I think this may be relevant for socionics, hence it's here, but if it goes into all sorts of directions I will move it to Anything Goes myself.
It has been pointed out that Dioklecian changed the initial post in a thread lots of times. He has done it before. He also once started a thread saying "Expat sucks as a moderator" and later changed its name to "Expat is a good moderator" or whatever.
I have noted that many others do something of the sort.
Personally I understand - and I have done it myself, on occasion - when you post something, then you regret posting it for whatever reason, and then you delete it/edit it out - immediately. I also understand it when people write something very personal, or post a picture, and then delete it - but in those cases, usually the person knows beforehand that it's temporary.
But I don't see at all the point of deleting/editing out something after lots of people have had a chance to read it and reply to it, only because you regret it and/or don't agree with it anymore.
I mean -- what's the problem of saying, "ok, I shouldn't have said that, I apologize" or "I have changed my mind since the time when I wrote that?"
If anyone would bother, it's very easy to dig up in my old posts socionics concepts, or typings, that I don't agree with anymore. In fact, in hindsight, I think that a lot of what I wrote on socionics in the past is nonsense. But I don't see the point of deleting or editing that. I wiill say, "I thought that then, but I don't think so now. I was wrong and I saw that".
A similar, more extreme, phenomenon is when someone leaves a forum - I have seen it happening here, and in other forums - and makes a point of spending a lot of time, and considerable energy, on deleting/editing out, one by one, all their own posts, regardless of content - even harmless posts. It's as if the person wanted to "erase their own existence" off the forum.
So, what's the point of removing something you have written, after people have read it and replied to it? What can that possibly achieve (again, I don't mean things related to private information)? Why does Dio - among others - change their posts or even thread titles?
My guess is that these people are concerned with the emotional response those posts provoke on others. Especially in Dio's case, he expects a post, or a thread, to provoke an specific response, or to be received in a certain way. Then it doesn't work as, or even backfires, provoking a different kind of emotional response, so he feels compelled to alter it in order to get the reaction he hopes to achieve.
I am using Dioklecian as an example. I think this is what's behind people's motivations to delete/edit out posts that got opposite reactions to those they were expecting. Others have done it.
What do you think?


, LIE, ENTj logical subtype, 8w9 sx/sp
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