I thought that was always how it's done? As a side project I'm making a public forum where people can delete each other's posts (it's mostly an experiment) and I'm still keeping the data that's deleted, just not showing it. I didn't think companies ever really drop entries from their database when users "delete" something.
Like I said, normal practice is to make "delete" reversible, which means that you must add something as opposed to subtracting something. But in principle there is probably some duty of privacy that when you say "I've deleted X," then you actually are intending to delete X. Anything else would seem problematic.
Well there's a bit more to it - it's an imitation of the poster walls you see in coffee shops and around schools. Posts take up space on a limited area, so in order to make a post you have to find an empty spot or cover up someone else's post. You can also take anything down, so it's community moderated. I want to see how civilized people can be expected to act anonymously. I'll probably share it on HN if I get any users :P
