Any chance MN HQ could ban posters who consistently speculate regarding trolls...

Exactly pennies.

If you feel that someone is lying/embellishing a story, it should be okay to say without being accused of troll hunting.

I didn't believe the bus thread at first, seemed like an unlikely story AND it wasn't the first time from that one poster. As the thread progressed, and she explained in better detail what actually happened, I realised I was probably wrong.

But that thread did get a bit nasty, though like I said before I blame both parties involved. Some unneccesary point scoring and insults bring thrown needlessly. The 'defender' could have simply said - I know her in rl, she is telling the truth - rather than slinging mud.

Telling lies doesn't make one a troll, nor does being a regular poster mean every post you make is necessarily to be instantly believed. This is an online, anonymous forum and as such, anyone could be anyone.

Well, what is troll hunting anyway though? It seems you can't even put a without someone accusing you of it.

I got wrongly accused of troll hunting recently when I didn't believe what someone was saying. But it that doesn't mean you're accusing them of trolling, you're saying you think they're just talking bollocks / embellishing details for effect which is something entirely different.

HelenMumsnet, the way I understood it is when the dizzymare thing kicked off (and afaik we still have no idea as to whether she was a troll or not ) she had plans in place made via MN to meet another poster, another young mum. I think because of the troll hunters, that person didn't meet her. If MN had had a quiet word and banned her, and her threads had been free of trollhunters then that person would have had no reason not to meet her as planned.
I know the official line will be "follow MN meet up guidance & be careful" but i think we have a right to know who is being treated with suspicion and who isn't.

there is a difference in saying you don't belive something and being nasty
the bus thread was nasty.

It's unfair to suggest someone should be banned from mn simply for disbelieving a story.

With regard to the bus thread, I, at the beginning, agreed it sounded a little far fetched. It's easy to get on the defence and claim people are being 'nasty' when you know a story to be true. But for outsiders, who don't know the poster in rl, and don't have a memory/knowledge of her life, it did seem like a potential fabrication.

Obviously it wasn't, and that thread in particular became a point scoring piece of nonsense between two posters, but I see fault on both sides.

IMO, a mistake was made with disbelieving the story, but I see the justification and so should other reasonable people. Equally, it was wrong to resort to name calling and slating someones opinion because you claim to know the post to be true.

Doesn't make one any better than the other, IMO.

Disagreeing with the validity of a story doesn't make one a 'troll hunter'. Not when there is arguably genuine validity for the disbelief.

if people didn't engage though then there would be little impact to shouting "groll".

As I saw it the bf on the bus post turned into a ridiculous bicker-fest between two posters, whose main aim seemed to be to see who could insult the other the most. There was fault on both sides.

And just because people have met someone in rl doesn't mean they can't troll on the internet. Not that I'm saying that poster is a troll or not, but having met someone in rl isn't a guarantee of their genuine status.

People met cvq in rl, and well we all know how that turned out.

imo sometimes there is no need to shout troll and sometimes there is. On the whole mn hq are powerless to do anything, because often these posters aren't prolific under numerous names, they join a site and troll there under one identity, but if they have no form then mn hq have nothing to go on in terms of knowing whether they're genuine or not.

Dizzymare for instance had been reported numerous times, and mn hq were still unable to do anything. It was only once someone had the nerve to post her suspicions on the boards that people backed away from her, and only months down the line that she was confirmed as a troll. And it was posters who did that, not mn hq.

good idea. Three strikes and you're out

totally agree, have seen the threads in question. Ref the bus one, that really annoyed me as I've met the OP as have several other of the posters on that thread and yet some silly bitches still shout troll. Am getting fed up with all this and am thinking of getting a real life.

aw hey, 2shoes - it was nasty anyway. I don't know her in RL but have known her pretty much since she joined and it was just horrible. She has enough to deal with in RL, without people doubting her on here, doesn't she.

i think it was nasty to call the op(bf on the bus thread) a troll, maybe cos I know her in rl.

TBH Anyfulekno, I don't know - but if you have suspicions, and someone else has the same suspicions, MNHQ might do something about it, like banning the troll if it turns out that they are one.

well yes scaredoflove, you've got an excellent point there. People never dare to say troll on the sensitive threads, I suppose.

thumbwitch I haven't reported to mn no. Does it make much of a difference?

anyfulekno - the troll shouts don't tend to come to threads that are sensitive - they come on the unusual ones

The BF one tonight doesn't bring out people disclosing distressing stories or emotional support - just brings out people wanting one up manship and look at me, I'm so clever. Most of the troll shouters do it on an unusual story or one from someone with a name they don't know

It's nasty, all they want is to belittle the op

If you think it doesn't ring true, don't comment and walk away, you don't have to go on a thread and be nasty or shout troll. Report it if you have to but just ignore it

Anyfulekno - have you reported your concerns about them to MNHQ though? Isn't that what we're supposed to do if we think something is off-key?

There was a woman the other day asking about the so used dilemma of choosing between career and children. She was also accused of trolling.

It seems that for some posters, the fact that the OP opinion is completely different from them, is enough t shout troll.

Personally I've seen a few posters on here recently who I am certain are trolls, but I think, fuck it, if I say so I'll only get a load of abuse.

It's not that simple hmc! Often people are pointing out potential trolls for a reason - we've all seen several actual trolls on here gradually unfold fictional and very upsetting stories. Other posters who have been through something similar invest loads of emotional support, sometimes even speak to or meet up with these people in real life. Then it later transpires that the person was making the whole thing up. I'm not saying it's great that people posting their real problems get accused of being a troll, but I think sometimes people need to be reminded that they shouldn't take everything that's said on here at face value before they put themselves in a very vulnerable position.

I agree hmc.

The troll hunting is much more tedious than the actual trolling.

Bloody annoying, isn't it. The bunnyboiler thread, the poor op was even accused of lifting the photo from Google!

As for the BFing on a bus one, it isn't remotely unbelievable that one person could be attacked more than once. Stupid response. One Doubting Thomas at least in common with the other thread, too - probably more, I only really recognised one.

oh yes,saw the beginning of that....hid it.....regular poster too.