NCing - why do you do that?

[IRememberXanadu]

I have been on MN for years and every now and again I NC. I do that when I realise that my posts, taken all together, may be outing. However I don't 'announce' it - so why do some people say 'NCd for this' when they post? Is it because there is a drawback to NCing? If so, what is it?

Also, how do some people remember what others have said in previous posts? There are so many contributors on MN I'd be very hard pressed to remember individual posters' comments. So how do some of you do that?

So that other posters don’t think they are a first time poster and possibly a troll.

People say that they have name changed as otherwise within a few posts there will be someone piping up 'Did you just join MN today and post this 🙄'

I also name change a lost because I am a childless, disabled, non driving, mixed race person who doesn't always fully agree with the GC people on the feminist board and I have attracted 'followers' before who like to disagree with all of my posts on principle, in a nasty way, because I am not the 'right sort of person' to be on mumsnet.

So its easier to name change to avoid the hassle,

In terms of remembering peoples names, more often its the syntax, posting style and details of the scenarios that I remember rather than the name itself. Although if someone is constantly posting aggressive, daft points of view I will sometimes remember the name. There is a massive Boris supporter on here who does this a lot and is adamant that her lived experience is the only possible lived experience anyone else can have, so she tends to stick in my mind as one to avoid because its pointless.

Thank you. I never get trolls - what a sad life they must have, choosing to spend time having a go at people they don't even know, just for the pleasure of it.

It’s a double edged sword because there’s those that like the NC function to keep people from connecting their threads together etc, it’s also one of the things that makes trolling and bitchplopping way easier.

The new crap AS function means you can’t easily search posters so tbh the NC feature isn’t as good as it used to be

I still haven’t worked out how to use the new Search Function. 🤷‍♀️

@ShirleyPhallus what is the AS function, please?

Advanced search

in the olden days you might suspect hairy hands and so could literally type their name in to the AS box and see they had no previous threads / posts. Now it’s a complete guess as to what you’ll get returned so it’s pointless to even look

I've done it in the past when I've posted something that is controversial and people just assume troll because they assume it's a first post. I've been called a troll despite me saying I've name changed which is slightly frustrating but better that than it being linked to everything I've ever posted and someone putting 2 and 2 together.

I understand why people do it so it doesn’t link to other threads and announce it so the thread isn’t bogged down with posts saying ‘are you a journalist, this is your first thread’ etc.
what I don’t understand is why people start a thread and then half way through it name change so their replies aren’t linked to the op. I find that bizarre.

TBF 'NC'd for this' does very often come before an OP that can be deemed anything from a bit goady to very controversial. It's almost like saying 'Now I know this sounds like trolling but I can assure you I have been here for years'. If If it was a completely normal sounding OP/subject there'd be no need to bother announcing the NC would there?

Thanks everyone. So besides people thinking you may be a troll if you post something controversial, there don't seem to be drawbacks to NCing every now and again. Thank you.

Just remembering which name you have used for which thread I guess, so you don't look like a sockpuppet.

I get the namechanging, I do it quite frequently.

What I don’t get is why people think listing things like “pom bears”, “penis beaker”, “cancel the cheque” etc proves anything!

That's because the assumption is that if you know about Pom Bears that was from a very long time ago. Not sure about the usefulness of saying you know about Penis Beaker though. It went viral so everyone would know that one, you didn't even have to be on MN.

Thanks for asking! I always wondered why

I change at least a couple of times a week. MNHQ must think I'm bonkers

But I get super paranoid about anyone linking my posts together and being recognised. I post a lot of personal stuff here that I wouldn't be able to talk to anyone about in real life.

As pp said, people announce a NC because otherwise it might look like they are new to the forum and possibly a troll. The accusations of trolls on certain subjects annoys me though. Anyone talking about IBS or poo troubles has to preface their post with 'not a poo troll' which always amuses me. Surely there are more people out there with genuine IBS issues than there are poo pervs?!?!

Thank you @Sparklingbrook :)

Surely there are more people out there with genuine IBS issues than there are poo pervs?!?!

I think the problem there is that people choose AIBU for their poo posts when if they were to put it in General Health, that's not generally where the poo/piss trolls gather? Some posters claiming not to be the poo troll have turned out to be the poo troll too. You can't really win!

Because people like the drama. There are millions of women on MN but they reckon they will "out" themselves if they say they're from Surrey and their DH has a hobby.🙄

The hobby which is almost always cycling.

There's people that do search and follow previous threads. I had an inbox from a journalist once!

I promptly NC.

When I first came on MN in 2007 I naively posted rather a lot about my DC. I would never do that now. I name change every couple of months. Sometimes I have a particular name for a topic. For example when I had cancer I used a name for the cancer thread that only ever got used there.

@Yerroblemom1923 if you're discussing a particular anecdote or situation it's really not that hard to out yourself especially if people then wanted to trawl through previous posts. It's happened to me on another forum before.

OK so today you can NOT look another poster up through any sort of search function, right? Or am I just a very slow learner who's been here for years and still isn't quite up to scratch?