What with all the trawling an OP's previous threads?

[CanThisBe]

It seems rife ATM. A poster starts a thread about personal circumstances and subsequent posters will say "but on 27 Jan you posted xyz about something completely different" to point out inconsistencies. Sometimes even linking to threads under a different username that they believe is OP

Things change and I imagine most posters change some details when posting about personal matters. It doesn't seem within the spirit of things to me, but there's a lot of it about.

Yes, I agree. Maybe ok to check whether someone is trolling but not as a standard thing. I change small details all the time- adjust my children’s ages and sexes, say- because I don’t want to put myself.

People change some details for privacy, which is fine and shouldn't be commented on.

But when you've been around for a while, and a story or posting style seems familiar, it can be worth a check.

As some discrepancies are so very wide that it can be explained only by one or more of the OP's stories must be a lie. And public lies tend to come back to haunt you

MN is a beacon for trolls. People have had their time, empathy, sympathy and resources wasted and exploited by many over the years. You can’t blame genuine posters for being wary and extra vigilant when dramatic posters or inconsistent threads appear.

How is this done? I can see how to see OPs post relating to a thread, but not other threads they have written?
Curious, not planning a deep-dive of MN!

This is why I name change regularly.

It's when people think they recognise a poster or scenario.

It happened to me recently and people decided I was a troll because I'd changed my kid's ages and sex and slight circumstances to avoid being recognised by people in real life. It's disheartening when you've written something out hoping for some sympathy or advice and you immediately get " troll" or " reverse". But on the flip side if I think something is not real, I will just come off the thread and not read any more. It makes no difference to my life.

Things change and I imagine most posters change some details when posting about personal matters.

That's very true. People change details slightly so as to tell the story and get opinions but not to be recognised. It's understandable as well considering that some threads end up in the DM or Facebook etc.

Yes I will alter slight details so not too outing.

Thought that was "not in the spirit"

I've done this in the past elsewhere because I couldn't remember whether the poster whose posts I'm reading, said something previously and I either didn't want to repeat my previous advice.

IME people can tell the difference between adjusting age/sex of DC's for privacy and where what was said in a previous thread completely changed the advice on another.

Eg with domestic abuse posters often post a big thread about lots of abuse and get lots of LTBs.

A few weeks later she will post about one borderline abusive thing DP has done and will get mixed responses.

It is really important in DV to see the abusers' behaviour in context. Linking to a previous thread so new posters aren't giving dangerous advice is crucial.

Or there are financial ones where someone is pleading poverty. They get sympathy.(maybe even cash from a naive poster behind the scenes)
Then it transpires they posted recently about having lots of money.

It's fair to call them out imo.