this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2026
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Nothing is ever deleted on the fediverse. Just because you ask a server to delete something, doesn't mean it has to. You should assume everything you post/comment on the fediverse is permanent - like a tattoo to your account, it can only be edited over, but even then, there could be an instance out there just archiving everything.
Fair point, I guess. Also a bit scary. I sometimes read what I used to post on Facebook when I was 12 or 13 years old... 🤣
Yeah it is haha. Tbf you should also assume everything on the internet as a whole is permanent. Those posts are likely still on a server somewhere, regardless if you deleted them.
Yeah, well... Better not think about that too much 😂
I think it's best we just maintain some recency bias when it comes to how harshly we judge people for their past internet behavior. If you were an asshole ten years ago and haven't acted that way recently, I'll just assume you were 12. We were all 12 once.
I agree with this but it doesn't fully explain why the comment itself gets removed while the fact that you commented doesn't. If the explanation is deletion can't be enforced across instances, why half-delete it? I think ultimately that's just a design choice.
Not too sure on lemmy's exact inner workings but I would imagine there is still a "pointer" to the content being loaded, except the content is now missing in this case?
Maybe! I also don't know how things work under the hood.