Closing a PF Account: Other Ways Besides Banning

[Fancypen]

Is there a way to close a PF account other than getting yourself banned?

 

[Evo]

Is there a way to close a PF account other than getting yourself banned?

You can just stop posting.

 

[Fancypen]

You can just stop posting.

True, but I like to clean up loose ends if I could. It's the OCD part of me that wants it closed.

Oh, I just read:

Deleting Accounts:
Please do not ask us to delete your account. If you no longer want to participate in PF, simply stop posting. If you need to be restrained from posting here, we can ban you, but this will not remove your posts or your profile.

What is the reason why accounts aren't deleted?

 

[berkeman]

What is the reason why accounts aren't deleted?

Do you have something you want to hide?

 

[Fancypen]

Do you have something you want to hide?

I could ask the same thing about this site. Other forums delete your info with no issues, but this one goes out of the way to keep your info. I was just curious as to why.

 

[berkeman]

I could ask the same thing about this site. Other forums delete your info with no issues, but this one goes out of the way to keep your info. I was just curious as to why.

Nonsense. There is lots of very good information here that people refer to all the time. Some find it via Google, in other cases we point new users to old threads that cover what they are asking about. If we were in the habit of deleting prior content, that would hurt the value of that system.

What folks post here is public information, unless it violates the rules, in which case it is usually deleted promptly.

 

[Fancypen]

" If we were in the habit of deleting prior content, that would hurt the value of that system."

That's all you had to say instead of being rude.

 

[Nugatory]

What is the reason why accounts aren't deleted?

We can't delete an account while preserving the posts made under that account, and deleting the posts is unfair to the volunteers who have replied as well to future visitors who would have benefited from the replies.

We also get a steady drizzle of people trying to cheat on their classwork by asking for help here and then wanting to cover their tracks by having their account deleted. We can't always be sure when that's going on, so by never deleting stuff we ensure that there is always a record of what help was handed out here and to whom.

 

[Fancypen]

We can't delete an account while preserving the posts made under that account, and deleting the posts is unfair to the volunteers who have replied as well to future visitors who would have benefited from the replies.

We also get a steady drizzle of people trying to cheat on their classwork by asking for help here and then wanting to cover their tracks by having their account deleted. We can't always be sure when that's going on, so by never deleting stuff we ensure that there is always a record of what help was handed out here and to whom.

This would be great to have in the INFO section somewhere, you know?

 

[berkeman]

The OP has left the building and this thread has been cleaned up a bit.