Speaking as someone who once deleted a blog I had written, on which several people had commented, I was sorry to do it, but had my reasons (which don't need to be rehashed).

I remember thinking that it was unfortunate that I was cutting off the conversation that was developing, which is how I see a thread--as a conversation started by a piece of writing. However, since TPM gives us "our own blogs", I think it's the writer's decision whether or not to take it down. CT is not the first person to delete it all. I know of one other, but he went quietly.

They aren't really deleted as much as they are unpublished. I just did it with one of mine. Poof. Blog and comments disappeared from public view.

To verify: Make sure you are logged in. Go to Blog Now. Click on the arrow next to Manage and then click on Entries. Put a check mark next to one of your blogs and then click on More Actions in the drop down box. Click Unpublish Entries.

Unpublished blogs have what looks like a pencil in the column to the left. The published blogs have a check mark within a green circle.

To republish the blog, put a check mark in the box and click on the Publish button to the left of the "More Actions" drop down box. Blog and comments are now restored.

PS - I put this in Ripper's blog before I saw yours, Matyra. So now it's in both. :-)

Wait, who left in a huff?

“But isn't my comment my comment?”

Yes and no.©

If I’m not mistaken, no action has to be taken to copyright the content of anything original that you’ve written (hence the release in the TOA). But I don’t think TPM is obligated to archive it. I think they do archive most stuff (I’m not sure if blogs deleted by the paid contributors are), but it’s not easy to find old comments (at least to me). They used to have a running list of all of your comments on the old interface. At least I can only find old comments by searching the general archives bit by bit.

I think it may be best that we have the option to delete.

There may be circumstances where it is a good idea. Clearly if someone is known to delete blogs, which CT was known to have done in the past, you may want to consider that.

AND if there is a blog you feel is important to you that may includes some comments you want to preserve, you clearly can save it somewhere:)

Frankly I am more upset by the loss of the content of CT's blogs than the comments, though there may have been some meaningful ones lost.

It seems to me that if a blogger has the right of deleting his/her blog, it would be completely impractical to save posts on the thread. How would they ever be found?

My thought is that if you have a comment that you think is worthy of saving for posterity, cut & paste it. But how many comments are of that value? Anyhoo, if you think yours are, save them unless you feel some confidence that a Clearthinker type is not going to get all wounded and take his marbles and go home. It actually is not common here.

BTW, Hi, Clearthinker! I know you're lurking! Come back any time!

Technically, this is not quite right.

Truth is, I own your comments. A while back, when Josh was raising cash, it didn't get all that much attention, but the Readers Blogs archives hit the auction block.

So - besides picking up my own back posts & comments (pure gold), I also picked up a lot of yours.

Cheap. Hell, I got Mark's, Cville's, LarryH's and 23 cat avatars in one block, for $23.99. It was like buying those K-Tel boxed sets on late night TV. Similar quality too.

However. I did manage to pick up SOME top notch stuff. I tapped out Genghis' collected works, which I'm going to use to quote back at him, mockingly. Then Destor's, which look better once you've drawn scarves and capes and shit all over them. I got the Peeg's complete final edition, including links to fine video materials, no more than 25% of which are pornographic. Obey's, which read much better if you beat them with a stick. Then I picked up about 1/3 of Dick's, the other 2/3's having broken down into a fine mulch which Josh didn't really want to bag up for sale. I even got Billy Glad's, just because I thought it was important to have evidence that someone on this site could actually write. But every time I tried to open the volume up it just kept telling me I wasn't worthy and should fuck off out of here.

After a while, I guess I got a bit greedy. I donno why, but I glommed onto the whole dadgum DagBlog back-set, which - to tell the truth - I now feel is about like owning the entire Styx oeuvre. Then got LisB, her entire family and closest 164 friends.

Finally, all that was left unsold was Des' works... Rutabaga's... and Gasket's. So in the interests of public safety - and the sanity of your children - I took out a loan, won the bidding (against some Chechens who apparently felt they could come in handy), wrapped them carefully in some old fertilizer bags, and dumped them down a mine shaft.

Oh yeah. And Clearthinker? He didn't pull the plug on his blogs and back comments.

I bought his ass.

And if you don't do as I say, I'll republish them.

What's that Obey? Yes, I do believe I would like some grapes. And Peegie, keep that fan working. Or else I'll request that you go back and reread my comment. And a link to Kevin Phillips.

And stop you from reproducing.

I think what we write belongs to us, but if you really want it and to have some degree of control over it then you need to keep your own file of comments by copying the comments you own and filing or otherwise storing them at a different location.

I have no comment.

;)

I love the poetry of your title, matyra.

Removing comments here means nothing.

If you want to keep them make a copy.

If you want to impress people with them, put them in a blog.

Why is what you said a week ago relevant to today?

Maybe it is.

Maybe it isn't.

Just make today's comment relevant.

The whole premise of your question I find wrong, because the remedy is so simple as to make the inquiry irrelevant.

What a great thread! :-) Hope it's gonna stay up!

Mebbe if TPM disables the "delete" feature? I mean, if you have a good reason to delete it, you could ask the webmaster... but if it's a good conversation, and you felt strongly enough to write it in the first place... why not just leave it there?

I will pay good money to anyone who can delete, in toto, my comments. I would give my eyeteeth just to have Salon letters expunged.
My only hope is that nobody reads them or, if they do, doesn't take them seriously.
But I'd feel a lot better if I knew that all my comments, everywhere, were deleted.
They'll be used against me some day, I know it.