Diasporial

Discontent on Diaspora. After endless requests for an edit button on posts and comments, Maxwell Salzberg, one of the core developers, closed an issue asking for such a button. A few days later, posts started to pop up on Diaspora in which community members condemn the ignorance of the developers.

Maxwell replying to and closing the issue

Although it surprised me that Maxwell closed the issue, the response by the community certainly did not. Ever since Diaspora launched, there have been requests for a button that lets you edit published posts and comments, making it the most popular suggestion during the early days of Diaspora (aside from the already released like button). It is also the most frequently suggested feature among new users, coming before more complex features such as a chat, events and group pages. In short: there is a huge demand.

Despite the many requests, the core developers apparently still believe that the ability to editposts is something to avoid. Their main argument is that you could change your “I like ice cream” post to “I like genocide”, with the comments saying they agree and lots of people liking the post. I also think they might be avoiding the feature for technical reasons. Since Diaspora is a decentralised network, it would most likely require a lot more work than meets the eye.

Still, those arguments barely weigh up against the benefits. I know from personal experience that once you write a long post with a lot of markdown in it, it can take more than three postings to get the contents right. Making the user delete their post and having them repost it is not what you would call user friendly (hence the complaints).

Now, I was planning to write a short essay on why we need the ability to edit posts and commentsso badly but then I ran into a post which sums it up better than I ever could.

Things I really think should be considered in relation to this feature request:

1.    If, in fact, I have ownership of my content/posts, then it follows that I should be able to edit them.

2.    The notion of deleting and reposting every status in which I (a) make a typo or (b) have need to add/clarify thoughts not only creates more overhead for the pod server but more annoyance to me as a user AND to those reading/following due to things disappearing and being reposted.

3.    Bluntly, the manner in which this has happened is very counter-community and somewhat dictatorial; neither of which is very happy making and, of course, none of which lends to the normal process of features and functionality being delivered as contributors wish to code and develop it.

4.    This is not a “maybe later” activity, from all appearances; this is someone saying, “This will not be done.” As a community member and someone who buys into what Diaspora sets forth as its intent and mission, you really need to convey that this does NOT jive with the vibe.

It is pretty obvious that there needs to be some way or other to edit your posts and commentsafter you publish them. However, opinions are split about the way this needs to be implemented. There are basically two flavours:

• Total freedom
• Limited editing

Personally, I advocate the first option wherever I can. As mentioned in the above excerpt, Diaspora is about ownership of your data and that should include the ability to edit your posts, at any time. Diaspora is a free platform in many ways and the ability to freely edit your posts would go much better with Diaspora’s image, than that of Facebook-like dictatorship. Although I really respect the developers, I do not think it is up to them to “protect” us from pranks by building the system around it. Besides, most sites use this system and people are very accustomed to it! One idea to give a sense of control to the other people involved with the contents, is by sending them a notification that you have edited your post or comment. I particularly like that idea.

There is also the option to give limited access to editing posts. Examples include, but are notlimited to:

• Editing within a period of x time
• A visible history of the post
• “Last edited at xx-xx-xxxx”
• Editing only if no one has commented yet

I am no fan of restrictions. People are not going to be amused when they spot a typo after the edit button has disappeared. They will wonder where the damn button went and why they cannot access it any more. They might even get angry at themselves because they did not see the typo until after the button disappeared. You do not want your users to get angry over something as silly as an edit button! Or, in the case of the last example, a user may get frustrated by the fact that someone posted on their post before they could click the edit button. Talking about harsh…

Although I am aware of the fact that my examples are rather pathetic, Diaspora has long been praised for its sense of freedom and lack of cumbersome restrictions.

And then there is of course the case of someone hosting their own pod. A pod owner can edit hisposts straight from the database. Seeing the fact there is no edit button on Diaspora, those people really must love genocide… oh boy.

P.S. Daniel Grippi later re-opened the issue so people could discuss the matter.

P.S.S. A preview for the markdown is not going to solve typos, missing words and messages à la “Solved!”.