The problem with online interactions is that they are literally immortal. Even if this forum were to go down tomorrow, and all traces of it seemingly wiped away, there would be pages of it that had been cached, either through Google, the Internet Archive, or both. Or, of course, through various other lesser known services. That's a heavy load to bear when you know you've done something dumb or shameful.

I hate the idea that an employer could trace me just by a username alone, and that stuff I did when I was 13 or so, when I first got into using the internet, could be called into question if ever I get interviewed for a job. Never mind that, y'know, I was 13, and also, that it all happened damn near 15 years ago. So, believe me, I understand where you're coming from. But hindsight is always 20/20. What can we who regret our foolish choices do? Mourning the stupid things we've said on various virtual venues is fruitless, no matter how hard we beat ourselves up about it. I guess that all we can do is vow to improve our communication skills in the future, and hope that it amounts to something in the professional world.

We've all been that guy (or girl, if that be the case), and yeah, those can be some pretty embarrassing and disgusting things to look at later. Even our future employers have, as everyone has. Knowing that, it'd be silly to look at someone's years-old past without considering there more recent, and current, activity. I've had several of those "did I really..." moments, both in online and offline interactions, in forums, on social media websites, on various calling/chatting apps, and in person. No one is perfect, and yes, thanks to the internet, those interactions are there forever. What is also there, hopefully, is improvement. Do you mature over time, or are you still making the same mistakes you were making 11 years ago?

Well said, Dark, and thumbs up!
There isn't a post I've put out here that I regret, and that has nothing to do with my being right or wrong, but more with the fact that I've always done my best to be right and my best to admit when I'm wrong about something.  Every topic I've debated on, discussed or otherwise interacted with people on and have been a part of is a topic under which I've presented evidence and fact with as much clarity as I can, attempting even under the temptation and strain of bias to keep the factual and the hypothetical separate from one another.  There are things I've seen work in practice and things I believe would work in theory, and it is best not to get the two confused with one another.  On the occasions where I have been wrong, I am willing to be held to it so that, as you may have read before, I can move on to being right.
I'm kind of the opposite to the above, I suppose... The things I find I've said that I regret most have been said to people personally rather than on public forums or social media platforms.  Even on chat logs I usually find more content that once presented itself to me as enjoyable, usually accompanied by bitter sweet memories of times I wish I could relive if only for the sake of viewing said times from a different perspective.  My greatest regret, knowing what I know about life, how each person's life is so delicate and how we all touch one another in ways we cannot even begin to comprehend or imagine, knowing that I may have wasted even an instant of anyone else's, is that I have only one life to live.  Once upon a time I believed only in that which I and others I dearly trusted perceived; I've come a far way from that, accepting that perception is not always reality.  Were I able to make up for the lost years, I would gladly do it, but as I gain nothing from dwelling  on that which has gone and I know nothing of that which has yet to come, I settle for making the best out of every moment I've been given.  To simplify with famous words, "The past is history, the future is a mystery, but today is a gift; that’s why they call it “the present.”

It's something not everybody (in fact the vast majority) doesn't consciously think about.  Think before you speak is what our parents often tell us, but rarely do most people ever follow suit with that old but wise piece of advice.

What's interesting to me is that interaction on the net, at least to me, has greater room for catching yourself than in face-to-face verbal communication.  On average, I bet users glance over their posts before submitting, at least to the extent that they're not just writing character for character and passively writing nonsense, followed by the submission.  I've done this multiple times, but I'm also not average. You'd think that with such a difference in the conduct and the way we communicate on the web, we'd have the propensity to check over what we write before posting to the public domain.  This doesn't happen to the degree at which people make sure they're properly communicating their ideas in spite of the fact that this is only a text-based environment.  Alas, this doesn't happen, and as Arqmeister pointed out, especially in our situation, we have no choice but to have a mediary bending the message in a seemingly minuscule way, but it can make the largest impact as he also referenced.

I find myself thinking I'm too good to ever edit my writing before posting out on the web, but no one is perfect and can be expected to proofread every time.  Human nature, or perhaps laziness is to blame.  I've been better recently with checking my wording, my phrasing, my overall ability to express what I mean.  It's a tricky thing, and shouldn't be made out to be easy.

Best,

Luke

I learned by doing. I lost a lot of arguments (and potential friends) by being like that. Now I'm one of the most laid back guys you can find.
It's nice to reflect on how far we've come, though, sometimes. I've taken a break from here (sometimes for years) but still, regardless.

