On Deleted Blog Posts…

Dear Deb,

I came by looking for a post called “WAHMs: Make Sure the Ends Justifies the Means” that you wrote last summer about residual writers. I know it was there and now it’s gone. Several posts in that same discussion are gone too. I think what everyone says about you, that you change your tune to suit your sponsors is true. I don’t respect you anymore. Only people with something to hide delete blog posts.

I dare you to post this.

Signed some anonymous emailer

So I’m not posting this email because I was dared to, I’m posting it because this isn’t the first time I was asked about the “WAHM” post. I also deleted other blog posts having to do with that discussion. I didn’t delete them because of my affiliation with Demand Studios, though, and I didn’t delete them because I changed my mind. I deleted them because I hurt people’s feelings and I feel bad about it.

I don’t change my tune about how I feel about residual sites. Someone working for one month and only earning a quarter doesn’t sit right with me. However, I posted some forum entries and made a few judgment calls and that wasn’t very professional or nice.  After reading blog posts and comments about the now famous “WAHM” post, I felt bad.I mentioned some time ago that.  I mentioned it in another blog post but no one said anything so I didn’t think it was that major a point.

That’s what happens whenever I react in anger.  I write things I regret. Yes, I delete blog posts. I delete them not because I changed my mind or way of thinking, but because I feel bad about how they made other people feel. It’s those blog posts and the reaction to them that made me take my vow of positivity for 2010.

You know what, though?

I meet a lot of people who remember that blog post. They didn’t see it as me helping them to understand a better way, they saw it as me talking down to them and posting parts of their forum discussion here for all to see. It wasn’t appreciated. I regret making them feel that way.

I have many blogging regrets and each one of them has to do with my reacting in anger at one thing or another.

I realize there are people who don’t respect me for this and a variety of other reasons. It is what it is. I don’t think it’s wrong to delete content. What’s wrong is to react in anger and treat people unfairly. So I’m making  a conscious effort to not do that anymore.

Do you have any regrets as a blogger? Have you ever deleted a blog post? If so why? Have you ever regretted a blog post? Tell us about it.


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6 responses
  1. Diane C. Avatar

    As a more recent reader of your blog, I missed the WAHM story, so I have no idea what the issue was!
    However, I do know about being careful what one writes… especially in anger; and also the issue of not realizing whose feelings may be hurt. I haven’t deleted any blog posts (yet). However, right at the beginning, I edited once “after the fact”, because I was told that some issues may raise hackles and it was better to avoid them, and err on the side of caution.

  2. Samantha Avatar

    I haven’t deleted a post, but I have deleted part of one. It was one that I wrote hastily, before I’d heard both sides of a particular argument. The sentence I deleted, I did so because it made a snap judgment that I wouldn’t have made once I’d heard both sides. Also, making snap judgments and pronouncements is something that’s out of character for me, so I felt kind of weird doing it.
    .-= Samantha´s last blog ..Spelling and Grammar: “wont” vs “won’t” =-.

  3. P.S. Jones Avatar

    I haven’t deleted blog posts but I have gone back and deleted commments on blog posts because I have realized that I was wrong and just rude. So I deleted the original comment and then submitted a new comment apologizing for previous things I’ve said as well as explaining what changed my mind.

  4. Adrienne Avatar

    Wow. I have no idea what you’re talking about but it’s your blog. If that post caused disruption to your blog then sure delete it. If you deleted it because 2 people left a negative comment then that would be wrong. Well not wrong but silly.

    I’m sure she wasn’t trying to find the post because she wanted to read the information but because she probably heard about the uproar and wanted to read the comments.
    .-= Adrienne´s last blog ..Walk Away The Pounds-5 Day Fit Walk DVD-Review =-.

  5. Imogen Avatar

    Delete a post or not, at your leisure, but PLEASE Mr Google – when a page is deleted, can’t it also be deleted from the cache??

    Maybe someone with a lot more search engine knowledge can enlighten me on why this stuff is kept around?
    .-= Imogen´s last blog ..Pet Peeves of Freelance Job Ads =-.

  6. Brendan Thatcher Avatar

    I just subscribed to this blog through Google Reader, and am afraid I’m a bit behind the times here, but I wanted to chime in.

    I have deleted personal blog posts before, and I was moderated one time by a friend who thought my reply to his post was appropriate but not in the spirit of the discussion he was having. The comment I wrote that was not posted on my friend’s blog was intended to “help” him see my side of the argument, but it had to to with politics and I was rather opinionated and harsh about it. It made me realize that I’ve got to be more careful when commenting, especially when the topic is controversial. I love the banter back and forth, but sometimes my passion can get in the way of the actual conversation. I can’t imagine posting something I’d regret on a professional blog, but maybe that’s because I’ve never ran one before. We’ll see what happens because I plan to start one in the near future.
    .-= Brendan Thatcher´s last blog ..Children of Men =-.

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