Deleting a post doesn't delete the comments, it just makes then undiscoverable/inaccessible. See https://github.com/LemmyNet/lemmy/issues/5525
this post was submitted on 18 Jun 2026
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So this problem should be solvable with only changes to client code then?
Not sure, there might be APIs that also need updating. But the data is there.
Devastating? Jeez.
If you want to make a code change proposal, go ahead and make one. Otherwise, deletion is a feature offered to Lemmy users to use as they see fit. In fact some earlier (unrelated) proposals to speed up the software were rejected on the grounds that deletion is required to actually scrub the entry from the database, rather than simply making it inaccessible through the web. The scrubbing requirement may have been abandoned by now though.
I half remember a Lemmy client (~~Voyager~~ Jerboa?) with a user setting to automatically delete any post or comment that the user makes after 7 days or something. It had nothing to do with karma. I didn't use that setting but it seemed reasonable to me. Lemmy is a discussion forum not a long term archive.
I do like the idea of adding a wiki feature to Lemmy, to hold info of long term value to a community. Reddit already has something like that.**
On one hand, yes I find it irritating the way people treat their profile like some kind of extension of their personality and only post comments that will be well received.
One the other hand, I don't really see much "knowledge" being removed from the fediverse. I don't really understand how this behavior is devastating to communities.
Deleting a post because it got downvotes? Who are these babies who can’t take people not liking them?
As someone with social anxiety for some people seeing a large negative social response to something you said or did, even if just abstractly represented by a number, can be pretty distressing 🤷🏻♂️
I generally leave stuff up unless its misleading or something, but I can empathize with why someone would take it down
Sometimes down votes are a sign that you're saying things people don't want to hear or the right things but on a crazy instance, but sometimes down votes are a chance for self reflection where you have to ask yourself "Am I the asshole?" and in the latter case yeah I'm probably just going to delete it. No apologies though, I'm not looking to be a saint here.
I will say in their defense that some people delete their comments/posts not because they care about "karma" but because they now feel they were wrong and are genuinely embarrassed or think that its continued presence is just an annoyance to other people.
That said, imo, unless you realize you've broken a rule in posting it or literally just posted by accident, it's healthier for yourself and the community to simply e.g. edit in a correction and a "mea culpa", even if you continue to get dogpiled for it.
Everyone’s presence is annoying. That’s called being human.
Is there no one in your life whose presence you enjoy?
All the time? Fuck no. Hell, my wife and I love each other in part because we like time alone.
That's an impossible standard to achieve. Best one can do is become neutral, whatever benefits they bring balances out the burden of dealing with them.
Not who you're replying to, but.....nope.
I've seen it a few times. It's stupid. Why bother participating if you're just going to take your ball home, so to speak.
people not liking them
Half of lemmy:
I've had discussions here with people that don't want down votes, like in YouTube. There are instances that have them disabled.
Have you seen the president, or met any of the millions of people who voted for him?
I've deleted multiple posts for different reasons:
- answers were crap (mostly offtopic, missing the point, simply attacking me instead of the question, etc.)
- mbin doesn't support muting notifications from topics, so I'd just keep getting them, so it was simpler to delete than wait for people to stop talking
- I got my answers and it wasn't that important
I don't give 2 shits about "points". You could make this the most downvoted comment on the planet and I would leave it up (if I didn't get notifications)
I get that but there's also a certain "ugh" when a bunch of .ml folks find a post and want to yell at you about it.
You can block them once and for all. It's like they don't exist.
We all gotta find out about the .ml someday.
For sure. But it's just tiring to get notifications for hours of someone yelling about shit libs or something.
That's a different situation though. Getting dogpiled isn't fun. Op is talking about regular normal posts and comments.
I don't think it's just downvotes that are the reason posts are deleted. What's being ignored, is what follows after downvotes. And that is, users being antagonistic over nuanced posts because the posts don't contain the kind of brainrot-meme-lamejoke kind of content that is the norm.
And it is never a good feeling getting dogpiled on for absolutely no reason other than just not appeasing to whatever expectancy that is there. Additionally, when there isn't enough activity aside from that, people can feel like 'what's the point?' because they simply don't have enough numbers of people engaging.
So this creates this discouragement within them to keep bothering.
I think this is probably the usual reason, rather than downvotes or whatever.
Is that why??? Oh man I was wondering why some people did that. Deleting their posts before I even have time to reply
I was on reddit for 10 years and have been on lemmy for 3. I'm still not sure what this is really supposed to mean.
There is absolutely a "lifetime" karma score available for users, its just not centered in peoples bios like it is on lemmy. But it absolutely exists..
And if people want to go for high scores more power to them. Get that dopamine where you can queen.
I think their point is that on reddit, life time karma impacts the comment placement order; showing more comments from higher karma accounts. So I guess weirdos would delete comments that started to get negative votes on reddit so they weren't seen as undesirable by the algorithm.
Also, aren't there some subreddits that let you post if you have a certain amount of karma?
Elaborate pls. I know Piefed tracks the user's votes under Attitude, but I'm not aware of tracking of other people's votes on users posts and comments. Am I missing something?
Total per-account upvotes minus downvotes value is tracked for everyone, it is just hidden by choice in Lemmy. Other softwares have other approaches, Piefed has the "attitude" you mentioned. Kbin used to just show the full "karma" value, I'm not sure if Mbin still does. It doesn't appeal to me so I don't keep up with development.
Oh yeah, good point. It's what lemvotes.org depends on.
Yeah each platform has their own way to "deal" with the issue. You get a choice. Which is nice :)
Where is it?
Metadata, mostly
Don’t tell me what to do. Also, thanks for the info!
I figured it was just instances culling old posts without a lot of engagement. I’ve had posts or comments that I’ve made get deleted and I didn’t request them
Internet points aren't the only reason people delete their posts/comments, though?
I think people should think seriously about deleting posts, but comments that don't contribute to the discussion for whatever reason definitely have a shelf life.
And that's aside from the old "a comment you made 10 years ago in another life gets you fired/cancelled" issues due to times changing, some shitlord quoting you out of context, etc, etc.
Not that I care about it, but mBin definitely does have a lifetime reputation score you can find on someone's profile if you really care to see it
I delete posts older than two days if they didn't contribute something worth looking up again later
People delete their posts because they aren't getting karma? That's kinda sad.
