Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Site stuff

Join our Innovation Panel to try new features early and help make Mumsnet better.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

A slightly hypothetical question about 'fictional' posters

35 replies

Thurlow · 06/04/2015 14:46

I thought this might be the best topic for this.

What would, or do, you do if you come across a poster you really start to suspect is creating an entirely imaginary persona?

I don't mean people who come on and post goady, inflammatory OPs under a new username, or even those whose situation seems to escalate even within the same thread. I mean posters who maintain a pretty consistent profile across the site - just something about them or their situations makes you think that it is entirely fictional?

Now I'm not naive and have been on here a long time, I know the 99% of MN is probably complete bollocks Grin (though don't get me wrong, there's a huge amount of great and supportive stuff on here) Also of course there's nothing wrong with making up a different life on here. It's certainly not against any rules.

I guess I'm also thinking about a poster who was banned a while ago for creating a fictional life which drew a lot of people in, got them to share some very personal and emotional things, and really hurt a lot of people when it was revealed to be entirely made up.

So if you see a poster, who you just have a gut feeling is making a lot up, and you have a worry that maybe over time - months, years - it is slowly escalating and might turn into that situation again where many, many people have been 'sucked in' (for lack of a better phrase) and then the poster will have a massive drama/event that could upset other posters - what would you do?

Sorry if this hasn't made any sense. I can't really explain it without getting more specific, which certainly wouldn't be fair or right.

OP posts:
cozietoesie · 06/04/2015 15:23

Not so. I've seen it done.

Crossfitmyarse · 06/04/2015 15:22

I was wondering this too….in fact I almost started the same thread prompted by my suspicions, so I am guessing someone is at the forefront of your mind right now?

In recent months there have been two posters who really got my spidy senses twitching. One of them wove some pretty intricate webs but then tripped herself up spectacularly, several times, with outright lies and conflicting stories. When I challenged her on the thread it all went quiet, so I reported her, the threads got deleted/locked 'while we check out inconsistencies' or whatever the official line was….and I've not seen hide nor hair of her since. No explanation, no thread asking 'whatever happened to that girl who claimed xyz?…' very annoying, like following a series of something all the way through and then missing the last episode with no chance of an i-player catch up. Angry

I can't be the only one wondering about her, she was all over the board like a rash for a while with two or three concurrent dramas going on.

And then there was another one who I couldn't hand on heart say I knew was a troll, but so many things she said just didn't add up or sit right with me. She had a very, very unusual set of circumstances going on that I just couldn't buy into but I didn't have enough evidence to nail my colours to the mast. Grin Having said that, there never seemed to be any major escalating dramas, it all plodded along quite mundanely, so maybe she was for real. Confused

She seems to have disappeared as well now though. I was always waiting for her big drama to hit so I could say 'Boom! Gotcha!' but it never did.

There are LOADS of people who I don't think are trolls, I think they are genuine about their life story and their current situations as they see it, but I think they quite possibly have a very, very skewed perception of reality and the truth. I often think, when they are telling their long tales of woe about toxic mothers or whatever, that I would love to hear the other side of the story for a balance because some people so seem more than a bit ….eccentric and er….dramatic. Confused

MythicalKings · 06/04/2015 15:18

I wonder how this could happen. It must be someone with a very good memory. I think most of us change some details to avoid being outed but inventing a whole other life requires too much effort, I would have thought.

cozietoesie · 06/04/2015 15:13

If you have problems with a particular poster, just report it so that MNHQ can keep things under advisement. (TSSDNCOP) I've seen situations on other internet sites where people have been badly damaged through being sucked in to fictional dramas. (I'm sure it happens/could happen on MN also.)

Then leave it alone.

Lweji · 06/04/2015 14:58

I'd leave it alone.

You don't want the Russian government on your case. www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/02/putin-kremlin-inside-russian-troll-house Confused

usualsuspect333 · 06/04/2015 14:55

Also many posters to seem to thrive on other peoples dramas. So if you even hinted on a suspect thread you were suspicious you would get lynched.

MovingOnUpMovingOnOut · 06/04/2015 14:55

Well pretending to be someone you're not to get your jollies on the Internet is trolling. So report it and then leave it be.

Not sure why that didn't occur to you unless you've been her about 5 minutes and have never seen an Olivia and link to the talk guidelines? Confused

SanityClause · 06/04/2015 14:53

Well, I think this is the only thing you can do.

Frankly, I'm amazed people can pull this off. I would never be able to remember all the minutiae of my fictional persona.

usualsuspect333 · 06/04/2015 14:52

I tend to just ignore them now.

You could report your concerns to MNHQ but I'm not sure there is much they can do about a determined troll.

BIWI · 06/04/2015 14:50

I would report it to MNHQ with as much information as I could to support why I felt that way.