Well oddly enough I tend to write as I speak, unless I'm preparing a formal document such as a book review,  or news post or something academic, and even then, it's sort of how I would speak in that situation given a bit more time to choose propper words .

Mrs. Dark, who I first corresponded by email with for a good six months before actually speaking to her on the phone or meeting her in person said rather the same thing, that I'm pretty much the same by writing as in person.

I do tend to wiz through my posts, but that to make sure of coherence rather than worry about offending people, since usually I've found that people won't get offended so long as I actually take note of what they've said and avoid getting personal, not to mention acknolidging of course if I have made a mistake with someone, sinse obviously no communication is perfect in any form at all and I am far from infallible.

Well oddly enough I tend to write as I speak, unless I'm preparing a formal document such as a book review,  or news post or something academic, and even then, it's sort of how I would speak in that situation given a bit more time to choose propper words .

Mrs. Dark, who I first corresponded by email with for a good six months before actually speaking to her on the phone or meeting her in person said rather the same thing, that I'm pretty much the same by writing as in person.

I do tend to wiz through my posts, but that to make sure of coherence rather than worry about offending people, since usually I've found that people won't get offended so long as I actually take note of what they've said and avoid getting personal, not to mention acknolidging of course if I have made a mistake with someone, sinse obviously no communication is perfect in any form at all and I am far from infallible.
Of course, I'm learning like everyone else, indeed to quote a rather nice homily, the day you stop learning is the day you die.

we all have done shameful stuff, with or without knowing, at any point of life. If I dated myself back around 2008 something up to now, I'd probably see the same. The thing is some people never learn thfrom there past actions and maturity.

amen to post 16

Agreed completely with post 16. I guess it's easy to judge a book by its cover, almost literally. Imagine that everything you've said on the internet was enclosed in a beautiful leather tome, yet its beauty was subjective. Some would pass it up completely, while others would feel allured by it, and feel an obsessive need to delve into each and every crease of its pages, drinking in each and every word contained within. Now, imagine that most people, being human, focused on all of the negative things that were in those pages first. There may very well be lovely prose superimposed on all of those dark and deadly secrets, but most of us, with our prejudices and ignorances, and, dare I say, even triggers, would never notice them. That's basically what putting yourself out there on the internet entails. it's why I believe that you have to have a pretty thick skin in order to navigate what today's world wide web has to offer. It's not just called a web as a figure of speech; it will ensnare the weak as quickly as it can. or, rather, the people behind it will. You also need a healthy dose of common sense. Both common sense and a thick skin are traits that the majority of humanity is lacking, sadly, thus why we have things like safe spaces, and, on the opposite side of that spectrum, vicious attacks on those who said one tiny thing wrong, because everybody loves a freak show, even those who don't admit it.

All of that, however, is pretty far off the mark of the original topic.

Myself, I'd always assumed "don't feed the trolls" is a phrase used to others after the trolls have been dealt with.
For example, if someone posts a huge abusive rant, or behaves in a provoking manner, after that person has been warned or banned or otherwise got rid of, if people persist in prolonging the arguement or the bad feelings or similar, then! I'd use the phrase "don't feed the trolls", to mean that once the situation had been over and done with, don't give the offenders satisfaction in extending the fall out from the incident.

One of the good things about the internet when moderated properly is that you can do something you can't do in reality, you can literally exile someone. Obviously this sort of power needs exercising with respect, but it is actually one of the ways that the internet can be more orderly than off line, since unfortunately in reality the arse holes are often people you have to deal with (frequently because they are the ones in power, both on a large and small scale.

Then again before this gets too synical I'd better stop.

Actually, I wouldn't say don't feed the trolls at all, because it's used so often nowadays that its effectiveness, which, for the reasons already discussed, was questionable at best, is all but lost now. Nobody even cares anymore if they're being called a troll, because it's basically a pop culture phenomenon. In some circles, it's considered cool to be a troll. It's really no different than any of the other ways that people have been assholes previously, it just seems to happen on a larger scale because you may, for example, get praise and high fives from your friends for spray painting graffiti on a wall, but that's where it ends. The comments that you make online may very well still be getting hits and likes years down the road. That's a huge ego boost for someone who's already an asshole, who needs that sort of power trip to exist.