Deleting posts at posters' requests

[BIWI]

I've just been reading @TidyDancer's thread, which popped up in Active Convos today, which was started back in 2011. (Feels like only yesterday !)

Several posts have been deleted, at posters' requests - presumably they deregistered for some reason, and then asked for everything they had posted to be withdrawn. But it leaves the thread a bit 'holey', and disrupts the conversation/narrative.

Instead of deleting the posts, would it not be possible to just delete the usernames? You'd probably also have to have some kind of way of deleting any mention of said usernames too, as replies might make it obvious who had made the post. But it would leave the thread much more intact.

Now that Cod has learnt to spell/type properly it's unlikely that anyone would be able to identify who the poster was, I think.

[DawnMumsnet]

Hi @BIWI - wherever possible, we try to avoid carrying out mass deletions as obviously they can leave a lot of holes in a lot of threads. Our first option would always be to offer a retrospective name change on past posts, and that's most often what happens.

But if someone has a serious need for their posting history to be completely removed we'll take their circumstances into account. We'd rather old threads had a few holes in them than someone's safety be compromised.

[BIWI]

OK. Fair enough. Obviously don't want anyone's safety compromised.