Sometimes when people have a post edited here and get pm'ed about it, it can lead to a bit of (very understandable!) anxiety. These are some things that might be helpful to remember if you find yourself in that situation:
- Really, everyone here makes some kind of mistake at some point. Everyone, even staff and advocates. It's not a big deal. It doesn't make you any less valued as a member of the community.
- We edit stuff because we're concerned with keeping the board safe, not because we're thinking that the person who wrote it is bad, or not worth listening to, or anything like that at all. When we can, we'll let you know about the problem and make the edit yourself.
- If you've been edited, it doesn't mean that you now have some black mark next to your name in people's minds. We don't keep some kind of master list of who's been edited. Actually, we're unlikely to even remember a week later which person it was who accidentally included numbers or forgot a tag (or whatever it was that happened). Even if you've been edited repeatedly, we're interested in working <i>with</i> you to help you get your needs met here while still posting within the guidelines.
- If you're confused at all about why something got edited, please don't hesitate to ask. If it would help to get reassurance (that you're not in trouble, that you're still wanted here, etc.), it's definitely okay to write back and ask for that, too. Most of the mods and admins were edited at some point, too - we know what it feels like!
- If you're upset about something or don't think you've been treated fairly, let us know. If you don't trust the staff to be fair, you can contact a member advocate (ombudsman). Even if we decide not to undo or change stuff (though we do sometimes realize we made a mistake), we really do try to listen to everyone's concerns.
- If this kind of thing makes you freak out a little or feel hesitant to post again, and it would help to hear that other people struggle with similar feelings, you might want to check out this thread.
<hr>Thanks to silverdragonfly for authoring this post.