Deleting whole threads

I really hope that this can be sorted for you French

Thank you Lorna. I reported my post on this thread on Monday with an attached message. I have no idea why you are unable to see it.

Also Donkey if that is the reason they can't/won't do it, couldn't they at least respond to my message to explain that?

But in addition to that Donkey I did say upthread that when I first started requesting some identifying deletions they were happy to oblige even though I was asking from a new account with a different email address. If you are asking for deletions of otherwise fairly innocuous and boring posts that are of no interest to anyone but yourself and perhaps anyone who might recognise you, I don't see what difference it should make. If that is the reason then it's inconsistently applied.

If I came on here pretending to be let's say AnyFucker or Worra and demanded that her posting history should be removed then I could understand they would want proof that I was actually her. Or if a poster flounced and de-regged and I came along a month later saying I was her and wanting to have her user name to post again under it. Of course I understand why they should be careful.

But this is nothing like that. It's harmless and simple and not a big deal to anyone but me.

I can't Donkey I have tried, but I asked them this time to reply to me directly on MN messages.

oh come on HQ.... We always make it clear to an OP that we will only remove a thread for good reason

as soon as an OP brings up the "identifying" word you delete.

one last week about pub quizzes??? wta was identifying about that?
one last year about someone who had brothers not pulling their weight with an elderly parent
iirc, the OP had only posted about three times...the op, then a moan that she really wasn't being a martyr and then another post, claiming that she had let too much slip and would get the post deleted

It's just a joke!

Have you revisited unlocking the locked email account? IIRC HQ work on the premise that the original email addy used to open your MN account is the one they'll accept for acting on...

Well no response whatsoever from MNHQ

Good luck. I hope you can resolve.

I have messaged them, thanks.

I reported it hq to see if they could
Help
You a while ago :)

I can report the above post through this account to draw their attention to it and ask them to respond to me in an MN message rather than email, that's a good idea, thanks.

French can you still log into the MN account in question, if report your post here and ask for them to send you a message through the site not by email - worth a shot?

I could create a new email address and ask them again and see if they respond to me on that one, but what a pain. But whatever the reason is, how can it be justified in light of the very small thing I am asking them to do that protects my privacy?!

Even if they want some sort of proof that the posts were definitely made by me (it was under a previous registration and different email) I am asking them to delete two otherwise boring posts that discuss the names of my children and pets - why on earth would I go to the bother of asking that if I was anyone other than who I say I am?

It's not like I'm asking them to give me back my old user name, in which case I'd understand if they wanted me to respond to them using the email that went with that original account, but I am not.

And they did retrospectively delete other posts relating to my old registration so if that is the reason then it's very inconsistently applied.

Sorry, that was hard work to read and make sense of.

French any chance you could revisit resolving the locked-out email address one more time then you might succeed in your quest to have the single post removed?

FrenchL I am shocked that your single post deletion request has been rejected, that's awful.

Threads with rl names could have those posts deleted but the threads still stand. Might encourage better posting behaviour.

I agree with the OP and I am pissed off to see how easy it is now for a poster to cry 'But this will identify me! Waah! I'm SOOO upset, I have ANXIETY don't you know' on threads that haven't gone their way and were not even particularly identifying anyway.

After hackergate MN said anyone who wanted their entire history deleted could have it. I thought about it, but I saw so many great threads decimated overnight, no longer making any sense due to the amount of deletions, which was such a shame and I actually felt a bit sorry for MN. I felt the archive was important, the history and the community's backstory was important, evidence of all the support and the great laughs we'd shared were important.

What I did do was make a conscious decision to post in a much more circumspect way and I started to NC frequently, along with most other people.

I have quite an identifying backstory that I talked about a great deal at one point under my old regular name. A while ago it came to my attention that a family member I have moaned about a lot on here is probably here too now, and I REALLY don't want them to find me. I found as many very identifying posts as I could and reported them for individual deletion. I apologised to MNHQ for the piecemeal nature of the deletions and said that if it was easier they could just delete all of my posts from certain threads rather than just the identifying posts, but I they said they really don't like to do that because it makes the threads look like Swiss cheese (their words.)

However, several months ago I came across another couple of posts that really identified me (names of my children and name/breed of my pet) so I emailed MNHQ asking them to remove those two posts. And for some reason they won't do it.

Admittedly I am locked out of the email address I use only for MN so if they had contacted me with a reason then I can't know what that reason is, but I have asked them twice now and those posts still stand.

I realise it was my own fault and I should have been more careful. But to be fair MN was a different place five or six years ago compared to now. Most people had never even heard of MN, now there is barely a day it's not mentioned somewhere in the media. It does piss me right off to see whole thread deletions happening almost daily on trumped up grounds of 'privacy' and yet I can't get this one small thing.

I wish I'd deleted my whole previous history while I had the chance.

MN is not an emergency service. Help in RL is what a lot of posters should be seeking. Not opinions from randoms on the internet, and definitely don't post in AIBU if you have a genuine problem.

Just to add to the advice.

Don't be afraid to post on MN for advice in case you will be turned on and have threads started about you by bullies.

It's normally not that childish here.

I think there is a difference between not liking how a thread goes and it degenerating into a pile in from both "sides". Certainly the thread I posted a polite reply on that MNHQ deleted at OP's request wasn't a pile in, the OP simply didn't like my suggestion. The same OP coincidentally appeared on the next thread I posted on with a broad enough post, but enough for me to know he/she was unhappy with me. So I name-changed.

You can't expect to be able to vent on MN about another poster. Troll hunting/personal attacks are not allowed.

You were not rounded on by anyone, Uni.

And joining in on that thread is a lot worse than being advised to leave the thread and get on with your day.

You've kinda lost the moral high ground there and I don't understand why you are perpetuating this shit show.

It's over.

And one thing I do want to say. over and over and over.

If you are in a bad situation and you need support, RING WOMEN'S AID. Don't be taken in by what that poster said, it's not true. Most of the time you will get straight through to a trained advice worker, and if not, if you leave a message THEY WILL RING YOU BACK.

You will not be left for days with no call back - messages are checked regularly and you should get a call back within 24 hours.

PLEASE don't ever think there is no point of phoning because no one will ring you back.

Same if you decide to talk to your health visitor. They WILL SUPPORT YOU.

If you go to a drop in centre with your kids the advice workers will still see you. Some drop in centres have creches where your kids can play while you talk to someone.

If you don't want to speak the words out loud, write down a note and hand it over - advice workers can read it and gently ask you questions to get you to appropriate help.

Help is out there and services will do their best to help you when you are reaching out and asking for assistance.

Just to bust the myths of what that poster we can't refer to had said on the deleted threads.

We have all been taken for mugs by one poster or another on MN. It's the internet, it happens.

Just move on.