How to delete posts on Steemit and change your account / username (or how to fork your account!)

Have you been looking for a button in your posts that will delete the post? Or what about a link in settings menu to delete or deactivate your account? Unfortunately, these buttons do not exist on Steemit, and it is, at this point, impossible to delete an account or a post from the Steemit platform.

Image from Pexels.com

This is because Steemit is on something called a blockchain, and there are a few characteristics about blockchains that make deletion improbable if not impossible. The two main characteristics are decentralization and immutability.

Decentralization

A key aspect of blockchains are that they are decentralized, meaning that there is no one server that contains the database that holds your account information and posts. Steemit doesn't run using a SQL, mySQL, or similiar database that you might see attached to a Wordpress site. The information is kept in a computer cloud around the world that shares and confirm the information in a blockchain. The blockchain is a ledger, open for everyone to see, so it has transparency, yet resistant to fraud and tampering.

Immutability

The information in a blockchain is immutable, and contains a historical record of transactions from the very first one. In the case of Steemit, this record also tracks blog and article postings, not just amounts awarded for author and curation rewards.

The front end of the site could eventually allow for changes in account names or deletion of posts, but the original will always be there for anyone savvy enough to search for it. For now, it should be assumed that your account name can never be changed, and your posts that you write never deleted. This will bring more high quality content to Steemit, but also makes users more finicky about what to post since it is a forever-ledger.

A Workaround

As with most programs and technologies, people will want to work around the system in order to change what in this case is unchangeable. The question isn't really whether a workaround should be done, but whether or not you do it with a level of honesty and transparency.

Creating a New Account

There are those who will say that you should never create a new account, and to keep the one you are stuck with. But for some people, that is not an option. The main reason for an honest account change is that you do not like your user name. Not being able to change your username on a blockchain really sucks, for those of us who have experienced this.

Like hard forks are a workaround to blockchain code, a similar philosophy can be used with accounts. A hard fork is done usually to correct a wrong (with explanation why), in full view and transparency of the community, and with consensus of the community. And, lastly, to complete the fork.

To fork your account, the philosophy might look like:

1. Correct a wrong and explain why - Your account name was chosen in the excitement of starting an account and no longer reflects what you intended to write. You need a new one.
2. In full view/transparency - Create a post explaining your account change, with links going back to your original account. (This is important because people will search and find out anyways, easy to do in blockchains).
3. Gain consensus - This is a bit more difficult because you do not run the back-end code and deal with miners. You do control the front-end strategy. A good way to gain consensus is to write in your blog post an apology for having to change your account name, and any suggestions or advice. If they agree, they can upvote you or leave a comment. If they don't, similar options apply.
4. Not double dipping - This includes NOT creating fake Facebook accounts (which is dangerous because at some point Facebook will ask you for your identification and you will not be able to provide one), NOT using your old account to upvote your new account, and NOT using your old account to downvote others. Steemit gives the option of using one Facebook account, or your Reddit account. Use the other platform to create your new account. That way you don't have to create a fake persona to create your new Steemit account.

After you have created your post about your new account, feel free to link to your past articles. They are part of your writing and deserve to be seen. I don't recommended for you to migrate your posts from your old account to your new account because the reward lifecycle on the content is completed, and you would be double dipping on rewards. At the same time, there will be two copies on the immutable blockchain backend, even if you edit the articles to remove the original text.

Deleting Posts

If you are interested in deleting a post, the options are limited. Once again, you cannot have the instant gratification of deleting the post from the blockchain on the backend. But you can edit the website frontend page to not have the original text.

A growing trend is to type "Deleted" in the title of the post and replacing the original text of the post body with "Deleted." This removes the original wording from public viewing. Beware if you have unpaid rewards, though, as any downvotes will begin cleaning the post out. Be sure to save your original post text, in the event you want to put it back! The only caveat is that you have only the first 12 hours to edit your post. Once it pays out, it cannot be edited or "deleted"!

Thanks for reading, and feel free to provide your comments below.
@professorx