Editing posts

53 posts / 0 new
Last post
CyberLN's picture
Editing posts

From your forum mods:

If you edit a post, please use both manners and honor and immediately indicate what you have changed. This will reduce confusion and dishonesty.

It seems obvious, but we will mention that punctuation and spelling changes don’t necessarily need to be noted.

Subscription Note: 

Choosing to subscribe to this topic will automatically register you for email notifications for comments and updates on this thread.

Email notifications will be sent out daily by default unless specified otherwise on your account which you can edit by going to your userpage here and clicking on the subscriptions tab.

ʝօɦռ 6IX ɮʀɛɛʐʏ's picture
What about syntactic changes?

What about syntactic changes?

I personally find this annoying. The purpose behind editing is to improve clarity and communication. If you then have to specify what you edited, you might as well not edit and write a second post.

Honesty should be implied from the writer and whatever changes they make, not demanded. Asking a writer to show you their edits is like asking a puppeteer to show you their strings. They're not meant to be seen, that's why they're edited.

EDITS:

1. I added a paragraph underneath the initial line.
2. I added an explanation of the writers role towards the reader.
3. I removed the word just from the last sentence of the second paragraph, since it seemed unnecessary.
4. Supposed changed to implied, improving the intended meaning.
5. An analogy is introduced between writers and puppeteers.

Nyarlathotep's picture
Less than 3 hours ago you
ʝօɦռ 6IX ɮʀɛɛʐʏ's picture
Right, but not one made by

Right, but not one made by the writer. One kept by the system the way fb an other social medias keep track of edits.

Nyarlathotep's picture
But you just told us that

But you just told us that edits are not meant to be seen.

ʝօɦռ 6IX ɮʀɛɛʐʏ's picture
They're not, and they won't

They're not, and they won't be. That edit history is hidden, but easily accessible if a reader is bored enough to look through them. I think that's a great compromise. It would certainly expunge me of guilt when Cyber wants to accuse me of dishonesty.

How to edit facebook posts

EDIT:
1. Added link.

CyberLN's picture
Guilt expungement would occur

Guilt expungement would occur, as well, by owning up to the changes you make, John. In another string, you said you politely decline doing so. Interesting that you now have done it. So, only do it when convenient?

ʝօɦռ 6IX ɮʀɛɛʐʏ's picture
Well you've threatened to

Well you've threatened to kick me out in the past. You certainly wrote this thread with some I'll-kick-you-out-if-you-don't-comply authority.

Let me know I won't get kicked out, and I'll stop complying immediately.

CyberLN's picture
I don’t think I’ve played

I don’t think I’ve played fast and loose with the ban button but I will not guarantee that anyone will / not get banned.

xenoview's picture
I think people should be

I think people should be honest about changing their post.

algebe's picture
Corrections of minor spelling

Corrections of minor spelling or grammar errors are fine in my opinion.

But if the entire meaning will be changed, such as inserting the word "not" into a sentence when it was omitted in error, I think that should be indicated. For example, if you write "atheists are stupid", people will respond angrily. If you then correct it to "atheists are not stupid" without saying anything, the other contributors will be left looking like idiots.

ʝօɦռ 6IX ɮʀɛɛʐʏ's picture
My stance has been edit

My stance has been edit freely until someone responds.

I guess the rule bothers me because I actually enjoy writing. It's like art for me. I love it when I get a sentence just right, grammatically, semantically, and syntactically. I don't think I'm wrong in assuming others appreciate that about my writing as well, I think it shows that I care.

This rule isn't going to affect people that just vomit out word without care. It's going to affect those that do care about perfection. I'm stained dishonest for not wanting to show the process behind it, and dishonesty kills conversations, which is the whole reason I'm here.

This rule makes me feel like people want to see me naked, and show them my linguistic bras lol.

Edit:

1. Changed final remark.

algebe's picture
There's some voodoo spell on

There's some voodoo spell on the input box that masks errors until your comment has been posted. Then all the mistakes suddenly become glaringly obvious. [LOL]

I agree that's important to write correctly. I take the time to craft my sentences, and I hate to see errors in my work, in part because I get paid to produce quality English. But I think the art stops being a work in progress once someone has commented on it, so in fairness to other participants in a discussion, major edits that affect meaning should be noted IMHO.

algebe's picture
@John 61X Breezy:

@John 61X Breezy:

Edit:

1. Changed final remark.

I still don't get it.

ʝօɦռ 6IX ɮʀɛɛʐʏ's picture
Brassieres are private, they

Brassieres are private, they're not meant to be seen by the public. Its implied that women wear them, no need to be demonstrated.

As to the voodoo I agree. It's one of those funny psychology of language problems. We don't just read, as if we're downloading information. We actively predict what will be said next. If you're the writer it's a problem because you already know what it's supposed to say next, so you're blinded to the errors. If you're a reader it's a problem because you'll read your bias into it as well, that's how misunderstandings arise.

