Time to start changing your username more regularly?

[uncleer]

There have been previous threads on the benefits of regularly changing your mumsnet username for privacy purposes because the "advanced search" feature and Google were always able to pull out all posts by username enabling information to be compiled. But now it seems the Mumsnet door has been opened to AI. If you ask ChatGPT to summarise all posts from a specific user on a specific topic, it will now do it (I think it must be recent as when I tried it several months ago it didn't work). I expect it will also help you to find cross-thread examples of posters contradicting themselves, being hypocritical, and help you find holes in their arguments. But if you're a stalker it might help you put together clues from different threads to work out where they live, which schools their children go to, etc etc.

The only protection against this is to change your username regularly. (Or possibly Mumsnet Premium provides some protection too? I haven't checked).

Or you could just not care? 🤷‍♀️ Don’t post specific details about where you live. Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want appearing on the Daily Fail. Job done.

You are right, you can get a very detailed summary through ChatGPT spanning multiple years. Time to come up with a new username I think!

I don’t agree I really love seeing familiar user names pop up as they are often women how are on my wavelength/ moment of life.

Whilst this is an anonymous community seeing the same reliable ladies pop up is reassuring

also I never post much that is outing so there is minimal risk unless someone is very sad and bored

This morning I was just looking at the thread on Site Stuff about the ability to use AI and Chatgpt to search MN. It hadn't even entered my head to do that and I felt very naive.

I used to change my user name very very frequently but haven't been doing that recently because I have been posting less often and tbh I've got to the stage of not even noticing what user name I'm even using so assuming other pp wouldn't be interested in my user name either.

Having seen this thread OP I will probably start changing user name frequently again.

I think it just really depends on what type of user you are.
it never even crosses my mind to advance search any username, let alone let AI do it because I’m not trolling anyone / are here in bad faith. I’ve only done this when other posters point out someone’s constant need to post around the same thing just to verify. Not sure why the vast majority of regular MN users would feel the need to do this.

I regularly name change, makes you wonder if AI will one day be able to say “it’s likely all these usernames are one person”. Although I have to say AI is wildly inaccurate and makes stuff up in this particular context, I’ve asked it to do some summaries and they were rubbish, it’s hard to fact check it too, in some ways that feels more harmful though. If someone is very easily outed and then AI adds additional “facts” about them.

It is much better at identifying trolls than MN is though...

This is how I feel. I haven’t changed my user name in the 23 years I’ve been here, not even when we had the Great Hack of whenever it was. I’m not going to start now

I change my username pretty much monthly. Don't like it when people search for others old posts half the time it's not even related to the post!

I changed mine this week and I hadn't even thought about AI.
I appreciate this heads-up and plan to change mine more often

Yes, it could potentially learn to recognise writing styles.