Never Having to Say You’re Sorry About a Blog Post

[EDITORIAL NOTE: While I was sleeping standup comedian, Mrs. Hughes, left a note (scroll way down) in the comments of her TGB Interview with some good news about an upcoming television appearance. You can track the dates of upcoming guests on the show's website.]

A couple of days ago, Grannie Annie of Fools Rush In, published a story about deleting blog posts.

“My entry will be written and posted and then I will hear my father’s voice, saying: ‘When in doubt, don’t.’ I will look at my post again and if I have doubts about what I have said, it gets the big old D-E-L-E-T-E.”

I was surprised. I can remember deleting only one post on the advice of an attorney while I was considering a lawsuit regarding the subject of the post. Otherwise, it has never occurred to me to remove a post. Plus, it has become so much second nature now that I hardly need to remind myself to ask my daily question as the mouse pointer hovers over the Publish button: Would it bother me if this were printed on the front page of The New York Times?

In the earliest days of this blog, I occasionally didn’t click the Publish button, but looking at it in retrospect, that had more to do with the shyness of a newbie than any impropriety in the post.

Certainly there are posts I wish I had written better. There are some others that were so lightweight they nearly float off the screen and seem, when I look back, a waste of my time and yours. And sometimes, weeks or months later, I’ve changed my opinion, but that doesn’t invalidate what I believed when I wrote it. So those remain in place, too, waiting for someone to discover them and shout, “Gotcha.”

Because few people read much of past blog posts, so far no one has.

There are certain items any blogger would be foolish to publish:

• Anything at all about coworkers or place of employment
• Photographs of children
• Street address or any other personal contact data except, if you want readers to contact you, email address

Plus, of course, it is a violation of copyright to publish:

• Entire stories from other publications without permission
• Photographs for which you do not own the rights
• Cartoons are copyrighted too

Copyright law is more complex than that short list, but a good, general rule-of-thumb is, if you didn’t write or draw it or take the photo, don’t publish it unless you have obtained permission or are invited to do so as on such sites as YouTube.

But none of that is the point Grannie Annie was making.

In the earliest days of blogging, before it became widely popular, it was a point of pride to never change previous posts – to, in essence, treat your blog as a print publication; when it’s published, it’s set in stone. I hadn’t realized, until I read Grannie Annie’s post, how deeply I had internalized that edict.

However, one of the best improvements of the internet over hard copy publishing is the ease with which wrong information can be corrected after publishing, and the convention is to do so either by inserting an update or with a strikethrough which allows you to acknowledge errors and correct them in the same breath.

Although I’m tired of the repetition surrounding the idea, authenticity is highly prized in the blogosphere: “Say what you mean and mean what you say.” I think keeping that in mind together with "the New York Times question" as your finger aims the cursor at the Publish button goes a long way toward never having to say you’re sorry - or deleting posts.

On the other hand, maybe bloggers don’t care about the issue and delete willy-nilly. What about you?

[At The Elder Storytelling Place today, Celia Jones continues with Part 2 of Derbyshire County: Something in the Water?]

Comments

[Claude]

When I started off blogging, and hadn't found the strikethrough thingie, I used to delete. Now, if I realise I've made a mistake, I use the strikethrough. The only case when I have changed anything to a blog was once, when someone asked me to remove their photo from a post.
And, yes, I WILL correct my spelling or typing mistakes, if I notice them ;)

[Ronni Bennett]

Agreed, Claude. I do change typos and other kinds of grammar and punctuation errors.

What has always amazed me in web publishing is that those small errors are harder to see in draft. I don't get it, because they are so obvious once a post is published. I think gremlins do it just to annoy me.

[Candace]

Thank you so much for mentioning copyright violations regarding art and photography.

It simply astounds me that so many people think they can just copy and paste and use an image they found on the internet without payment or permission.

Here is how you know you can use any particular photo: If you yourself pressed the shutter on the camera, you can use the photo.

