Thread Deleted ( Parts 1,2,3, and 4)

I never see it as wasting my time when a thread is fake because if I’m on here anyway then I’m either on it while I’m doing something else, having a cup of tea or maybe on a train journey.

You are still making the assumption that everyone that uses the site has the ability to shake it off and the intelligence to learn from it. Unfortunately that isn't the case and those people will get sucked in, won't learn from it and it will happen again and again.

And when those threads are repeatedly reported, you can't warn as its 'troll hunting' and you know there are people that will be taken in, its more than a little annoying.

I remember threads where someone made up a baby dying and people were giving them money, the same making up a child with cancer, again that was reported and reported and so many got taken in and were really emotional about it, and it took far too many threads to get deleted.

Yes in an ideal world we would all be smart, not get invested, not give more than we can (whether that be money or time or anything else) but unfortunately not everyone has that ability. And again maybe in an ideal world they would be kept away from these sites for their own safety but why shouldn't they be able to use them to get their own advice and have connections with the world when for some it may be their only connection.

We shouldn't assume that every user has the ability to be fully switched on, unemotionally invested and the ability to be level headed at all times. People get scammed online every day for the very reason that some are more vulnerable than others with these things. When we see that, if we are categorically told we cannot warn others because it is 'troll hunting' and our only way to help protect someone who may be vulnerable, is to report, then yes I do think MN have a responsibility to put the people using the site before some extra clicks and act in a bit more of a timely manner. This one was clearly a bunch of crap a long time before it was removed.

Like I say this time it was only time invested but it can lead to more than time. You also dont ever know how a post will emotionally affect someone else. Just because it didn't affect you, that's not to say it won't to someone else.

I just hate this mentality of oh it didn't bother me, so it shouldn't bother anyone. These threads can and do affect people in different ways and when it's clear they are fake, they should be removed.

I won't keep making the same points but I feel it's a bigger issue and the no troll hunting line is all well and good, as long as these threads are actually moderated. But it seems they aren't while they are generating clicks and personally I think that's wrong.

I skimmed the end of the last thread without bothering to post, as it was obvious by this point not only that this was trolling, but of the manner and type of troll at work (the sex kind).

'She' certainly knew a great deal about the inner workings of the sex industry, the procedure, the 'shorthand' language for obtaining the services they required, and the method of paying for them.

I'd put good money on not.

The site is rife with these people.

Oh yes 🎷🎺

Ahem, I think the shark moment was the reference to what she said her friend’s boyfriend had said her friend did… the term that posters duly googled.

It was the folk looking up the strip clubs in Blackpool , their search history will
Be interesting

This! I never understand why some people invest so much time in not just one thread - but 3 or 4, (or more) ALL about the same subject. (Someone's latest dilemma!)

I roll my eyes to the back of my head, and inwardly sigh, when an 'issue' a poster has rolls onto multiple threads. And people post 'checking in!' and 'I am soooooo invested!'

I can just about stomach a second one. Even understand it to a degree if things feel unresolved, but when it goes to more than 2 threads... (3, 4, or even 5) I'm like >>> 🙄 Some people are soooooooo invested in peoples dramas and issues, and sit glued to the multiple threads from one poster about ONE issue they are having.

Each to their own, but it's bad enough when you post 2 or 3 long-ish detailed well thought out posts on a thread and it goes 'poof!' Imagine spending a WEEK investing in someone's 'problem' just to find out it was all bollocks.

I'm still holding stubbornly on to my 1000 posts to a page, which apparently marks me out as an old timer as it hasn't been an option for so long!

Yes that was weird. May be more understandable if she had children and felt trapped in the situation but she was a free agent and could call it quits at any time, even if that meant divorce. Was the OP even a she, who knows 🤷‍♀️

Yes: this is obvious shorthand for 'we are not going to act on your report'. It happened recently with a post I reported for anti-Semitism - sadly but not surprisingly in today's climate.

I agree, too, with your above post as to individual posters assuming responsiblility for 'investment' in a thread. However well-meaning that investment might be, that's down to them. Posts to the tune of 'Any updates, OP, we are all worried about you!' speak volumes and always raise an eyeroll as far as I'm concerned.

