Comment on [PSA] Lemmy account deletion is a mess
Steve@communick.news 3 days ago
The problem isn’t in the system, but in your expectations.
You’re starting with a wrong assumption that things publicly available on the internet can simply be deleted. That’s not how any of this works.
Maybe that’s our fault. Maybe we weren’t clear enough back when you started using the internets. But It’s true, deleting things online is very difficult. You shouldn’t ever expect it to be simple or easy.
CorrodedCranium@leminal.space 3 days ago
Don’t you think that’s shifting the goalpost a bit? OP isn’t talking about something being archived they’re talking about a piece of content on social media still directly linking to that username.
Deleting things in as many places as possible making it harder to access is still a net positive.
It’s about as much of a part or mechanic of Lemmy as posting is.
Steve@communick.news 3 days ago
What goal post? There is no actual, technical, difference, between archive and active. As soon as a post is made, it’s old, and part of the accessible archive of past posts and accounts.
A basic reality from the beginning of the internet, is that you once you make something publicly available, it’s out there. You can’t really ever take it back. It’s just a fundamental principal of how the internet works. A lot of people seem to forget that.
CorrodedCranium@leminal.space 3 days ago
But deleting stuff is an easy way to limit the amount of potential viewers.
Most people aren’t going to put in the effort. If OP’s account deletion spreads across most of Lemmy, even just the larger instances, most people aren’t going to see their older posts.
That seems to be what OP is after. More in line with hiding poorly written Doctor Who fan fiction than hiding from the government in the woods.
Steve@communick.news 3 days ago
You’re still missing the fundamental reality of the situation.
Stuff online generally doesn’t get deleted. And almost never because you want it to. I think the EU passed a law about the “right to be forgotten”. But the reality is, that’s like fighting gravity. The effort and resources it takes to truly break orbit are far beyond most people’s, and even most government’s means. Same with truly deleting anything online.
bonjour@lemmy.world 3 days ago
Hello Mr. Internet,
do you think that the expected behaviour of the lemmy software would be that account deletions do not get federated whatsoever?
Steve@communick.news 3 days ago
Please, call me Steve.
Reality holds no responsibility to conform to anyone’s expectations. However, my decades in the reality of the internet have shaped my expectations. I never expect anything on the internet to be truly deleted. Accounts are locked, but they and everything associated with them still exists. If you contact support, and sufficiently prove you’re you, they can reinstate your account. In the rare cases they can’t, they make it abundantly clear, and explain why they can’t, in the deletion process.
Unless Lemmy specifically states all changes are guaranteed to be federated, I’d assume by default none will. I’ll reiterate, reality has no responsibility to conform to my expectations. Deletions may in fact be federated sometimes.
But that’s immaterial, since I don’t post anything with the expectation I’ll ever be able to delete it. An expectation build upon reality, not the reverse. An expectation I’m trying to impress on you.