If the person who actually took the photograph gives permission or has been paid and given you license to do so, you can use the photo.

If the photo has a creative common license that allows usage in blogs. Many sites such as Wikipedia have photos you may use that have a creative common license.

If none of the three above apply to the photo you want to use, you are stealing that image and breaking the law.

By the way, not knowing the photographer or how to find them to ask is no excuse!

Thank you from a professional photographer who is stolen from on a daily basis and is very tired of it!

[Marlys Styne]

Yes, being able to catch and correct typos is one of the advantages of on-line publishing. However, while some of my earlier posts now seem less that brilliant or meaningful, I leave them alone. They provide a constant record of my progress--or lack thereof--as a blogger and a writer in general.

[Rain]

I don't use photos of my family and most especially not of my grandchildren-- even though they are mine-- knowing how many perverts there are online and because my blog, being sometimes controversial, could cause my kids problems with coworkers or clients.

When I use scenery pictures (all of which I will have taken), I cut them down in size to make them faster to load on the page but also of less value for someone to take. I request that anyone using words of mine give me credit. On images, I have asked that they ask permission. Naturally a person doesn't know if they do as who can check the web.

People warned me when I began online to be careful about using photos of myself but I have yet to have a problem from that. I don't use photos that I consider sexy at all. It probably helps that I am the age I am though.

It is definitely a sticky issue because even in published books, things are taken as in whole passages or plots.

[bill]

I always correct errors in spelling or punctuation if I see them and sometimes I make other changes if it strikes my fancy. I don't understand the view that a post has to stand exactly the way it was originally published.

I have deleted at least one post. I had written about visiting a crafts fair put on by a local religious community. It attracted a comment from someone with some uncomplimentary things to say about the community. Their attorney contacted me objecting to the comment, which he said was from a unhappy former member. I thought the commenter was within his rights but I did not want my blog to become a focus for a controversy that I wasn't even involved in personally, so I "unpublished" the post and its comments. Perhaps that was a cowardly thing to do.

[Virginia]

I frequently change things after the fact, especially on my Web Teacher blog. Most of my traffic there is search engine generated and people find old articles from years ago that way. Here's an example of one that I changed after I realized I'd done something stupid in the original version.

[Ronni Bennett]

Virginia...

Very cool, that correction - clear and easy to recognize. I'm going to adopt that format.

Bill:

"Perhaps that was a cowardly thing to do."

I don't think it was cowardly. Few of us are professional bloggers and it's important to choose one's battles.

[Nikki]

I'm not a deep thinker like you, Ronni, so you'd think I might have more reasons to delete stuff off my blog that I put there in haste and without thinking much.

But I've been blogging for nearly 2 years and can only remember going back and deleting part of one sentence. I guess I generally say what I mean and mean what I say. I'm kind of simple-minded in that way. I think of that as a trait many Midwesterners have, but that might just be an old wive's tale. :)

[kacey]

I think I've only deleted one post. Right after I posted it. Decided it was just too much information. As my blog found its over the last 3 years, I have gone back and moved some posts to a category that I don't show in the sidebar. They are still there though if anyone searches for them.

I also get quite a bit of search engine traffic, so I do go back and edit and correct or add to old posts.

[Suzz]

Even with a spell checker and several reviews, I’ve gone back and made corrections to published posts. I’ve also completely deleted two posts. One was so totally misinterpreted by readers who did not read all the way to the end, that it was useless trying to explain the beginning. The other was written and published in haste and made me look more stupid that the subject I wrote about! Now I usually wait awhile, reread, and if I’m still comfortable with what I wrote, hit the publish button. Thanks for your comments on the copyright law. I just came from a new blog found through Technorati whose author, although he linked my post but gave no credit, appears to have condensed my Train Man story into one paragraph!

