Wriging

Nothing wrong with correcting yourself in a subsequent post. I've done it plenty of times and even so, it's just the way time flies. Think about it this way, if you forgot about it, what makes you think your readers would actually remember it?

Depending on how you look at your blog, past posts are but a frozen memory in time. The fact that you look at things differently right now shows that you've grown from it, you've changed whatever outlook you saw before as right. That's not really a bad thing, in most cases, that's what life should be about, change and growth.

So don't delete it. Don't apologise for it. It's you. Why would you apologise for being yourself? Just be it. The rest is easily taken care off.

The problem is when you're running an ... 'informative' blog. The kind that thinktanks what works and what doesn't (and/or how to do stuff) in, say, real estate. Or writing. Or code.

These old posts still get referenced by readers, coz they contain incisive reasoning on subject matters that are relevant to these people. What to do then? Apology?

Facts change all the time. One minute you think light has no mass, next thing you know you're into quantum physics. You can't possibly know everything in the whole wide world and people don't expect you to either.

So simply start off with reasoning that you know more than you did before and explain why. If those posts are referenced, then add a post script pointing people to the new post.

Really admitting that you were once wrong isn't wrong. It's stubbornly believing that you're right even when you know you're not that's wrong. Post things as it is and life still goes on.

Just want to chime in and say I agree wholeheartedly with Kami (btw, K. nice to see you back).

We wouldn't be pros, and we wouldn't be human beings, if we didn't learn - like you point out yourself.

Obviously, always repeating yourself, always making up for mistakes, isn't the way to go. But writing a good follow up post, referencing to it in the earlier one, and giving your readers some insight into what happened, why you changed your mind and how they can benefit from that... sounds great in fact.

Running a political blog, I have to say I have changed quite a lot in my views from day one to today...

I posted an extensive look into liberalism, from MY eyes, a year or so ago and got quite a lot of feedback on the issue. I was off base on some of my points, but back then that was how I saw things. I'm not going to delete the post, and honestly at the moment it's water under the bridge. If it were to come up in comments later on I would be more than happy to own up to my past views and correct myself.

I'd simply update the original post or (posts) so that at the top they note that new info has been found/views have been changed, and link to a post about that.

Is it really so hard to say "I was wrong?" It happens :) to everyone. All the time!

What post was it, it would probably be easier to understand really if the post was linked, but overall there is no reason you can't write an addendum at the bottom of the post if it is that important to you that the information be changed and either let the readers know you wrote another post on the same subject and you can link to the newer post or write the whole addendum below it.

Is there any good way to do this without damaging reader trust?

I'm agreeing with a lot of the points brought up here, but just wanted to add that if you were to come clean about what you've learned since your original post and how/why you've changed your opinion - wouldn't it actually be more reason for your readers to trust you? :) They should appreciate you for your candidness and honesty ... also progression, seeking of the truth and if anything, this shows your own respect for them as well.

Through experience you begin to see that your argument, and the hypotheses and theories contained within, are just. not. true. It sounds great on paper, but it doesn't work that way in real life. Another more credible explanation is found, and you discard your old way of thinking.

Well, were you really "wrong" the last time and you're "right" this time or is it something that doesn't have a right or wrong answer?

Personally, I would make a note updating the old article to reflect the current thought process then openly address the issue in a new article briefly mentioning the old article and proceeding with the current thought process (link to the new article on the old one).

Deleting it is like trying to erase you said something and you said it - someplace someone has a copy of it. If you don't update it someone finding it in the archives will still think you view things the way you originally wrote them. You made a mistake, owning up to it and "changing" your ways garners you trust and respect. If you write publicly long enough you'll have one of those experiences.

An example from my life: I hated Feedburner and I had a long list of reasons why. Over time they changed their product line, stop being down all the time, etc. I "could" have kept my previous stance. Instead I kept an open mind, acknowledged my previous stance and explored their new offering. It led to an exchange with the CEO and a couple of interviews on my site but most important I had a more thorough understanding of their products and their ethics. Then Google bought it and I'm a tad skeptical about using it but I wouldn't dog the product like I once did.

Everyone makes mistakes, it is how you handle them that people remember in the end.

@Tyme: The mistake was more of causality. You know, I argued X caused Y, but experience and the help of a couple of other bloggers convinced me now that it was really Z that caused Y, and all my suggestions over X had been in vain (not to mention misleading).

I didn't want to go into details at first because I wanted to see how people would interpret it, and respond - for instance Kami gave a brilliant reply in the context of a personal blog.

And, thank you, estarla. Yeah I think that makes sense ... reader trust shouldn't be affected if I fessed up and admit to making a mistake, aye?

Yeah, just admit it and move on. It's wonderful that it bothers you (meaning you have ethics).

This is one of those lessons where you have to ask yourself if you are writing for yourself of your readers? If you are making decisions (ethical ones) based on fear you will usually make the wrong one. You may have one or two people who "chastise" you for your mistake but in the end I would think most people will appreciate you clearing things up and will trust you more in the end (that has been my experience and you've seen it here on 9rules).

If you have a favorite blogger and they were in a similar situation, what would you expect from them?

I don't really go back and edit posts. I see them as a historical record of what I was thinking then and there. At the time, it was the truth or the fact, or how I felt.

If there is something big enough, I can always write a new post, reference the old post and then go into my new thoughts.

That being said, I agree with those above. We are not The Keepers Of Historical Fact (tm). We are bloggers. Writers in our own right. If someone is going to give me grief over something old that I wrote, they clearly have too much time on their hands.

Everyone is constantly learning new things. I would write a new post and link to the previous one, saying that it might have been the wrong thing to write.