A trick is to read it backwards. It stops you from being able to predict.

algebe's picture
@John 61X Breezy: psychology

@John 61X Breezy: psychology of language problems

True. We trend to see what we except. A big problem for me is wrong words that are spelled wright. An English-language newspaper in Japan ran a column headed "Pubic bond prices" for several months before anyone noticed. I use words like public, finance, shift, earnings a lot, so I've put pubic, fiance, shit, earrings in my exceptions dictionary. They're all perfectly good words that can slip past the censor.

ʝօɦռ 6IX ɮʀɛɛʐʏ's picture
I'm not sure why word

I'm not sure why word processors aren't trained to recognized these mistakes yet. It doesn't seem all that difficult to program. The word "your" is almost always followed by a noun or an adjective; whereas "you're" tends to be followed by a verb or adverb. I can't think of a single situation in which there's ambiguity and the two can be interchanged.
.

Nyarlathotep's picture
John 6IX Breezy - The word

John 6IX Breezy - The word "your" is almost always followed by a noun or an adjective...

Your very fast car is wrecked. ---was followed by an adverb.
------------------------------------------------------------

John 6IX Breezy - ..."you're" tends to be followed by a verb or adverb.

You're lost. ---was followed by an adjective.

algebe's picture
And "yore" usually follows

And "yore" usually follows "in days of..."

Spelling and grammar checkers are getting better, but their/they're/there no substitute for the human eye/I/aye.

watchman's picture
No problem.....

No problem.....

IMO a useful protocol ,particularly for those posters for whom "English" is not their first language ..

Old man shouts at clouds's picture
Can't say I have a problem

Can't say I have a problem with the Mod's request. I frequently edit my posts for punctuation and the odd missing word after the event.
It just means I will note that in future.
The only people that this will affect are those that are, indeed, dishonest.

It will save us all taking screenshots of certain writers posts.

As a professional writer for some years it is standard practice to take an editorial history for non fiction subjects, especially when dealing with third party information. The habit stuck with me and even in scripts and short pieces. I kept an edit history on file as drafts just in case...and that has been needed on occasion!

ʝօɦռ 6IX ɮʀɛɛʐʏ's picture
This doesn't affect dishonest

This doesn't affect dishonest people in the least lol. They can just lie about the edits they claimed to have made.

Old man shouts at clouds's picture
Well I have gotten into the

Well I have gotten into the habit of screenshooting your posts for obvious reasons.

Funny how you manage to imbue even the simplest request with your childish behaviour?

ʝօɦռ 6IX ɮʀɛɛʐʏ's picture
My ex-girlfriend used to take

My ex-girlfriend used to take screenshots as well lol. Perhaps you guys can exchanged them like baseball cards.

jonthecatholic's picture
I agree with the OP. I find

I agree with the OP. I find it taxing though so I usually just make a new one. But I do understand the need to specify that something has been edited. Especially in a debate forum.

Tin-Man's picture
No problemo. Pretty logical

No problemo. Pretty logical and reasonable request. Don't know what all the fuss is about.

mykcob4's picture
I guess Breezy started this

I guess Breezy started this shit and the moderators tried to make accommodations. Great effort Nyar and CyberLN.
I edit all the time but only because I see a mistake I made and that Grammarly didn't catch...you see I'm lazy. I don't edit in order to restructure my post after the fact. I can see why that can be a problem especially for people that don't value honor and integrity and claim that they cheat every chance that they get.
I will try to comply with the moderators request unless I HONESTLY forget, which I am apt to do.

If you post something and someone calls you out on your post and you EDIT that post to make (it) appear that you never wrote what you originally wrote then you have no reason to be on a discussion forum.
A lot of people say "I stand by what I wrote" and they don't mean that at all. They should say "I stand by what I rewrote"!

I edited this post because I originally forgot to put "it" before appear in the last paragraph. The edited version has "it" in parenthesis to note that it was the edited part.

ʝօɦռ 6IX ɮʀɛɛʐʏ's picture
I edited this post because I

"I edited this post because I originally forgot to put "it" before appear in the last paragraph. The edited version has "it" in parenthesis to note that it was the edited part."

Oh geez lol. We've entered a dystopia.

Old man shouts at clouds's picture
"Oh breezy you are so clever"

"Oh breezy you are so clever" *breaks into girlish flirtatious giggles*

FFS you wanker, just do what the mods ask or fuck off you dill.

*3 sentences of molten abuse redacted before posting.

ʝօɦռ 6IX ɮʀɛɛʐʏ's picture
Have you been British this

Have you been British this whole time?

My internal narration of your comments just switched to Monty Python mode. Its beautiful.

algebe's picture
@John 61X Breezy: just

@John 61X Breezy: just switched to Monty Python mode

[LOL] That sounds more like Sid Vicious to me. If you want to speak like Monty Python, you'll need to go to Oxford or Cambridge.

Pages

Donating = Loving

Heart Icon

Bringing you atheist articles and building active godless communities takes hundreds of hours and resources each month. If you find any joy or stimulation at Atheist Republic, please consider becoming a Supporting Member with a recurring monthly donation of your choosing, between a cup of tea and a good dinner.

Or make a one-time donation in any amount.