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Original poster

Have you read a thread and knew the person in real life?

169 replies

sheknowsitstoolate · 05/07/2025 20:03

Have you ever clicked on a post and realised you knew who the person was? Did you say anything to them about it? I have read some and thought I could know the person but there was never been anything definitive to say it was 🫣

OP posts:
TY78910 · 05/07/2025 22:35

Steelworks · 05/07/2025 22:05

What happened with that one? Can’t remember the outcome now.

Show quote history

Ahh I can’t find it now! I suspect it didn’t end up anywhere as the OP just kept saying her lawyer was wrong and she was adamant that the company that sold her the product should have told her of some of the side effects of this treatment she was offering because she’s seen people on other forums saying it did. Just went round and round in circles.

HedwigIsMySpiritAnimal · 05/07/2025 22:35

Yes, tragically it was a woman local to me who was diagnosed with leukaemia shortly after giving birth. She documented her illness until she sadly died. I never revealed to her (or anyone) that I’d seen it. Desperately sad.

Eastendboysandwestendgirls · 05/07/2025 22:36

Once - someone posted something v specific to where I grew up so I checked out the photos on her profile and turned out we'd been good friends in primary school. I never contacted her, we hadn't spoken in years.

dayatthepark · 05/07/2025 22:42

A very dear friend posted asking some advice about a a very specific topic in a very specific area. I happened to see her the next day and asked if she'd had any helpful responses. It was early days for me on here and it really didn't occur to me that she might have a complicated posting history. She was embarrassed which I felt terrible about. Still do tbh.

Whataday25 · 05/07/2025 22:42

Yes my ex-husband posted a thread on the Relationships board. I joined the thread and MN eventually deleted it!

WaverleyOwl · 05/07/2025 22:42

Slightly related.

Years ago when I was still new at this game and I was bouncing between MN and NetMums, I spotted a really good friend of mine posting on NMs about her miscarriage. This was after she's had her first and trying for her second.

I was in the throws of the infertility stuff and going through IVF.

I gently reached out to her to let her know that I'd seen her post and that I was really sorry for what she was going through.

She appreciated it and we are still good friends 17 years later.

TY78910 · 05/07/2025 22:43

Whataday25 · 05/07/2025 22:42

Yes my ex-husband posted a thread on the Relationships board. I joined the thread and MN eventually deleted it!

😱😱😱😱

MissScarletInTheBallroom · 05/07/2025 22:43

I always spot my mum posting on here.

CompetePrettyWell · 05/07/2025 22:49

No, never.

There is one PP in here who is a school governor. I work with many governing boards. I did think the poster was one of the Chairs that I work with IRL. Her views, her ways on here, so match the Chair I know.

The PP in here eventually has said where she is, so I've realised it isn't the same person. Kind of still imagine the Chair I know IRL, when I read her comments.

InjuryMyArse · 05/07/2025 22:49

When I first joined MN, I read a post on aibu that my sister had just told me had happened to her.
The poster was putting their side of it, to get yanbu replies, but had completely omitted the main point .
Didn't comment and didn't tell my dsis.

One was writing fiction and the other would have been so upset

Strangely that was as soon as I'd joined MN, but absolutely nothing since.

HarrietBond · 05/07/2025 22:50

Yes, and MN deleted the thread as they said she was a troll. It was all completely true.

PeachPumpkin · 05/07/2025 22:55

I’ve recognised someone on a baby name thread they started. I didn’t say anything to them though.

Phoebesparrow · 05/07/2025 22:55

I'm nc with my narcissistic family

I don't start threads but commented on a cf thread about my brother and the silly cow he married (my mistake was naming their dogs and the breed-i should have changed that silghtly)

I'd left a lot out but they recognised themselves (she claimed it had 'just popped up on my laptop' utter bollocks) and tried to up the game on their smear campaign and tried to demand I delete it (they threatened me with the police and court)

It didn't go anywhere as I just ignored them and it took about 6 months for them to shut up and crawl back under their pathetic rock

I name change often but I will write what I like about them as its the truth and I don't care about their pathetic attempts to silence me

Ragged · 05/07/2025 22:57

4 or 5 times yes.

