Can you remove a thread

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I went to physicsforums.com and made a post linking to the following thread: http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt106767.html
Some people got mad and started contacting people involved in my story (since I put all the real names of everyone). Then the person who did that said that one of the ppl he contacted "told him a rather interesting story" so the "offshot" is that mods should remove that thread in order to aviod involvement in legal action. They removed it in physicsforums.com Can you similarly remove it here in wrongplanet as well?

I am not sure what legal actions they are talking about. But the bottom line is that due to Asperger I simply didn't know that making "accusations" on the internet is illegal. I though that internet is the same as the street I can talk about anything I want; the only difference is that I can be banned from the forum; but I don't have any consequences outside that forum. Well I was wrong. So can you remove the thread?

I promise I will never make similar accusatins again.

PM a moderator- more info in this thread

I have been following your posts and having to remove all the ones with names of people in them. Ignorance of the law is no excuse, or didn't you know that, Roman? It doesn't matter if you have Asperger's Syndrome or Pancreatic Cancer, it doesn't make any excuse.

Also, I can remove your posts from our site, but it is still in cache on Google and anyone that has copied and pasted it anywhere else it is still there.

We have already had this chat, Roman, that your behavior on WrongPlanet.net is problematic. From you asking people for money you have lost your PM rights, and now you are putting our whole website into legal jeopardy with your complaints WITH NAMES!

if you can't be trusted to use this site in a responsible manner, then we can't continue to have you as a member.

Merle
Moderation team

But that is the exact way in which Asperger affects me. If I weren't ignorant about social conventions, I wouldn't have so many trobules socially.

Anyway I am not making excuses. I actually thought about this issue recently in connection to girlfriend, which is completely unrelated to anything we talk about. One thing I realized is that the reason I am "ignorant" of things is that I isolated myself socially. Yes, isolating myself is part of Asperger; but it didn't have to be to the extend that I don't even know anyone's names. If I were to CHOOSE not to isolate myself (however much effort it would take) a lot of things I am "confused" about would have been obvious.

So yes, it is my fault I CHOSE to be ignorant of the way the world works during the past years of my self-imposed isolation. And I am sorry about it.

How about this: I have just learned hard way something I didn't know before, namely that internet is not as safe as I thought it is. So from now on if I want to talk about something, I talk about it to my office-mates, THAT is safe. Or if I feel compelled to post something to get more opinions, I ask my office mates if THEY think it is okay to post it.



By the way, can I ask you a big favor. I don't feel comfortable my professors reading how I was complaining about relationships and stuff. I also don't want them to read religious posts of mine either. So since it is likely they are going to read this message board, can you just remove ALL the posts I have made?



You hit a nail on a head when you said the word "complaint". The ONE confusion I had was that I didn't know it was "complaint". I thought that in order to write a complaint I should email someone at the university, or at least make it clear that that is my intention. On the other hand, I was simply TALKING, so it didn't even occur to me that a LEISURELY conversation could be construed as complaint.

After all, I been also talking for a very long time about various girls rejecting me. No one thought of THAT as a complaint -- and it wasn't: no girl OWES me anything. But I didn't have to explain to anyone that it wasn't a complaint, it was simply clear. So I thought that if I talk about professors it is just as clear that it is LEISURELY conversation as when I talk about girls.

AFTER THE FACT, I realize the difference: girls do not represent official organizations while professors do. But that is only something I see after the fact. The reason I didn't see it before is that I can talk to my mom or to my gf about profs, and it is not seen as complaint. Again, after the fact I see the difference: written communication is taken more seriously than verbal. But I didn't realize that until after the fact either.

Once agian, I am sorry that I didn't know the way the world works. I am sorry.

I really DON"T mean to make any complaints. Even if I had a perfect case that I am sure to win, I AM SIMPLY NOT INTERESTED! I was simply bored and wanted to make a post. I could have made religious post instead, or whatever would give me something to talk about.

Right now when the LEISURELY post that I made out of boredom is taken to be a "complaint" I don't care about defending my position either. All I want is for everyone to ignore what I posted, and get OUT of this situation.

By the way, when you said this puts a website into "legal jeapordy", did you mean that you would be contacting professors, or did you mean THEY might be contacting you? Can you please NOT contact any professor unless THEY contact you first?




I will be more careful from now on I promise.

It is simply that I been posting for such a long time that I got used to an idea that anything and everything is okay. I mean, some of my religious posts can be construed as questionable, but no one was mad at me for those. Well, right now I see that things are not as loose as I thought they are, so I will pay more attention,

If I might try to make a helpful suggestion for friend Roman:

I try not to put anything on the internet or even email that I am not willing to stand in the center of campus and shout to the world. Don't always trust office-mates. They may occasionally engage in 'pranks' or try to get you canned if they really dislike you.

Personally, I'd like to see you stay simply because you're so sincere. You've made mistakes and screw-ups, but you really seem to honestly want to learn. Having been through similar screw-ups and still on the 'learning' path myself I have an innate sympathy for this. Currently, I spend about 1/2 hour (sometimes longer) on each post, editing and re-editing for tone and content. Then I leave the post alone for a bit, come back, Preview it and read it fresh. THEN I finally hit submit.

Even then I sometimes screw up. And if I ever write straight from raw emotion, I screw up 99% of the time. Oh and never post when drunk... jeez, talk about some real humdingers! I've got a few of those embarrassments floating around.

Last edited by ViperaAspis on 07 Sep 2009, 9:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Its a lesson most of us have to go through - the realization that what we put out in cyberspace is not the least bit private. No one will delete it for you, so you've got to think before you post. Its a record of who you are that will be around, well, a VERY long time.

I wish that wasn't true, because it would be nice to reveal more at times than I do, but it is what it is. Within a certain time frame you can edit your own posts, but after that, they stand. Fortunately, they do get buried a bit.

Rules to play by:
1) Keep your screen name private; it should not be your real name.
2) Don't post anything that you are not willing to discuss in real life with anyone who may ever connect the screen name to the real name and find your posts. Honestly, someone would have to be pretty persistant to get that far, so I don't hold back that much, but I do hold back names of any sort. We are very, very public here. You are always weighing the benefit of sharing with the cost of discovery, so post well.
3) Don't connect the real name to the screen name anywhere in your internet life.
4) Don't post real names or locations.

Consider it a life lesson and move forward more wisely. Don't look back; what is done, is done.