The retreating from the BS approach is one I also frequently use, as I did on the first of these four threads. I do draw attention to the obvious MRAs and fetishists, though. This isn't against talk guidelines as far as I'm aware and this brand of poster is pervading this site to the extent that it's tainting genuine discussion. It's helpful for the uninitiated or unwary to be aware of their presence, IMO.

I
I think for any of us very long term Mners, the username gave it away…

ill have a consonant please Carol.

I don't know how many times I have mentioned that I've been sucked in myself before? I have. It's annoying, I agree with you. Reporting doesn't mean that it will be deleted (I know that too) but if you're reporting then you know the thread's a scam and you don't keep investing.

It's up to other users to not be perpetually gullible. Or, if they are, then take it on the chin.

This isn't a safe site, none of them are and it's folly to think otherwise or put other people in charge of our safety online.

Gutted. After her last post where she said "I just want a fairytale ending like in the movies" I wanted to say "I think you mean a happy ending 😉"
And everyone would have stood up and applauded. Kidding.
I was so annoyed/frusrated with her, and I've met people in those situations who've been as doormatty as her, so I was giving the benefit of the doubt. But I would occasionally say to my husband, "I'm a mug aren't I. This is fake."
Then I'd read on...

Yeah that really was improbable! I mean dear God.

constant conveniently prompt updates is always a red flag. I had my doubts

I reported it and the reply I got implied a lot had but they had no reason to doubt it and take it down

I believed it to but I wasn't invested in it so not that bothered it wasn't.

When you can't warn people because it's seen as troll hunting and you report it only for those many reports to be ignored, then it's annoying

Just because you are savvy and clued up online, you can't assume everyone is. People from all walks of life use this site and some are more vulnerable and do get overly invested. It's exactly how people end up giving money to people on these kinds of sites. So yeah I do think mumsnet have a little bit of responsibility. If they want to put a blanket ban on 'troll hunting' then they could at least try and protect those who may not be quite so clued up, so they dont get sucked in. This time it was just time lost but ive seen it be more in the past and again, when people warned of it they were told not to troll hunt, turns out they were scamming well meaning people.

Yes - and when I get a response of 'We're taking a look at that now', I read that the translation is, 'We know. Stop telling us'.

Yes, I haven't thought about the potential misuse of the "troll hunting" (oh, the irony 😅).
I do my fair share of reportung, it's just that sometimes there are posters who are so obviously dishonestly engaging in a thread that it's frustrating not being able to say it "out loud"...

But then you get posters lamenting that they've invested time and effort and the thread wasn't genuine.

It's not within the guidelines to query an OP's thread/post so the only thing that can be done is to back out and just not give it oxygen. I do that so often that I'm mostly removing threads. That's within guidelines and nobody suffers because I'm not on the thread.

I've been caught out with a thread that wasn't genuine before. I shrug it off, give myself a slap and try not to do it again. There are posters who love fiction and drama, they don't care if it has any semblance of truth. There's no helping them.

Would be very interesting to know but something we 100% would never get told

I'm not sure what your point is either? How is MN responsible for posters who are unable to save themselves from wittering on and investing themselves in something that is really obviously (to most), untrue and therefore not worth reading further?

It's up to posters to take precautions for themselves to stop them investing time and effort into nonsense. Or not. They're free to do that but as adults, shouldn't be expecting a nanny on a chatboard.

These creative writers always jump the shark sooner or later. This is usually the moment of illumination, but as pointing out the fantasy nature of their outputs is verboten, it's the point at which a good many posters will simply disengage. I must admit I was surprised when I saw this had run to four threads.

I post on this site on the understanding that a lot of its content will be made up and take the view that either a thread addresses a point of interest, or it doesn't. And, who knows?, perhaps these threads might help someone else in a similar position.

On the whole I think the site etiquette of not calling out inventive thread creators is wise. Some women post here in genuine distress and are in clearly abusive relationships. More than one has been saved by the supportive advice given on this site over the years. I'd rather be taken in by numerous idiots than have one woman in dire need ending up with that lifeline cut off because it's been wrongly assumed she's bluffing for kicks.

Troll hunting is against the rules but I would love to know how many people actually pressed the report button.

It was so fake but I just stopped reading after part 2 appeared.
I've made reports in the past about obvious fake threads but you get the usual 'looks ok behind the scenes'.

Surely if MN were receiving quite a few reports on this then they would have to pull it. No idea how it got to 4 threads.

If I tag @Lavender95 can she see this?