The useful Bunbury Guide to Spotting Community Disruptors is constantly evolving. It seems appropriate to resurrect today
The best research and advice is not to engage with community disruptors and trolls. As ever, if you suspect troll activity, report it to MNHQ.
Remember there are people out there who would like to silence us by fair means or foul and attacks are increasing.
This is a continuation of Bunbury’s 9th Public Service Announcement but other Bunbury’s are available and I believe Bunbury’s Orchestra is still alive www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/4238543-Does-Bunbury-have-an-orchestra
If and when you see threads plopped into FWR, especially a curious repeat of well-worn topics, maybe check for poster history before engaging. AS is your friend.
If you feel your hackles rising, give yourself a break. After the Maya case we may find an escalation.
There are a number of posts/posters/threads that are reproduced on Twitter or Facebook to foment controversy using screen shots & flagging to either MNHQ to have threads or posters deleted.. Sometimes, it’s used to approach commissioning editors with ideas for articles. It’s a tiresome tactic that we always have community disruptor posters who themselves post the comments that they then highlight elsewhere as purported evidence of racism, religious intolerance, anti-men sentiments, or transphobia.
Some helpful links can be found in the ‘Break it Down for me’ and ‘It never happens’ threads but in essence FermatsTheorem recommended “that in the absence of a block/hide poster button, the following strategy is suggested
Do not name check the sealion. Instead, respond to a depersonalised paraphrase:
"It is sometimes erroneously suggested that blah. Blah is wrong for the following reasons (short and pithy). If you need more information re. debunking blah, here's a link."
Then (this next step is important to combat derailment) go back up thread to the last useful contribution to the discussion, make sure you do name check that contributor, and pick up the discussion from that point.”
Bunbury’s is under attack so be on your guard - there be dragons looking for witches.
If you’re lurking, Bunbury was a fictitious person in the Importance of Being Earnest - whenever our hero wanted to get out of an unwanted social engagement he would claim to have to be visiting his sick relative Bunbury. Hence the rediscovery of hitherto unknown second wave feminist Germaine Bunbury, to indicate to posters that a thread may in fact constitute an unwelcome social occasion they might want to avoid (courtesy of FermatsTheorem)
Finally, TAAT (thread about a thread) will get the thread removed. Let’s see how long this one lasts.