Forum Etiquette Question:
 

Is it customary forum etiquette to explain your editing if you do so?

And out of curiosity, why do you? I have never explained my editing unless I ended up saying something I didn't mean.

I'm kind of anal retentive, so I was just wondering if this was something I needed to add to my list of things to worry about, as far as being courteous towards others. :)

Nah, I rarely explain why I edit my posts. There are some people who do, and that's fine, I just don't think it matters whether or not other people are aware that I made a typo or something.

Hey, I'm with you SM. It's none of their damn business. :D ;)

I too only do it sparingly. I guess only because I've seen others do it. I'm such a sheep....

some forums i've participated on, yeah i used to make it known that i'd edited for a typo or whatever cuz otherwise they'd get up in arms about people editing their thoughts.
it's dumb. thoughts can be perfected as much as typos & spelling.

mostly today, no. i don't explain my edits.
tfp is great in that it allows you a tiny margin of time to edit w/o your post being marked edited. that's usually enough to catch my most blatant typos. not always, but usually.

and if i am being extra lazy... i just leave my typos. sometimes it doesn't really affect the message anyway.

If I leave an edit message it's usually for myself, because of my poor memory.

It depends on the forum/post.

If it's a heated discussion, I will usually explain what I did so that I'm not accused of editing out things that have been used later against me. (yes, I've had this done)

If it's a relaxed post, not usually.

I explain an edit mostly when playing games where the sequence of posts matters, such as when the rules of the game require that your post be a direct response to the post immediately above yours. When I get tired of editing, I usually just sit out a few rounds and wait for a rhythm to be re-established.

This has happened to me too. People have actually gotten pissed and trolled my "discussion tactics" because of it.

I only leave notes if I edit someone ELSE's post

I always do. ;)

I don't leave a note when I am correcting typos, etc. If I am changing my opinion or the substance of my statement, I will. However, I very rarely do that.

If it's a serious thread, especially one where subsequent posts are going to be affected by anything I've edited out, then yes, I do.

it's generally set off by [edit] tags i put in to signpost what and where i edited with ease.

I usually leave an edit message if I think up of something funny.

[EDIT] Rarely do what I think is funny and reality coincide. [/EDIT]

This is how I do it

Edit: this is how I do it!

You know, I've noticed this, but I thought it was just a mistake in the server or something. Never occurred to me that there might be a specific time period in which you can edit without the edit message :)

I've usually done it because, uhm, I dunno. Just do.

I could be wrong....but I think it's not a time period, but whether or not someone else has viewed the message?

//edit - on topic...sometimes I do, sometimes I dont. Unless I'm editing someone else, then I do.

I've noticed that little grace period myself. On phpBB, it happens if no one has posted to that thread after you or if you haven't posted again anywhere on the board since that post. I'm not sure if it works the same way on vBulletin or not.

it's a 2 min grace period :p

No fair peeking at the code! :p

Same here :)

I believe you can also edit the title of your thread as it appears on the index in that time. Not positive, though.

Most of my edits are when I screw up tags and links and the likes. So therefore no, I won't say anything. That way I will still appear to be intelligent!

I only explain my edits if i'm adding something on.

Edit: Like this. If i'm merely changing a few things already said, then i leave it be.

i sometimes wonder what somebody edited in their post when i notice that it was edited. but most of the time i don't care. i only edit my posts when i have a typo, or if i need to reclarify something.

Heh, if I found a typo right away I would always frantically scramble to get it fixed before I incurred the unsightly edit message.

Saved my arse plenty of times.

Thanks.

No. Editing is polishing -- I'd rather read the reflected, developed opinion anyway

Same here. I get real picky sometimes and reread my posts probably more than necessary. Most of my edits are just vocabulary/spelling type of edits.

Yeah, that's the same for me. I was just curious as to when and why others do it. I wanted to know what was proper to do also.

Thanks to everyone for your replies. :)

I only bother noting that I edited my post if I significantly change the content, such as adding more context or clarifying a point.

I do not bother noting an edit if I only change the spelling, punctuation, or decoration (italics, underscores, etc...), and the like.

I will never edit a post to change my opinion. I find this to be dishonest. I will, instead, add another post with my revised opinion...