For lurkers and newbies, let's chat for a minute about DDs, shall we? There are a ton on this board right now.
DD means Dirty Delete. It's when you delete something you've posted. And it's not cool.
First, it's pointless because you always get quoted, and there's nothing you can do to delete the quote, so your post is still there regardless of whether or not you delete the original.
Second, it makes you look like an asshole. You put the words out there, you can't take them back, so own it.
Third, it's irritating to other people who read these boards.
Fourth, it has the opposite affect you're trying to achieve. A DD sends out a bat signal and draws EVERYONE in to partake in whatever drama has clearly transpired, because no one DDs unless something juicy has gone down. So now you're getting tons of attention for your fuck-up.
Fifth, it kind of screws other lurkers and newbies, because they can learn from reading other people's posts. So leave the post where it is.
If you regret what you said, or realize it was a shitty thing to say, or didn't get the reaction you wanted, or don't agree with the responses-- whatever the reason-- the best thing you can do is just move along. The worst thing you can do (or ONE of the worst things) is DD, for the reasons stated above.
I wrote a stupid post when I was a newbie. A lot of the regulars didn't like it, and they let me know. It sucked. So guess what? I deleted the post! I didn't realize at the time that it was a shitty thing to do. I thought since I wrote something stupid and people don't like it, I'll just take it away because I feel bad and I want to un-do it. Then no one will have to be bothered by it anymore. Right? Nope! That pissed people off more, because it was a DD, which I had never even heard of before. I just didn't get it, I didn't get how this online community worked, I didn't know the guidelines, so I made the situation worse.
But I learned, and pretty much the next day no one was commenting on the stupid post anymore. People forget about it and move on. I stuck around because I thought this was an awesome community and I was right.
So for those of you who also didn't know yet, I hope this has helped you out. For those of you who do know and you do it anyway, whatever. So be it.
Moral of this little story? That everyone fucks up once in a while, and if you fucked up with a post just move on. Let it die down. Or leave the boards. Whatever you need to do. But, like I said, DDing just makes you look like an asshole and draws more attention. So don't.
ETA: Title elaboration. Cuz JFC.