The most memorable lady I'll call Chloe ... Chloe's repeatedly said how annoying it was when people thought she was desperate to have a daughter, how prejudiced, sexist and ridiculous they were. Nothing could be further from the truth, said C. C also sounded confident and completely on top of her life, no overwhelming problems in her life at all...

I clocked that C was same lady that some acquaintences IRL were talking about. Their gossip was full of specific things Chloe said or did that convinced them C badly wanted a daughter... I was convinced by those anecdotes too. Part of the gossip was also about some huge difficulties C was dealing with, but C never mentioned them on MN under her usual posting name, much less when I met her at a MNr meetup.

I never told C. I hope she's turned out as happy as she pretended to be.

FettleOfKish · 05/07/2025 23:00

No but it’s happened to me. It was fairly outing to be fair, but was an unfolding situation so I didn’t have time to think about being anonymous (we suffered major storm damage in storm Ciaran and I was on a weather thread throughout). On the upside it put me back in touch with a long lost friend!

Guardin · 05/07/2025 23:06

Someone I worked with years ago posted asking about baby names. I knew she was pregnant at the time but didn't know the gender. She talked about choosing a quirky name and described the quirkiness of the family without giving too much away but it did cross my mind that it could be her. Pretty much confirmed it when she announced the birth and used the name discussed on the thread.
Never said anything

Laurasam · 05/07/2025 23:08

Not a post but I was pregnant at the same time as my friend. I was actually suspicious she was pregnant before she had told me and someone on the May due date chat said something that matched up exactly with her. I searched her username and found her baby name list and the name that was top of my list was on it. It made me nervous the whole pregnancy that she was going to use it 😬 I was never 100% sure it was her though, she picked a name from the list in the end but not my one. Then a few months later she mentioned the other names she liked and I’m just nodding like ‘yip, knew it was you’ 😂

Sunnydayze43 · 05/07/2025 23:19

milkandblackspiders · 05/07/2025 20:12

I saw a thread where someone posted that they had saved a person from jumping of a motorway bridge that day.
That exact scenario had happened to my husbands work colleague that day, the details were almost exactly the same as what had happened - however the poster was NOT my husbands work colleague.
The similarities were so much that it was a huge huge coincidence and this highly unusual event had happened twice in the same day, or some vulture had heard about it and posted as if it was really them.

I'm pretty sure I remember that post.
I remember that everyone was sympathetic and supportive of the OP, but I didn't feel like leaving a comment I remember, because somehow it felt that the story wasn't true or at least was not hers to tell.
Just a feeling.

GoodOldTrayBake · 05/07/2025 23:20

TY78910 · 05/07/2025 22:35

Ahh I can’t find it now! I suspect it didn’t end up anywhere as the OP just kept saying her lawyer was wrong and she was adamant that the company that sold her the product should have told her of some of the side effects of this treatment she was offering because she’s seen people on other forums saying it did. Just went round and round in circles.

Show quote history

Can someone post a link??? Sounds hilarious!

Limeandsober · 05/07/2025 23:22

I’ve recognised someone’s dog from a dog breed specific post.

I do wonder how many of us actually know each other in real life.

magicstar1 · 05/07/2025 23:23

Yes. Years ago I read a thread and realised it was my friend's wife looking for fertility advice. They were having a lot of difficulty and his results were not promising.
I never said anything and didn't read any more of her posts as I felt that if they wanted to share in real life they would.

Luckily they had a baby a couple of years later.

SlightlyTooMuch · 05/07/2025 23:24

Flozle · 05/07/2025 20:42

No, but a friend recognised my carpet when I posted in Sporners’ Corner.

😀

LlttledrummergirI · 05/07/2025 23:32

Yes. I pmd them and said that if they were x from y, then they might want to change their username.

I had a thank you and we all moved on.

Purpleknickers · 05/07/2025 23:37

Yes, a young man with a great personality who also happens to have learning difficulties.
He lives very locally to me and I often see him on the bus. He was easy to identify from his username plus he also put a photo of himself on here.

Sunshineofyourlove · 05/07/2025 23:44

I often wonder if im chatting with people I know or have met at some point in my life, but I've never recognised anyone from their posts.

I got sober a couple of years back and posted frequently in alcohol support under a name I didn’t use anywhere else on mn. I suppose I could have been recognised if someone had taken the trouble to read all of those posts and jigsaw puzzle all the tiny clues, but it would have taken quite an effort for not much reward!