all those who would like MN [or part] to become register only sign here

of cause there are some funny troll posts....bt at times it had become a bit, erm, tidious {sp?)

I have a laptop at home, I have a PC at work. I live near internet cafes. You could use a dynamic IP address. If you want to stalk/troll/cause trouble you can.

not all troll posts are bad.

some of the threads in mumsnet classics have been jokey troll threads that have had everyone killing themselves laughing for ages.

I have found Mn after googleing something and have been adicted ever since, it would be sad not to have this option for new people to come in.

I think namechange to allow yourself to be rude or outragious to someone is stupid. People who do it usually get bad comments or get reported. That is how it should stay IMO. It would be sad to have to restrict access to good posters because of a few irresponsable ones.

I agree with wannaBe about namchanging for sensitive issues.

I have at least once recognised one of my friends on a thread. We have talked about it and were actually quite happy to find that common link, but I can undrestand that for other people it can be quite traumatic to be recognised in RL.

BlueSaphire77 I had never seen things so positively, but I think you are right actually, even a troll's thread could be of use to someone.

libra; mnhq can identify you from your ip.

It takes 2 minutes to set up a new hotmail account, it would take another 2 minutes to register on a mumsnet if it was register only. This would deter no-one who wanted to troll/cause trouble/stalk someone.

Fio...what I mean is, that there had been, in the past, some regulars that would namechange to post outragous stuff....they would often out themselves and admit to it being a bit of fun...so weren't really trolls in the true sense of course....but, at times it was still annoying...
I am not saying that all those that did it are now moldies...I wouldn't be able to, as I really haven't got a clue who is and who isn't anyway....but it would not surprise me, if some of those were on there now...

I personally think that the best way is to not post anything on here you wouldn't want people in rl to read.

I am quite identifyable on here and if people wanted to find me then they could. But my life isn't that interesting that my identity becoming known to someone in rl would put me at any risk.

But I do think that people become far too complacent when posting on the internet because they think that having a username makes them anonomous.

I have recognized people on here from other sites and from artacles I've read about them in the media. I would never out them but that's not to say there are others on here who wouldn't.

The one thing I would change about mn is the ability to have unlimited namechanges. yes sometimes people need to name change to post about sensitive issues, but the ability to be able to change your name on an unlimited basis really is unnecessary imo. If someone has that many problems that they need to change their name that frequently then tbh they should be seaking more professional help than is available on the internet.

Personally I would limit name changes to once in 30 days, with the ability to switch back obviously. But anything more just leaves it open to abuse.

BTW i understand some trolls post crap or stalk people, or like someone said, if a mother has lost a baby then they have lost two, ect, but surely, and i have said this on another thread, if they pose as someone with a problem, and everyone on here, most of whom i have found straighforward, kind, sensible or caring, have put a lot of effort into supporting this 'mum/parent/person with a general problem, which is something we do in life in general anyway, they are obviously going to be annoyed at putting so much effort into someone who was just stringing them along (sounds like real life lol) BUT on the bright side, someone may be reading the thread, or see it in the future, that finds it, and the advice contained within, useful.
The feeling of having invested time and effort into someone who has lied isn't nice but it happens to most of us at some point.
Just have to look on the bright side, sigh and hope everyone isn't the same.

oh, and I better put a disclaimer on here...obviously I am not saying that ALL regulars do troll impersinations when they are bored...but some may well !

Sorry, have only skimmed thread but no in my opinion (but I missed the whole moldies thing).

Having said that, I once reported a post to MNHQ because I thought I should from a child protection point of view. But as they don't keep addresses there was nothing relevant to be done.

well....I probably should be careful ....regular poster aitch...I was on about some regulars that when bored do troll threads....
btw...that is something I had never experienced before mn....funny isn't it...

I think there may be a case to make some areas of Talk register only and others (like Chat or AIBU) remain open to view.

I agree with one of FAQ's first posts, i wouldn't have found MN had it not been googleable and not only that i have typed in the search bar a sentence and more often than not somewhere up high in the search, has been a MN post, quite useful i thought.
For as long as you have sad individuals with nothing better to do, and a computer screen/keyboard and anonymity to hide behind, you will always get trolls.

I have just decided I'm going to namechange regularly and try to post less

satsumamoon (love your name btw)...so do you think people read posts and then decide to join mumsnet to cause trouble?

You do daftpunk but you can read the posts without registering

i thought you had to register to post on mn??

I only found MN by googling something I was looking for information on many moons ago (oh how I curse that moment of madness and how many hours I have wasted spent on MN since!)

Sometimes I am a bit concerned how much info people have divulged about themselves/their families over time - esp prolific posters. But then maybe it's what made some of those posters popular - because people could build up a mental picture of them and their lives. Sadly it probably meant that they were ultimately identifiable by people who knew them in RL and hence the Cod thing....

Maybe MN could make the chat section private to those registered? Most people seeking/offering information would use one of the other topics. And Chat has ben used a lot by people who want their thread to disappear sooner rather than later so would fit in with that...

I'm repeating myself I think as I've posted this elsewhere, but we need to remember that MN is ultimately a business, and MNHQ won't be keen on anything that limits the site traffic.

For that reason, any anti-troll measures that make the site less public and visible will be non-starters.

a regular what??!!

I can't see what difference it would make. You have to register in order to post something anyway don't you?

LOLOL You want to be a bit careful there, FairLady - I'm not a lawyer, but I figure that referring to people as "regular cum trolls" is almost certainly libellous