title: How to change character encoding for column in mysql table
body: <p>I have a table with data already in it. I would like to change the character encoding for one of the columns. Currently the column seems to have two encodings. Even after changing it, I see the same results. </p>
  
  <p>Current Encoding</p>
  
  <pre><code>mysql&gt;   SELECT character_set_name FROM information_schema.`COLUMNS` 
      -&gt; WHERE  table_name = "mytable"
      -&gt;   AND column_name = "my_col";
  +--------------------+
  | character_set_name |
  +--------------------+
  | latin1             |
  | utf8               |
  +--------------------+
  2 rows in set (0.02 sec)
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Changing the encoding (0 rows are affected)</p>
  
  <pre><code>mysql&gt;   ALTER TABLE mytable MODIFY my_col LONGTEXT CHARACTER SET utf8;
  Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.05 sec)
  Records: 0  Duplicates: 0  Warnings: 0
  </code></pre>