To be confused as to why people make this stuff up?

[TheEagle]

So I've followed a few threads in the premature birth section and both have been zapped for the OPs being "not what they seem"/"less than genuine".

Why do people manufacture such elaborate lies?

Does it get easier to pick out trolls as you read more threads?

Good question annbag - I had read a lot of her posts/comments and now I am wondering if any of them are true

Now minipie has named the thread I'm actually not too surprised. Everything about that poster's backstory was very outlandish. Possibly too outlandish to be true.

So, Olivia, can you please explain how what you have written above:

When people report something to us that they're concerned is inaccurate (e.g. latest gov policy/health advice on x or y is abc) we don't necessarily delete this, but we encourage people to post their thoughts on the thread so that the wisdom of crowds can win through.

does not contradict this from your talk guidelines:

If you suspect someone of being a troll, please don't trollhunt (accuse them publicly on the discussion thread). If you're wrong, you could cause untold hurt; if you're right, you'll merely be giving them the kind of attention they're after.

Instead, report your suspicions to us and we'll check them out.

I think I have seen posts deleted for trollhunting when they have done just what you recommend.

I don't understand.

Shocked about the poster with the prem baby after prem twins tbh I was suckered in

PMed you dixie!

Blimey if I reported every thread I thought was Mumsnet towers would get sick of me, glad to say I'm usually right though these days, although one poster recently did sucker me in when I was a bit off kilter.

On the topic of people using pictures from elsewhere online: I'm not sure if you can do this on other web browsers but on Chrome you can right click on a picture and select 'Search Google for this image'. Or go to images.google.com and do it that way and it will show you if those images are from elsewhere online i.e a news story or stock images website.

I'm not sure how thorough it is, but I think it can be useful to know.

ThereIsACarInTheKitchen

Yes, MNHQ deleting the rape thread left a bad taste in my mouth too. It's completely hypocritical to delete a thread where a person says they were raped while still waving around a "We believe you" campaign.

upthe that is really useful, thank you.

Bulbasaur I think topics like that are really difficult in the first place. I get that MNHQ do have to be cautious, but like I've already said, I still have no idea how you would even begin to figure out whether a thread like that was genuine or not.

I know so many posters here like to place HQ on a pedestal but they are only human at the end of the day and can and do make mistakes. There have been a couple of instances where people have been banned because they were incorrectly labelled a troll only for them to be proven genuine later. The poster who posted for support after her child died only for HQ to ban her because they didn't think she was genuine is a good example of that. The poor woman had to send MN proof that her child had in fact died before they would allow her to post again.

Obviously in that case she had proof she was genuine, but then I wonder what would happen if you were incorrectly labelled a troll but couldn't prove that you were genuine. Rape would be a good example of that...it's not something that you can easily prove, is it?

Sorry for bringing this up again. I wasn't actually sure whether I should post this or not but decided to just do it. If anyone has a problem with this then just let me know and I'll have it deleted.

There is actually another reason why I brought up the rape thread. The OP of that thread actually posts (quite regularly) on another forum now, it's a support forum for people who have been raped and sexually abused. If my timeline of events is correct she joined a couple of weeks after she was banned from here.

Obviously this doesn't mean she's not a troll, but she has been posting regularly since then and I have to say there isn't really anything that makes me think she is lying iyswim. All her posts have been consistent and I haven't noticed any inconsistencies or slip ups or anything like that in anything she's posted.

Obviously this doesn't necessarily mean anything and it's only been a couple of months but if she was a troll you would expect inconsistencies or slip ups in the story to show up sooner or later.

Maybe I'm being naive but I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Again, sorry if this offends anyone!

I don't think that mn hq would ban a thread regarding something as emotive as rape without very good reason. I don't know the thread you're referring to tbh, but in order for it to have been banned it would have had to have been reported, so something about it would have sparked someone's suspicions.

There have been instances of posters going to other forums during or after their time trolling here, dizzymare for instance was on a child bereavement forum for months after she'd been banned from mn, in fact when she was banned from mn it was on the basis of suspicion, she was actually outed on a bereavement forum when someone discovered that the picture of her dead twins had been lifted from the internet and challenged her.

I understand that WannaBe. I guess I just don't understand how you would actually know for sure a thread like that was genuine or not iyswim. Like I said it's hard enough in real life never mind online. I know I am not explaining myself very well.

Of course, chinese whispers is a thing. The trolly mctrolly breastfeeding thread on New Year's Day was, I agree, a troll; a big enough troll to have featured in Harry Potter films.

But it wasn't about a newborn. It was about an exclusively breastfed ten month old, which was further proof it was bollocks. And that was barely a week ago and the story is changing!

Well, it's obviously not always possible to be absolutely certain one way or the other, although sometimes the evidence is strongly against and still it's considered to be genuine.

I reported a thread today which cannot possibly be real - there is just no way, and yet mn hq claim they have no reason too suspect. Truth is they can't prove one way or the other so the thread will stand for now. It's not too vampiric, it's emotive but anyone who thinks it's genuine probably needs to think about it a bit more.

Tbh I am in two minds about the rape thread. On one hand I think that MNHQ wouldn't have deleted it if they even thought that the OP may have been genuine. I'm guessing there were other things going on under that account the OP posted on that made them think it didn't add up.

But then again, how would you know whether something like that is true? Correct me if I'm wrong but shouldn't "We believe you" apply to all women, including those who might have had a form in the past of not being very pleasant or being a PBP or whatever...? Or does "We believe you" only apply to a select group of women, not all...in which case they should make that clear.

I know HQ did delete the thread because they didn't think it was genuine but they also did admit a few weeks after that actually, she may well have been telling the truth.

In a weird way I actually hope it was a troll. Imagine having something as horrible as that happen to you only to be accused of being a liar.

I don't know which rape thread you're talking about here, but there have been quite a few fake rape threads on MN... trolls draw on issues which push posters' buttons and garner lots of sympathy/support, and that includes child bereavement, premature birth and yes, rape and sexual assault.

The problem with fake rape threads is that they encourage other posters (many who have suffered sexual assault themselves and may be vulnerable) to post sympathetically in reply, often at some emotional cost to themselves - and sometimes giving personal details which they might not usually share. The realisation that a thread is fake can be very upsetting (as we've seen on this thread) and also puts posters off from supporting genuine posters (the vast majority).

The 'We believe you' campaign reflects the fact that it is incredibly difficult and painful for women to report rape in real life, and there is no incentive for them to invent allegations... unfortunately it is quite easy and painless for an anonymous troll (often, I suspect, male posing as female) to create a high-drama rape thread on the internet and get kicks out of doing so, so it's not quite the same thing.

I always report when I see a thread about rape which I suspect may be made up and I'm inclined to trust MN's judgement when they zap.

Balloon I think Olivia meant where people post wrong information unwittingly. Ie not genuine = troll. Inaccurate = well, inaccurate. For whatever reason.

I thought Mumsnet was safe from
Trolls before I encountered the poo troll yesterday! Now reading this I will be really selective in what I get sucked in to