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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to think people on MN should stop directly engaging with you once you’ve asked them to?

160 replies

ThatJadeLion · 06/08/2026 11:57

I find it utterly baffling that some people cannot accept that others may hold a different view on Mumsnet and similar platforms.
Of course it’s a discussion forum, and people are entitled to disagree, continue the wider conversation and express their own opinions. But once somebody has clearly said, “We have different views, I don’t wish to discuss this with you any further,” I think that boundary should be respected.

Some posters continue quoting and directly responding to the same person again and again, becoming increasingly argumentative or aggressive, even after being asked to stop. At that point, it no longer feels like a normal exchange of views; in some cases, it can begin to feel like someone is being deliberately hounded.

AIBU to think there should be a way to prevent another poster from repeatedly quoting or directly engaging with you... or at least a point at which they are expected to let it go? They could still continue the general discussion, just without persistently coming back to somebody who has made it clear they no longer wish to engage.

OP posts:
DonaldWheresMaTweezers · 06/08/2026 12:16

I think it's best to stop engaging and report someone who is hounding you beyond levels of reasonable debate and after you have asked them to stop.

YoQuieroVino · 06/08/2026 12:15

To be fair, you were repeatedly expressing an ‘opinion’ that wasn’t based in any actual fact (that opinion being that Amanda Knox murdered Meredith Kercher) while refusing to offer any justification for that opinion, so you were bound to be challenged.

TheBroonOneAndTheWhiteOne · 06/08/2026 12:15

If a thread is being derailed like this, you can report all the posts to MNHQ, who will take action against the offenders.

It's against the TGs.

Ethelspagetti · 06/08/2026 12:14

They’re horrible people who wouldn’t dream of speaking to people in real life that way!

PansyZer · 06/08/2026 12:13

Nah. You don't get to pick and choose who responds to you on a public forum when you've chosen to post something publicly.

If someone doesn't like what a person is saying to them they need the self-control to just ignore it. Not to try and take control over who can post on a site they don't own.

Megifer · 06/08/2026 12:10

They do it to bait. Ive had it a few times where ive said I wouldn't be responding anymore dickhead and theyve carried on quoting and trying to poke and saying I wasnt responding because I had no argument.

Just pass/agg yellow thumb and ignore. Let them wind themselves up and think theyve won. Bless their little cotton socks.

The worst ones for me are the obtuse posters, there's a few around, "so youre saying.....are you comparing......are you suggesting....." and they make shit up thats not even remotely connected. All just to get a rise and keep it going and draw people in, any attention better than none etc. Pretty sad.

SeaShellsSanctuary1 · 06/08/2026 12:03

One of my favourite phrases though I haven't used it on MN is "if I agreed with you we'd both be wrong". I never engage after that

Backedoffhackedoff · 06/08/2026 12:01

You should be able to block people

SusanJJ · 06/08/2026 12:00

I don't think that would work on public forums. You need the self control to stop reading responses from people who are winding you up, or to leave the thread.

MyLeftArmpit · 06/08/2026 11:59

YANBU. FB is dreadful for it, especially around trans rights. People will not accept that a lot of people (myself included) don’t want men in women’s safe spaces. They just go on and on. I don’t bother commenting much anymore 🤷‍♀️

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