What is this ‘You might also like’ clutter?

Exactly. If you want to find other threads that discuss the same topic then you need to use search / advanced search. This new feature is pointless, as it suggests other threads relating to (or not in most cases) the thread that has been posted. I could understand your argument about it being helpful if it suggested similar threads before you created one, but it doesn't.

@Whinge because reading a thread can often create question for some / curiosity - reading other opinions on related topics can answer that without the need for a new thread.

Didn't realise there was a rule on how many threads it was acceptable to start in a set time frame.

There are so many old threads now in active and even after people have posted (several times sometimes!) that the thread is a zombie, posters continue to add pointless advice about a lunch from 2 months ago or a "new" relationship from 6 months ago! If people can't even be bothered reading the posts in a thread on which they are posting, what is the point of giving them more threads to post on??!!

Absolutely! And how does it stop you starting threads given that you only see the list of similar threads once you’ve posted one? Agree it would be helpful if suggested before the thread is published for practical advice type threads.

It is a good disrupter though, tbf. Maybe that was the point (giving MNHQ the benefit of conspiracy not cock-up here).

Attracting contributors and sustaining a forum's life is an ongoing challenge. Chuck in a feature most everyone hates, offer a space for users to protest about it and reinforce the solidarity of the forum....

(or it could just be a deliberate 'Who Moved My Cheese' moment and we will all find the new cheese eventually.)

I find the "You May Also Like" feature quite helpful - it offers different opinions on similar situations and has saved me from starting a new thread on a few occasions.

It was only introduced 2 days ago. How many threads would you have started?

@YetAnotherBeckyMumsnet @LilyMumsnet you could resolve this by adding and extra term to the coding for the "Active Threads" list which excludes a thread from "Active" if there has been a gap of more than 30 days between posts (this would also resolve the issue that people posting "zombie alert" in zombie threads has the unfortunate side-effect of keeping them active)

Another thing you could do is have a tickbox when people create their threads asking them whether old threads with similar keywords in the title are likely to be relevant. Similar to the option in AIBU to switch voting on or off. There are a few recurring threads which this feature isn't totally stupid for, e.g. "recommend child-friendly campsites in wales" or "recommend friendly nurturing non-selective prep school in south London" where a thread that's a year old isn't totally irrelevant - but these threads are far outweighed by "WWYD about this dilemma" or "help me through this unpleasant situation" threads where resurrecting threads from months ago is only going to cause stress, upset and irritation.

If they do that, I'll not be subscribing to Premium. I'll just stop posting (as I think a lot of others will do).

They are aware that there is a cost of living crisis at the moment and paying for an online subscription is VERY low on the list of priorities at the moment for people????

Which is why MN should be listening to users and deleting this stupid feature. Not saying they will fiddle around with it.

I asked the people who had accidentally bumped up threads yesterday whether it was because they saw them in the "You might also like" box, and the people who came back to the threads said that it probably was due to that.

So, MN is actively sabotaging their own site by introducing this 'feature'.

I find the "You May Also Like" feature quite helpful - it offers different opinions on similar situations and has saved me from starting a new thread on a few occasions.

However, Mumsnet - would it be possibly to have a different colour in the threads that are over X months old or something so they are easily identified from current threads? Sometimes it does get a bit confusing particularly with things like politics etc.

I absolutely dont blame the posters, its utterly frustrating, thats why now I am directing them to this thread.

Oh I didn't think you were blaming them at all lovely. It was inevitable that people would get more frustrated due to the recent situation.

I too suspect though that the premium idea could be a likely outcome. Don't know how that would work in active conversations though as its predominantly old threads.

Clicked on about 5 zombie threads in the space of 10 minutes this morning 🙄 Not resurrected by trolls either so obviously coming from the "you might also like" feature.

Sort it out please MN

So many bloody Zombie threads now
Really fucking annoying

The cynic in me is starting to wonder what is behind this reluctance by MNHQ to admit they have got this wrong. What's the betting that there will soon be a message along the lines of " we are removing this feature for Premium subscribers....if you no longer wish to see it, join Premium now".....Put rubbish stuff on the free site in the hope that more people will pay the premium rate?

I absolutely dont blame the posters, its utterly frustrating, thats why now I am directing them to this thread.

Any chance you could also direct MNHQ to this thread? 😅

Despite the many other threads complaining about the new feature they don't seem to be suggesting this thread.

I absolutely dont blame the posters, its utterly frustrating, thats why now I am directing them to this thread.

I quite agree, and raised this issue several days ago. It should be the most important factor in deciding how, or whether, to keep this function. Causing people emotional distress for no good reason seems like a poor way to act for a website which is ostensibly about parents providing support to one another.

To be fair to those getting frustrated the roll out of this stupid feature unfortunately comes off the back of trolls deliberately resurrecting old threads last week so people are naturally going to presume it's a continuation of that.

Can't blame them for getting frustrated.

It really is awful. Apart from anything else, having people comment on a sensitive or painful issue from the past could be a really unpleasant experience for some OPs.

People are actually starting to fall out and get aggressive with the posters resurrecting zombies when its not their fault! I am pointing them all here now.

MN please, just roll the change back entirely. It's driving everyone up the wall and the tiny assumed benefit of it really doesn't outweigh the constant annoyance of zombie threads that have been dead for months and years.

Honestly, just admit defeat on this one and move on. Please!

It’s bonkers. I’m on a daily Wordle thread and the algorithm suggests I might like all the older Wordle threads. No thanks they are way out of date and usually full. Then I’m on threads in S&B about Beauty Advent Calendars and the you may like box doesn’t appear there at all.

Please just get rid of it. It’s a rubbish idea. And totally unnecessary.

A way of bumping unanswered threads would make much more sense.

MN is not a research tool. It's a dynamic real time conversation.

Links to other threads on the same topic has no function in the way that it would in, say, a forum about medical issues or travel.

But yet again you have implemented not just a change but a change which reduces usability and is utterly insensitive without any proper testing. Recommendation engines or even emulating a degree of that functionality is not a minor piece to be bunged in without thorough testing.

But overwhelmingly what comes across from this one is that whoever designs and configures you searches does not understand either your user base or how the userbase interacts.

If they did, I wouldn't be seeing recommendations for black jeans just because I'm in BMN or be told "you may also like" more threads on bereavement let alone all the zombies.
These are errors at the rookie end of configuring recommendation/search.

At the very least change the wording from "you may also like" to "these may be relevant to your search" or some such. Nobody would also "like" more threads on life's more miserable experiences. Better still - divert the effort into getting actual search working better if this nonsense is supposed to help us find information and meaningful engagement rather than just teh click count.