Take Down or Update?

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief July 1, 2007 · 1 min read

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Here’s a nice discussion that cropped up yesterday while doing that post on the iPhone. Jayvee suggests I should take down the post because my theory was incorrect. Take down the post means I should delete the entry or put it back in draft.

However, I believe that (just like my archives which are full of grammatical errors and typos) they should be left published for posterity sake. I don’t subscribe to the practice of taking down posts unless they pose a security threat to me or to someone else, the court of law orders me to do so, or if it violates privacy statutes.

I believe the best way is to update the post at the end and explain the revision. That way, readers will know the original story, the alpha and the beta version and then the final version. *heh*

So, what’s your take? Do you just update or you take down posts?

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Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and is considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines.

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34 Comments

SELaplana · 19 years ago

just update the post with the original post remains on the page.

www.animohosting · 19 years ago

Take down post.. no need to build your integrity. We all know how credible you are, no need to indicate version 2 or whatever. Everyone makes mistakes.

Connie · 19 years ago

Ummm… if a blogger posts a picture that is NOT accurate and readers are actually misled, it is the blogger that posted the photo who owes the public an apology.

The Ca t · 19 years ago

ot.
yugz,
see my email.

tenks

AhmedF · 19 years ago

If something is very wrong, you should take it down. Publishing incorrect information on purpose is a big no-no.

It is is a small thing – just update the post then. Keeps things easy.

jayvee f. · 19 years ago

actually there is a third option and that would be neither to take down nor update. it would be to rewrite the post.

i was sensitive to this because some people see me as a member of mainstream media and it MAY look bad if they see a misleading post.

anyway, its all over and done with and things are ok.

let’s just watch opera instead.

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 19 years ago

That’s also the reason why I don’t pass as a journalist nor dream of becoming one. I just can’t keep myself sharing non-sensical, unverified and not well-researched stories.

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 19 years ago

Jayvs, that’s why I made an update on that post saying “I was wrong”. I’m always wrong, there are so many instances of it here and I always update it after I’m corrected. Always update, not delete.

This is in contrast with your email that I should take down the post. I thought you really wanted me to take it down considering that you’ve taken down a post in your blog before because you felt you made the wrong impressions. That spat with Connie about BBN on your blog’s comment was taken down instead of updated.

That’s my point in opening up this discussion.

And yes, I am very sorry if I accused you of stealing/borrowing/buying a non-existent iPhone. And for the benefit of the RSS and email subscribers, this post wiht a link to the old story should correct that.

In fact, I think it’s a “happy” accusation. Anyone can always accuse me of having an iPhone and blog about it. *hehehe*

Gail · 19 years ago

I think just an update in the post is much better. Maybe I’m just biasedâ€”after all, I have been threatened for a post and I certainly didn’t like it a bit.

Not to sound condescending or anything (I am, after all, just a mere blogger / designer and not a journalist), but I honestly think that taking responsibility for what you wrote and not taking it down shows transparency that I see in some members of the mainstream media. IMHO, when you write and publish something, you should be responsible enough to own up to whatever mistake you may have committed.

Besides, if mainstream media issues an erratum at every whim of people (or companies) who didn’t like what they wrote, wouldn’t that make mainstream media into something like a huge collection of press releases with lots and lots of errata? Hehe :p

Just my two cents.

Monsolo · 19 years ago

Update. It was your opinion and it stands to be corrected, if necessary.

jayvee f. · 19 years ago

to add to chester’s comment, it would also be good to help non-feed subscribers note this by putting the update text not only on the title but having the updated entry noted before the post.

frankly, it was brash of yugatech to post such a claim without doing in depth research on the subject matter. i also find it disturbing at how calloused the situation was dealt with.

i guess this is a good illustration of an instance where bloggers without journalist restraint can be different from trained journalists, and why there is existing hesitation to include bloggers as part of mainstream media.

yugatech has my number, email, house address, etc. he could have verified this easily.

a “sorry i made a mistake” would have been good too. we all makes mistakes. even someone like steve rubel, PR maven, has made online blunders. but he did apologize afterwards and made amends.

note im not irritated. im just disappointed that the situation could have been handled better. okay that was a mouthful. its over and lets move on.

Chester · 19 years ago

Update will be better. You can indicate in the title that the post was updated to avoid misleading info.

Allen Gurrea · 19 years ago

Just update the post. You can just write version 2.0 hehe

JP Loh · 19 years ago

I agree.

Nick Nichols · 19 years ago

Update, definitely.

Owning up to, or taking note of, mistakes builds integrity. And when people perceive integrity, they are able to build up a level of trust.

Sometimes it’s easy; sometimes not. I’m not even sure how good I am at it. But as the theologian John Wesley shows us, what’s important is that we’re moving TOWARD perfection, not that we achieve it. [Ay! How in the world did I get off on THAT tangent?]