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Original poster

Are Mumsnet rules just for the little people?

913 replies

Penandink · 12/02/2012 14:54

"Troll cries make MNers look silly. If you think the person is not real, you don't have to post - nobody has a gun at your head! If you suspect the person is false and trying to hurt, or get money, tell MNHQ! How terrible if genuine people - people in trouble, people at the end of their tether - come here as their last hope for some help and advice, are savaged and go off again, feeling terrible and that they don't have anywhere left to turn to?"

www.mumsnet.com/info/netiquette

There is a very real problem on Mumsnet that there are a small group of posters who wilfully ignore this "rule" as and when it suits them. I think the problem is now institutionalised in MN as being the norm and acceptable.

These people just make stuff up about people they've never met. Once they do this other people pile in believing the bullshit, and then acting on it. The troll-hunters also don't seem to stop and think how their assumptions might affect - or even damage the rest of the site. Lets summarise their position: " I am OUTRAGED and APPALLED by something that may or may not have happened but can't be proved, because although I say it did, I won't provide any evidence"

Sometimes this place is more like a bear pit rather than a community of support and OBJECTIVE thinking and response.

They have their bit of fun and when their target gives up - off course they do having been hounded unmercifully - the Hunter claim that proves they were a troll. Disagree with the unters and sooner rather than later they will accuse you of being a man (their ultimate insult) or a troll. A suggestion that you should leave the site usually follows.

The "silent majority" don't put up with this. They just leave...

OP posts:
Portofino · 13/02/2012 20:06

i am the boss of me, and reserve the right to believe and disbelieve what I see printed anywhere. I don't break MN rules very often. I am not in an internet gang and don't go troll hunting all over the boards. If in relationships or chat or AIBU and see something that does not add up, I ask questions. I never publically doubt someone in Bereavement. I report to MNHQ and would maybe send a PM or 2 saying beware.

That being said, the troll I mentioned earlier is SO BLOODY OBVIOUS most of the time, it is no wonder they are called on it.

kermithermit · 13/02/2012 19:58

Hmm I am silent majority and I don't think this site is what it used to be. I've been a member for over 10 years now but I'm not as keen on it as I was in the early days. I can see the point about damage to reputation and don't think it should be taken lightly. Whilst I still find MN interesting, there's no way I'd come on here for help these days - but that was one of the original USPs of the site

There seem to be far too many aggressive people on here (trolls, troll hunters and in crowds alike). Definitely not what it was.

hathorinareddress · 13/02/2012 19:53

Why would you join a group and post and engage if you think that 90% of what is being posted is bullshit?

Just asking, like.

shabbapinkfrog · 13/02/2012 19:45

OMG are we still on the same thread?

noddyholder · 13/02/2012 19:33

Penandink do you want someone to come on and say there is a Mn hierarchy and if you are near the top and have been posting here years you can set your own rules? You will wait forever if you are!

SuePurblybilt · 13/02/2012 19:32

Out of interest, why do you keep posting the same thing? Is that a 'thing' and I've missed a post upthread?

QueenOfFeckingEverything · 13/02/2012 19:31

Not as bizarre as joining when you disbelieve the majority of posts and dislike the way the site is run and used Smile

Original poster
Penandink · 13/02/2012 19:29

Mumsnet has rules about Troll Hunting. Some members of Mumsnet obviously feel that they don't have to follow these rules and I would like to know why they think this is the case.

Troll hunting does harm to the site in a number of ways. HQ staff have explained in some detail why their approach to trolls is better than yours but you seem unable to accept their ruling. It does harm the reputation of Mumsnet that rules that people freely sign up to follow when they join are ignored, seemingly without any sanctions being taken.

The Hunters absolute refusal to justify their current "We know better than Mumsnet" approach cannot have gone unnoticed.

Portofino - I have no issue with people reporting threads that concern them to HQ. This is what the current policy/rule suggests. I was wondering what god given powers of divination the troll hunters had that meant that ignoring the policy was justified. The problems that this causes have been explained by HQ staff but the troll hunters still do exactly what they want.

Why do I care? Because its seems bizarre to join a group of your own free will only to decide that you will pick and choose which rules to follow

OP posts:
Portofino · 13/02/2012 18:53

Now what the OP has asked is for us give her objective evidence as to why we think a poster is a troll. Now, as someone who believes that most OPs are a work of fiction - that is what she herself posted - now what is she asking here? And why does she want that info?

If you believe it all made up, then why would you care? And why would you want details on WHY others believe someone is a troll if you were of that mindset?

SuePurblybilt · 13/02/2012 18:32

The melodious sound of axes being ground. So pretty.

Tufty is not a cycling troll btw. She is a Swedish Professional Rabble Rouser. HTH.

RealitySickOfSick · 13/02/2012 18:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Maryz · 13/02/2012 18:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Portofino · 13/02/2012 17:51

Now this thread reminds me a lot of another one in the past, where brand new OP took it upon herself to say that Mumsnet wasn't handling itself efficiently enough and suggested that improvements needed to be made. Now what board was that on? Oh yes, Bereavement Hmm.

thepileofstuff · 13/02/2012 17:47

Well, apparently not.

OnlyANinja · 13/02/2012 17:45

The secret service do not comment on procedure.

thepileofstuff · 13/02/2012 17:43

OliviaMumsnet, I can't believe that after all these years I'm having to ask what an MN acronym is. But what is TSSDNCOP?

everlong · 13/02/2012 17:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

hathorinareddress · 13/02/2012 17:37

I don't frasersmummy but I just feel for others who aren't a cynical old crone like me get sucked in

frasersmummy · 13/02/2012 17:35

if you dont believe a poster.. dont answer them ..mn is a huge site.. someone else will answer them

if you dont want to get emotionally hurt.. dont get emotionally involved .. some of us have learned that the hard way.. so it is good advice

hathorinareddress · 13/02/2012 17:34

I don't know what I want MNHQ to do, I just said it was frustrating when it was obviously a pile of nonsense and they were unable to do much.

hathorinareddress · 13/02/2012 17:33

I do - and I report but sometimes it's say a thread in relationships, they post on a Saturday afternoon, I read it, it's a pile of the steamy stuff, report, and the thread carries on sucking more and more people in. And they know that there aren't as many HQ bods around on the weekends.

Which is just horrible - even if I'm ignoring it, other people are investing time and energy supporting someone who isn't real

frasersmummy · 13/02/2012 17:32

what is you want mn towers to do ... if they cant disprove a story they cant say oh sorry other mnetters dont believe you .. so you are banned ...

everlong · 13/02/2012 17:30

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

hathorinareddress · 13/02/2012 17:29

I do - and if you look my history you will see I don't troll hunt.

But I am just saying, it's frustrating.

MNHQ
OliviaMumsnet · 13/02/2012 17:27

@hathorinareddress

Thing is though, Olivia, you read something, it is obviously bullshit a great big steaming pile of shite, full of inaccuracies and errors and just could not be the way it's being told.

And you do the decent thing and report to HQ

And you get back "we will take a look" "there is nothing to suggest"

It is very frustrating.

But you do understand, don't you, why TSSDNCOP?