Deleting posts

[Mustardmit]

Hi, maybe I've missed something but there doesn't seem to be a facility for posters to remove/delete their own posts. Is there a practical reason why this isn't an option?
Youtube has it, Facebook and Myspace have it as, I think most other forums do too.
I could list a few very good reasons why this should be available as an option -and apologies if it is and I've not read all the smallprint !
Cheers
MM

[factor-fiction]

Do you mean delete their questions, their answers, or both? Can you give examples of when the facilty would be useful?
If you make an error in a question you can close the question.
It is an answerbank so if questions and answers were deleted the bank of answers would be reduced, which goes against the purpose of the site.
I have made errors when typing questions and responses (eg adding a link incorrectly, accidentally deleting some text and some spelling howlers) and sometimes wish I could edit existing postings of mine, but clearly that would make it difficult to follow a thread and would encourage some trolls to type abuse then remove it.
Worth a debate though.

[squarebear]

The reason this isn't included is that certain members would post threads just to goad people and then edit or delete their own posts to make them look innocent.

[society]

good point about the trolls posting and then deleting. that one didn't occur to me.

[jno]

it's pre-troll... the idea is just that it's an archive... well, a bank... of useful information

[Mustardmit]

Ah ok, fair enough. The main reason I asked is because it occurred to me that sometimes a post could be made and put in the wrong section or that someone in an unusual/emotional state of mind could post something they shouldn't have/regret. I put a post in the 'adverts' section that on reflection I wish I hadn't -looking at it later, I thought it seemed flippant and unnecessary.
Thanks for the answers.
MM

[factor-fiction]

If anyone accidentally posts a question in the wrong section, or makes a mistake in a question they could post a response saying "sorry- ignore my question ..." and then close the question.

[Old_Geezer]

I don't buy the troll explanation. Moderators should have logs of what went on anyway. And it hardly proves a problem on other sites.

I could have benefited from a delete function earlier when I started to get strange results from this site and ended up repeating posts because they weren't showing. And typos are embarrassing, it would be good to be able to remove them without highlighting the fact.