giving us permission to show what you've written so that the discussion can happen. If you don't want us to show your opinion on the discussion, then you shouldn't put it on the site.

Secondly, people are responsible for what they write. Personally and legally responsible. If you've put something on the internet - on Boards.ie, twitter, Facebook, blogs or by email, you better be sure that you're willing to stand by that or defend it or accept that you've written it. Even if your opinion on a matter changes, you still have presed the keys to put the words on the screen and you're responsible for your actions. No one forces you to write on the site, if you get me.

So accepting both of those things, to address your issues:

Boards.ie doesn't delete ALL posts on request because if we did there'd be no site. You put them up on our site.

When you did, even though you're taking responsibility, you're also making Boards.ie responsible for your posts. So if you put something defamatory up (please don't!) and we're told about it and don't remove it, then we're at fault and are open to legal action. That's the trade off.

The other one is that, of course, because we let people put up posts at all, discussions can happen - discussions that people can participate in and enjoy - or get throughly annoyed by. Either way, all good.

Finally, we do remove *some* posts on request. Not only do we give each member 48 hours to edit their posts, but if you've put up something that's causing you or someone else trouble, we will consider it on a case by case basis - the better your reason for deletion, the more likely we are to do it.

However, if you've been stupid on our site and a big discussion has emerged from that, should we really delete that thread just because you realise that you made a mistake? I don't think so. People need to realise that when they choose to put something online, they better be prepared for consequences, if there are any.

Does that help?

Darragh

Darragh

gbee wrote: »

My counter to that argument is time related.

I will say something at a time in relation to circumstances that effect me at the time of posting. These circumstance3s can change, views can change and maybe I now work for an organisation that I criticised in the past and so on and so forth.

I think, with the exception of technical discussions, all posts should be deleted every 12 months, and the the Google search bots disabled too.

Search functions now are so powerful it's frightening. I work as a social photographer, already many young children want to know about where their photo is going, "in case it ends up being used to blackmail them then they are older"

What one types into the internet remains for ever, somewhere.

There's an easy answer to that one. Don't post anything you're not prepared to stand by if you're asked about it. Simple as that.

gbee

Darragh wrote: »

There's an easy answer to that one. Don't post anything you're not prepared to stand by if you're asked about it. Simple as that.

No it's not as simple as that and I'd distrust anyone who says so, they are either naive, genuinely innocent or conniving.

I say bring in own names verifiable via birth cert, driving licence, passport etc, no anonymous postings and no selective quoting either.

You simply cannot expect a 16 year old say, to be accountable for their views, actions or stupid web postings when they are 26 years of age and looking to enter politics for example.

Mud racking it's called, it's bad enough if your offence gets in the paper and some hack remembers reading it and digs it out of the archives, now, everything about everybody is just a click away and forum hosts, like this one do have a responsibility in this matter.

It's certainly not simple, not by a long chalk.

Darragh

Yet it comes directly down to not putting anything online that you're not prepared to stand over.

who the fug

So asking for your account to be closed is not code for assisted suicide

Bottle_of_Smoke

Something I've seen on other sites when a poster gets banned is their profile gets deleted but posts stay.

Basically their name is changed to "guest" and the post looks like its been posted by an annoymous poster.

Obviously their name is still there in quotes in other posts but would be a step in the right direction imo

Tallon

5867 wrote: »

Something I've seen on other sites when a poster gets banned is their profile gets deleted but posts stay.

Basically their name is changed to "guest" and the post looks like its been posted by an annoymous poster.

Obviously their name is still there in quotes in other posts but would be a step in the right direction imo

That is an excellent idea.... What about changing their name to their member number?

As above....

It's not fool proof, but it's a decent thing to offer

Darragh

Tallon wrote: »

That is an excellent idea.... What about changing their name to their member number?

As above....

It's not fool proof, but it's a decent thing to offer

How do we stop the trolls? The people who register just to defame someone, to cause trouble, to be a source of hassle for other users/mods/admins and then think "Okay, had my fun, now can close my account and get away with it"?

How do we make and keep people responsible for their own posts?

Tallon

Darragh wrote: »

How do we stop the trolls? The people who register just to defame someone, to cause trouble, to be a source of hassle for other users/mods/admins and then think "Okay, had my fun, now can close my account and get away with it"?

How do we make and keep people responsible for their own posts?

Sorry, I should have elaborated...

