GAG Creators/Designers/Developers do not believe giving users the capability to edit is a good idea. I do not know why. I asked them about this, and this was their response:
"We currently do not allow editing to prevent trolling on the site."
I have thought about this for a long time, and I still don't know what they mean by this. I'm sure they have reasons, and clearly do not want to disclose them, but I cannot figure them out. I have chatted with several people about this and no one has been able to come up with a reason(s) that make sense. Especially as we have the capability to delete others' comments on our own questions, but not our own comments.
What specifically could be the potential downfall to providing it? I'm open to and enjoy analyzing the design and thinking behind many things. If you have some ideas about what they feel the negative repercussions might be, please comment below.
At first I thought it could be because it would disrupt the conversation threads and some comments would not make sense if the preceding ones were later altered or deleted. (Sequencing problem.) But then I discussed this with someone very familiar with many other social media sites, and he said they could notate it to say "Edited" or it could be an additional post added to the bottom of that same comment, instead of replacing the original words, or having to add a new separate message.
I know many of you want this feature. If for no other reason, having a bunch of typos can be annoying and look sloppy. I usually just leave them and don't bother noting them afterwards, but I see that some people do write a correction with a "*..." and this is one way to handle it, though it does create some extra bloat down the page. But clearly, many people do care about their writing and being clear and understood.
Now to be clear - We should ONLY be allowed to edit our own comments, NOT those of any other user. That is not even a question, in my mind.
So this is partly a joke, but partly serious...
"We, the Users of GAG, promise to behave ourselves, and act responsibly and fairly, if you grant us the right to edit our own content that only we have written. We believe it is our human right, and is in keeping with social media internet industry standards.
We also promise not to act like a bunch of wild, misbehaving, drunken monkeys, with no manners whatsoever. Or llamas who spit on people. Or hippopotamuses who haven't yet eaten their lunch and think they own the entire pond. Or a pack of cackling hyenas on acid who run around the Serengeti laughing and howling in the dark. Or geese. Just geese. Or any bunch of stark raving lunatics drunk on power. And if we ever get the 6 Infinity Stones, we will not decimate half the world's population. Cause that would be wrong. Probably.
We admit that sometimes we are fools who get carried away, get ahead of ourselves, get mad, and say some crazy **** and we would like the chance to make amends and correct the error of our ways.
Oh, and curse these miniature mobile phone keyboards and our fat fingers, and bad eyes. We know not what we type.
Please, Magic Fairy, Oh Mighty God, Deus ex Machina, Omnipotent One, grant us this one wish."
Sign the petition if you like...
Pretty please. By Dua Lipa
Drunken Monkeys, St. Kitt's, West Africa
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