Unable to edit

Thanks for the feedback, which is very helpful. I have substantially increased the limit, in the light of your comments.

I agree that the limit is not a deterrent to starting "copybot" threads, because the offender is unaware of it. However, it should be an obstacle to the apparent second stage, of returning and replacing the original post with content that may be advertising, offensive or malicious. As before, we'll see how feedback goes, but my feeling is that this should be part of the picture of defeating the spam by first removing it quickly, and second ensuring that, even if it slips through, posting it was a waste of time anyway.

Even for genuine posters, there is a case to be made that, once a thread is developing, returning and changing a message is not fair to those who have responded. If I change or moderate my views, those who have made the case for a different viewpoint are left with very odd-looking, out of context replies that don't fit the point that I am now making. Thus, once others have responded, anything more than minor typos may best be corrected by responding with a new message.

Let's see how it goes, anyway.

WebPM said:

there is a case to be made that, once a thread is developing, returning and changing a message is not fair to those who have responded. If I change or moderate my views, those who have made the case for a different viewpoint are left with very odd-looking, out of context replies that don't fit the point that I am now making. Thus, once others have responded, anything more than minor typos may best be corrected by responding with a new message.

I fully agree with this, except in the odd instances where someone has had a bad-tempered, offensive rant and then thought better of it before the moderators get knowledge of it and on reflection wish to amend what they have said to something more acceptable.

I am sure I have posted things at times that I would like to totally remove or fiercely edit.   But I haven't, for the reason that they have been responded to, and it may help someone else. Apart from typos that I frequently make (I blame it on my keyboard or the predictive text on my tablet and phone, I have never edited my posts after a few minutes. 

And those few that may give me some embarrassment now give me a valuable lesson in thinking a bit more before posting!

WebPM said:

there is a case to be made that, once a thread is developing, returning and changing a message is not fair to those who have responded. If I change or moderate my views, those who have made the case for a different viewpoint are left with very odd-looking, out of context replies that don't fit the point that I am now making. Thus, once others have responded, anything more than minor typos may best be corrected by responding with a new message.

I fully agree with this, except in the odd instances where someone has had a bad-tempered, offensive rant and then thought better of it before the moderators get knowledge of it and on reflection wish to amend what they have said to something more acceptable.

I am sure I have posted things at times that I would like to totally remove or fiercely edit.   But I haven't, for the reason that they have been responded to, and it may help someone else. Apart from typos that I frequently make (I blame it on my keyboard or the predictive text on my tablet and phone, I have never edited my posts after a few minutes. 

And those few that may give me some embarrassment now give me a valuable lesson in thinking a bit more before posting!