As you were saying about deleting posts on a case by case basis, the name change would be the same (Admin discretion)

For example,

Do-able: "My bf is harassing me, can I close my account and change the name to <member ID or whatever>"

Non do-able: "Ok, you caught me shilling my company, can you change my name so that people don't google my company and see what I've been doing (etc etc)

I agree that you stand by what you post, but I also agree that cases can be dealt with amicably

gbee

Darragh wrote: »

How do we make and keep people responsible for their own posts?

First of all this is not your responsibility. If you do want to take it on then you must have an accountable forum, ie one where ID is backed up by photo evidence and cleared by the local Garda station, commissioner for oaths or similar.

Insect Overlord

gbee wrote: »

First of all this is not your responsibility. If you do want to take it on then you must have an accountable forum, ie one where ID is backed up by photo evidence and cleared by the local Garda station, commissioner for oaths or similar.

You have to be taking the piss. Right?

Bottle_of_Smoke

Darragh wrote: »

How do we stop the trolls? The people who register just to defame someone, to cause trouble, to be a source of hassle for other users/mods/admins and then think "Okay, had my fun, now can close my account and get away with it"?

How do we make and keep people responsible for their own posts?

Can't they just do that anyway?

Okay, had my fun, now can close my account open a new account and get away with it

Wolfe Tone

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Something I've seen on other sites when a poster gets banned is their profile gets deleted but posts stay.

Basically their name is changed to "guest" and the post looks like its been posted by an annoymous poster.

Obviously their name is still there in quotes in other posts but would be a step in the right direction imo

That would be the way to go imo.

Wibbs

Darragh wrote: »

How do we stop the trolls? The people who register just to defame someone, to cause trouble, to be a source of hassle for other users/mods/admins and then think "Okay, had my fun, now can close my account and get away with it"?

How do we make and keep people responsible for their own posts?

Trolls get banned. Repeat offenders get permabanned. From the users pointing them out, to the local mod level, all the way up to admin and a permaban from the entire site. I can't recall any troll/disruptive influence getting nearly to the point where they've established a Boards presence as you've described? Surely D it would require a complete breakdown of the checks and balances in place for that to happen? The general level of discourse on the site and said checks and balances ensure that it doesn't. I can't see that as an argument agin something like BoS suggests anyway.

A-Trak

I'd agree with Wibbs points above.

If a member who's been here long enough to rack up a fair number of posts and has contributed to the site decides they want to close their account, it's for a very reason.

The current process of closing an account seems like a token gesture. I can still click on the members name, search all of their posts and even if if they've changed their name prior to the closure of their account see all their quoted posts with their original name.
All closing an account now achieves seems to be removal of an avatar and the tagline "closed account"
I could just as easily post a signature of "I don't use this site anymore" & it'd achieve mostly the same result

There's obviously a myriad of reasons established or long time posters have reason to leave, or more pointedly, want their account closed.
If it was at an admins discretion to be able to remove that posters name when closing the account and leaving their members number as that would obviously weed out troll accounts/banned users or the ability to abuse the process.

It would also keep the continuity of threads as their posts would remain, just without their usernames.

I understand & agree with the policy of owning the words you post and having to stand over them, but even if it is the internet, we're still human.
We say and do things in real life that we instantly regret or cause us embarrassment in the future, but they float off and if they're made in haste or anger our actions following them eradicate them.
This isn't the same here.

There's any amount of reasons someone's situation in life/work/love may change and they have a very valid reason to leave boards and not have it follow them indefinitely.
If they've been a member that has contributed who have a genuine reason, then why not have the option of removing their username, and more importantly remove the ability to search each and all of their posts but leave their member ID, but the final decision is always up to the admins discretion?

It doesn't hurt anyone, keeps all posts ensuring the integrity of threads and databases.
I'm sure there's been more then few ex posters that have literally had their lives turned upside down based on old posts, and would have given anything for this option.

(As a footnote, all my friends & family know my boards name & there's lots of pictures of me in the forums I frequent, since I was 'outed' as a boardsie! I am very conscious of what I post as a result, so this isn't a personal appeal, and sorry for the wall of text.)

TL;DR
I agree with Tallons,Wibbs & BoS posts above.

The Left Hand Of God

Darragh wrote: »

There's a few answers to this one, so bear with me.

Firstly, we're a platform / site that allows you to discuss matters with other people. By signing up to the site to be able to discuss these matters, you are giving us permission to show what you've written so that the discussion can happen. If you don't want us to show your opinion on the discussion, then you shouldn't put it on the site.

What about all the older posters who signed up when boards.ie terms and conditions were "Welcome" and some standard blurb from vBulletin.

Legally they have not agreed to anything?

Is that correct?