[Deejay]

I've only deleted one, when an anonymous commenter pointed out an error which merited more than a mere correction, in fact it destroyed my whole argument, rendering the post meaningless. So I just said to hell with it, deleted the post and moved on.

[lilalia]

It is funny but your practice of not deleting posts after the fact, contradicts some of those blog gurus advice. They advised going back to the archives an doing a bit of trimming and weeding out of less important posts.

So, I did go off once with the best of intentions, and I did delete the odd one here or there. Then I dropped the whole exercise as being silly.

None of what I written is inappropriate or ridiculous. Perhaps some of the posts are too lightweight for some people's tastes. I take the litmus test and question whether my children will find the post babble in ten years time. If not, it stays.

[Nancy]

I haven't commented here because I don't think I have the talent to consistently write a blog.

But, I read all the comments and when I read Candace's and she supplied a link to her photography, I went to her site.

There I found one of the most beautiful pictures I have ever seen. It is of a lovely girl and her horse.

Now I know why Candace would be upset if someone used that photo without her permission. It took a lot of thought and talent to get that picture and Candace deserves to use it to her own advantage, not someone else's.....

[kenju]

I change typos and misspellings, and I also wonder why they are so easy to see once you publish, and hard to see in draft! LOL

I once did change a post because a later post about the same organization was negative and I had to delete prior info about the same group.

[sylvia]

I've once deleted a post. In a huff, I wrote more about a personal argument than was acceptable. Once I calmed down, I realised what I'd done and removed the post. If it had been up for more than half an hour? I'd have left it. Deleting can bite you from behind as much as a bad post can, in my opinion.

And I certainly think that you should be very careful about copyright, even when the site invites you to break it.

[sylvia]

(followup)

To be honest, I often disagree with people - and still read their blogs (even you!). But if I took the time to comment that I disagreed, and that post (along with its comments) disappeared - well, I'd drop that blog off my reading list, to be honest. People disagreeing with you is the worst reason I can think of for deletion.

[Wendy]

One of the greatest joys about blogging is that the only censorship is self-censorship. When the first news bloggers came into their own, it was because there was no editorial control over their content.

My rule of thumb is that if the thoughts and words are authentically mine, then go ahead and post. However, if I am posting opinion, rather than fact, then I'm very careful not to slander anyone. If I'm going to disagree with a position, it will be an objective assessment --because the written word is on record.

I have deleted a few posts in the past, but only when I found them weak, and it was usually in retrospect. And I've made one change due to a trademark infringement that I had been unaware of. Oh...and typos. Whenever I find them. Which is often.

[candace]

To Nancy

Thank you. You have just made my day!

[Joy from WI]

A friend once told me that if the post has served it's purpose, don't worry about deleting it. I have to agree.

My blog is all mine.If something seems to personal later, I might delete it. Doesn't happen much but just today I did delete a post I posted last night.

Why? Because I wrote when I had no one to talk to and I felt upset. It helped to write and express the frustration instead of holding it in. But this morning I felt better and I didn't need others to read or comment about it. It was just better for me to take it down. To make those feelings more private again.

[George]

I think that bloggers need to think seriously about deleting posts and comments.It goes to credibility and trust.

The rise in blogs is partly due to the lack of trust with mainstream media, due to media consolidation. So, I hope that bloggers don't repeat the mistakes which mainstream media seems to make more frequently lately. It used to be called yellow or slanted journalism... printing a single view of an issue while ignoring other sides, due to some self interest (and/or due to incompetence).

At my blog, I have not deleted any posts. I have deleted 2 comments from spammers, since the comments didn't contain anything about the post topic and instead pitched an irrelevant product or web site.

[Joy from WI]

Because I admitted to deleting posts, I want to comment about losing crediability.

I don't think deleting my posts, which are purely personal in nature, causes my blog to lose credibility.

What I mean is, I don't write about issues or politics. It's just about my life.

I could understand if my posts were controversial. But for personal diary-like posts, how deleting a post create a problem?