A list of individual comments or posts that are deleted by a particular user of Reddit cannot be viewed as easily as a public profile. Once deleted by a user on Reddit, a post or comment cannot be accessed by using normal Reddit search or profile view. The body is stripped out of the public interface of Reddit with only the username appearing but without the accompanying text. This may render it very difficult to monitor deleted posts.
There are common third-party tools and archives that allow the viewing of deleted Reddit content. Reddit has seen websites such as Pushshift or Reveddit archive its posts and comments so they can be accessed publicly. These services serve as independent archives, grabbing content before it is taken down. In recent years, however, Reddit has blocked API access and such tools have been limited in the availability and accuracy of retrieved deleted content.
One should consider that the content that has been deleted can be viewed, which brings up privacy implications. When the user deletes the posts that he or she has left it is usually a deliberate act of not wanting their words to be read by people. Although archives can also hold copies, morally, users need to think more of whether they will be violating the intent of the original poster. This is especially true with sensitive conversations or information of a personal nature.
Moderators can technically access more content they have removed in their subreddits. Reddit offers moderation logs and subdued posts which are deleted by automod or moderators. Nevertheless, it is not equivalent to viewing user deleted material in the whole site. Beyond the moderator software, posts that have been deleted on Reddit largely remain deleted.
Finally, deleted posts and comments on Reddit cannot be retrieved easily, unless they are stored on any other archive. The third-party services are normally used by users to get such information but they are becoming unreliable because of restrictions made by the platforms. This renders deleted information less everlasting and fits the mission of Reddit, which is to provide a user with control over their information and web presence.
Conclusion
Some deleted Reddit posts or comments can be seen in third-party archives, although not always. The interface of Reddit itself lacks a mechanism of listing deleted content. This restriction highlights the privacy of the user and control of the information to be shared. Those who want such data would have to depend on the external archives and remember that ethical considerations have to be made before accessing some deleted data.
