Curious, the need to go NC on MN?

[Chinsupmeloves]

Complete irrelevant to anything important in the world, just my own curiosity!

When posting on a forum like MN under a username, I just find it peculiar people say I'm NC for this post?

When I have a browse I have no idea who anyone is, never actually notice the username, so am not aware of any previous information.

Is it a case some of you get to know each other and follow stories? Which is lovely, just something I've not encountered personally.

Please, a genuine question. I've posted a few times without thinking about NC as it's jist me and my life.

Thank you for any explanation! Xxx

i guess posters worry that someone will dig up their old posts and ‘out’ them or otherwise blame them

I post about personal things and I would not like people to know it was me and they might identify me as I have friends on here. So I change name pretty frequently.

I don't know why people announce it as it's meaningless now it's so easy to nc. Perhaps a hangover from when it wasn't so easy and a poster with no posting history was viewed with suspicion.

I nc regularly though as you inevitably mention things that could make some in real life recognise you and you don't want them to connect the dots and perhaps view a thread about something you'd rather people don't know irl. For example, I might post about my work history and someone I know irl might recognise me from my combination of jobs. They may then look at my other posts and see I've been cheating on my husband/I'm an alcoholic/I have an std or whatever

I think sometimes posters stalk other posters on advanced search, probably more likely if you post something a bit more controversial or political than just general chit chat.

@crowsfleet And they do! They follow a name change and troll. It’s a sad pastime some people have.

It’s in case someone posts something that might be identifying. Another user that they know in real life might suspect who they are and then view all their other posts.

I have two usernames. One that I’ve used to post identifiable information (and in fact has been identified in real life twice!) and one that I’m more cautious with. If I was posting something extremely sensitive I’d probably NC again to ensure it can’t be traced back to anything I’ve said previously that might be identifying. You only have to see the amount of times posters go digging for previous threads to realise it’s sensible.

Yes unfortunskty and it's gone unchecked by mnhq, same posters don't want you to be anonymous they have delved into people background and even found their FB !.
Devoted themselves to calling people out for false details and linking threads rightly or wrongly and accusing people of lying or being a troll if any details didn't match .

I always nm and change sex of DC and all sorts because of these hardidans and I think posting personal stuff on line it's a general good idea to mix stuff up.

I don't know why MN allow it to honest because the beauty of the place is being anonymous .

Id instantly ban anyone who tried to do this.

If I post about a very specific incident that happened at work (AIBU for bringing my poodle named James to work every Thursday because my dog walker is busy?), anyone I work with would know I am Melissa Smith from marketing.
Then they could look through my previous threads and see the ones about how I'm shagging my boss and keep stealing someone's lunch.

So it won’t occur to you that if I had 3 kids, one a doctor, one a pilot, one a tv presenter and I had just crashed my car and was stalked this time last year - that I might be identifiable and want to NC?

Isn’t it more that they are concerned that the thread they are posting may be recognised by others / picked up by DM or Facebook, and so they don’t want their other threads and comments to be revealed?

That’s why I do it - I’ve been outed on here before, with my username then used to look up all my previous posts. Changing name for a new thread gives me privacy.

She’s saying MN shouldn’t allow attempts to link up usernames and identify people.

I used to do that on here and MN once used that against me to suggest I’m not genuine because I either had a boy or girl of different ages. I mean the common theme was the child was always under the age of 3 but as a result, I don’t really start threads anymore.

Do you mean why do people name change or why do they announce it?

I name change regularly as I post enough here that friends would recognise who I am, and I don’t necessarily want them to know everything! There are also some weirdos who will follow you and troll, though I’ve found turning off notifications the easy way to deal with that.

The announcements, I assume is so people don’t accuse them of lying because they have no posting history.

I name change a lot depends if I've over shared on certain issues.
My name changes have a common theme.

Even if they might be wrong it’s a sport on here that people try to expose you for changing your username. They do it through way that you word your comments, differences in spelling, and certain details. You shouldn’t have to be made uncomfortable.

I just thought my username would resonate with this thread.......😁

Some of us are aware of other people in our life who post on MN, who would recognise details we post and be able to look up old posts, which we may not want! And weve read threads in the past where people talking about recognising people they know, or being recognised. The beauty is that the site is anonymous, and women, the majority of users, can be prone to censoring what they really feel IRL. It’s lovely to say exactly what you think here.

If a person has been on here a long time and posts frequently, they have very likely posted information about their jobs, the area they live in, what kind of pet they have, their holidays, their family situation etc etc. Anybody thinking they may recognise someone from one post (a funny story perhaps), only needs to AS and their other posts will pretty much confirm this. Perhaps you don’t give much personal information out, but others certainly do. I like to chat openly but anonymously.

Wow, thank you all for the insights. So some people really do stalk posters or actually realise they know them. I guess, as much as we try to be general with wording, following someone means you can identify who they are IRL. Thinking back, anyone who truly knows me could easily connect the dots if they wanted to, but that would take a lot of (bizarre and irrational) interest and effort.

I only post and reply what is true to myself so if anyone did 'recognise' me then I stand by what I've said. Xx