Do you delete the messages here at Mylot?

@Asylum (47893)

Manchester, England

April 8, 2016 11:20am CST

Over time we tend to accrue quite a few messages from other members here, even though they may not arrive very often. I recall my return to the site last year, when I noticed that I had a massive number of old messages showing. I had already read these messages in the past and some were actually from members who left the site some 7 or 8 years ago, so I methodically deleted then all. Once the list had been removed, I decided to maintain it as such, so now I always keep the message list empty. I do not delete them immediately because the member concerned may wish to add to the previous interchange. It could also give the wrong impression if I removed them immediately and the member realised, so I usually wait several weeks first. I am the only one here to be so pedantic, or is this common practice.

20 people like this

24 responses

@jaboUK (64354)

• United Kingdom

8 Apr 16

Oh yes, I keep mine clear too, but I usually delete them as soon as I've read them. How would the other party know that I'd done so?

5 people like this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

8 Apr 16

Until the first respondent here mentioned that the list was different in both cases, it had not even occurred to me. Now that it has been mentioned it seems rather obvious. Oh well, insanity does create problems at times, even if they are imaginary.

3 people like this

@maezee (41988)

• United States

8 Apr 16

Yes! How do we do it? Do we really have to delete them one by one? Id love to clear mine out but dont have the patience to do it one at a time...

3 people like this

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

8 Apr 16

You could approach it piecemeal, which is what I did with notifications when I first returned. Just clear a few each day, which will gradually dilute the list without becoming laborious.

@bounce58 (17385)

• Canada

8 Apr 16

@maezee This reminds me of your millions of Yahoo emails that you also have to mass-delete!

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@bounce58 (17385)

• Canada

8 Apr 16

I still have to do that. I also have messages that are years old, some even that came in while I was off the site for a few years. I just finished cleaning up the notifications (I just recently realized that you can delete them), and I'm now maintaining it. I plan to do the same for messages.

2 people like this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

8 Apr 16

The notifications were my first target when I returned, followed closely by Offers. When it came to the messages I encountered one from my first ever friend at Mylot, who left the site 9 years ago.

@bounce58 (17385)

• Canada

8 Apr 16

@Asylum How do you delete messages? There doesn't seem to be a delete button unlike the notifications.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

8 Apr 16

@bounce58 It took me a while to find out. You need to open the message, which will display a trash can at the side ofart of the exchange.

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@TiarasOceanView (70022)

• United States

9 Apr 16

I have yet to delete many of them, but it does bother me no end. I have at least turned off my messaging for only those people I follow that can message me now, otherwise I am getting too many messages.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

9 Apr 16

It can be quite a laborious process once a few have built up due to having to delete each part of the conversation individually.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

9 Apr 16

@TiarasOceanView It seems quite illogical that it has been set out that way.

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@TiarasOceanView (70022)

• United States

9 Apr 16

@Asylum Yes wish it were easier as to delete in one batch as a whole.

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@LadyDuck (472114)

• Switzerland

10 Apr 16

I have deleted some, but not all and it has been a mistake because now I have more than a hundred to delete.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

10 Apr 16

That is always the danger because it becomes very laborious once they have accumulated.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

10 Apr 16

@LadyDuck If they are one sided messages you will make some progress, but when they have been long exchanges you appear to get nowhere.

1 person likes this

@LadyDuck (472114)

• Switzerland

10 Apr 16

@Asylum You are right and from some users I have dozens of messages to delete.

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ElizabethWallace

@ElizabethWallace (12074)

• United States

9 Apr 16

This is another thing I don't think about. I remove them every once in awhile, if I feel like it, but I have no routine.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

9 Apr 16

I like to keep mine clear if possible rather than risk them accumulating.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

9 Apr 16

@ElizabethWallace It can be surprising how many there really are once you make a start to remove them.

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ElizabethWallace

@ElizabethWallace (12074)

• United States

9 Apr 16

@Asylum After I read your post, I eliminated most of mine. I kept one that has information that I want to keep.

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@vandana7 (100616)

• India

11 Apr 16

I delete some, retain some. Some I am keen to be in contact with ..and hope that they will return here.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

11 Apr 16

It seems a little extreme to save old messages in the hope that members return because you could always contact then on return anyway.

1 person likes this

@vandana7 (100616)

• India

11 Apr 16

@Asylum . There were some very interesting people... naseem for one.

1 person likes this

@thesids (22180)

• Bhubaneswar, India

8 Apr 16

No deletions from me yet and probably not in the near future. At least some of them, I would love to have them as long as I am around (which is doubtful - you never know when Mylot decides to clean up on their own). The reason for these discussions being so special is that these are from people whom I have lost contact. Their messages (PMs) are the only thing I have in sight (some of the accounts and their discussions had been removed sometime back by the management).

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

8 Apr 16

I personally see no purpose in keeping old messages from people I have lost contact with. Of course we all behave differently in most situations.

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@thesids (22180)

• Bhubaneswar, India

8 Apr 16

@Asylum I agree. i have kept some just because they are no more with us. So as a token of remembrance of the good times we shared.

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@quantum2020 (12041)

• Ciudad De Mexico, Mexico

8 Apr 16

I´m new to Mylot and I haven´t received any messages yet: If I receive messages in the future, I wil do a cleaning every year or so. That will keep my list empty for the next round of messages.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

8 Apr 16

We do tend to receive very few messages because it is only necessary it the message is personal in some way, otherwise members simply mention whatever is on their mind on the other member’s discussion.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

8 Apr 16

@quantum2020 No, that is certainly not likely to happen. In my case I just like to see everything cleaned, so I always remove them before too long.

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@quantum2020 (12041)

• Ciudad De Mexico, Mexico

8 Apr 16

@Asylum Realy? So, I won´t worry about my message list being over loaded!

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@carebear29 (31970)

• Wausau, Wisconsin

8 Apr 16

I do to certain people.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

8 Apr 16

That seems odd. Why would you delete old messages from one member and not another?

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

8 Apr 16

@carebear29 That is very similar to what I was doing, but now that it has been pointed out that it would not affect the listing for the other member concerned then I may begin to do immediately.

1 person likes this

@carebear29 (31970)

• Wausau, Wisconsin

8 Apr 16

@Asylum I delete them after a week each time. Keep my messages cleaned up

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@jobelbojel (36041)

• Philippines

9 Apr 16

For now, I only have less messages from 3 people. But it is a good idea to delete old messages -

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

9 Apr 16

It becomes a time consuming task to delete them once they have built up.

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

9 Apr 16

@jobelbojel I usually left them for a couple of weeks, so they were always at a minimum.

@jobelbojel (36041)

• Philippines

9 Apr 16

@Asylum That is true, @jabo 's way is very efficient.

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@JudyEv (342100)

• Rockingham, Australia

9 Apr 16

I haven't deleted too many yet but then I don't have too many. Certainly I intend to - and the suggestions too.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

9 Apr 16

I tend to remove the suggestions as soon as I visit the post suggested.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

9 Apr 16

@JudyEv Strange thought it may seem, I actually find the numbers a little distracting when I see the list.

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@JudyEv (342100)

• Rockingham, Australia

9 Apr 16

@Asylum That's very sensible as I have no reason to keep them.

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@Mike197602 (15512)

• United Kingdom

8 Apr 16

I delete all mine. Even if you delete your side people can still respond to the message as far as I know.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

8 Apr 16

That is an interesting point because it never occurred to me that it would be separate listings on both members’ Message pages. This makes sense and would also mean that my concerns which prompted me to delay may have been totally unfounded.

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@Mike197602 (15512)

• United Kingdom

8 Apr 16

@Asylum yes you only delete your end...it's still visible their end.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

8 Apr 16

@Mike197602 So I have been patiently leaving them intact for weeks to avoid inadvertent offence for no logical reason.

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@mypointsju (583)

• Westland, Michigan

8 Apr 16

I guess I am to new and I have not deleted anything yet.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

8 Apr 16

It is also likely that you have not recieved any messages yet.

@mypointsju (583)

• Westland, Michigan

8 Apr 16

@Asylum I have only gotten 2 messages, right now it is not a big deal.

1 person likes this

@badpenny (741)

• Lancaster, Texas

9 Apr 16

I still have all the messages from long ago. IDK if some of these people are even still around, actually, but since I'm stuck on mobile, deleting them all seems to be a tedious task, so I'll wait until next month when I will finally be able to buy a new computer.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

9 Apr 16

It can be a very laborious thing to, so the easiest approach is to delete a few at a time every now and then.

changjiangzhibin89

@changjiangzhibin89 (16789)

• China

9 Apr 16

It is very considerate of you to do so.Mine is only 14 pieces, not coming to the point I have to delete them.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

9 Apr 16

The idea is not to wait until it becomes necessary because by then they are harder to delete due to the amount involved.

1 person likes this

@DWDavis (25805)

• United States

9 Apr 16

I haven't deleted any messages as yet, but regularly delete suggestions and notifications once I've read them.

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

9 Apr 16

I try to keep everything tidied in that respect.

1 person likes this

@Inlemay (17713)

• South Africa

9 Apr 16

I maintain mine with keeping those that I need for future use, but the others I delete! I actually think I have the setting that only my followers can message me

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@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

9 Apr 16

I cannot think of any reason that I would need any for future use.

1 person likes this

@Lucky15 (37374)

• Philippines

9 Apr 16

I still haven't. ;(

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

9 Apr 16

I left them for some time, but it becomes rather tedious that way.

1 person likes this

@petatonicsca (7070)

• Japan

9 Apr 16

As I have only had 6, so far they are all still there.

1 person likes this

@Asylum (47893)

• Manchester, England

9 Apr 16

I may get messages rarely, but even so they do accumulate over a long period of time.