AIBU to think that MN need to come up with a way to stop fake posters?

[bbcessex]

It really is getting boring. Dull, dull, dull.

I'm not clever enough to work out a formula myself, but would removing the name-change function stop trolls being able to hide so much ? I appreciate this may have a negative effective on those who wish to remain anonymous, but maybe the upside would be worth it?

Another option - would having a flag that said "first time poster" help on an OP? or the number of posts an OP has made?

Too many times recently I read an OP and watch many posters fall into the abyss of answering honestly to a thread that has all the marks of a hairy keyboard sad twat.

Lilac I have never changed names

I can't remember who the posters were, just that I recognised their names. I was not "bashing" it's just that folk tend to be more affected by names they recognise, people they almost feel they "know".

So 'well known names' that you can't remember? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

So...not well known then?

GFs are quite a big problem too. You can be a goady troll or just goady.

Lilac Off the top of my head I can probably think of three or four usernames, if you gave me a written list I would recognise many more - I think that is pretty normal

I'm not quite sure why you are choosing to be so aggressive towards me, or why you chose to falsely accuse me of namechanging?

Wrt the name changing, I assumed you would have done after being called a troll.

And I'm questioning you re the 'well known' names because people whine about Royalty and Regulars all the bloody time yet not one of them ever names names.

As far as I'm concerned, if you're going to bitch about 'well known names' but not going to say who you're griping about, then you shouldn't bloody do it in the first place because it's incredibly PA.

I have posted on quite a few threads in the past couple of weeks and a person seems to follow my posts and then do their best to upset me Why? I just cannot understand why.

Sugar some people are just incredibly unpleasant. Please try not to let it upset you-they're not worth it

No because they aren't really doing anything wrong, just seem to tell me to hide the thread even though I have a vested interest. Maybe it's me being too sensitive, dunno really

I used to frequent an expat forum in the middle east that showed a post count and also let you edit your posts. It was nowhere near as vibrant, helpful, rewarding or downright intelligent as MN. POsters with a high htreadcount were very 'queen bee'.

Some of this site's issues with dullness were born of it being a site in the middle east obviously, but I think the freedom to express yourself here is second to none, and for this reason very hard to imagine adding more controls/restricting name changes. The whole Jeffery debacle would have kille dthe site off if we couldnt all change names and re-emerge from the chrysallis so to speak.

So many typos! could do with an edit button right now...

The thing is now, because the troll threads are so prevalent, even if something super exciting and interesting happened to me fat chance I wouldn't bother posting because I wouldn't be believed....because every vaguely interesting thread turns out to be a troll thread.

I think mnhq need to get better at responding quicker - auto hide threads after X amount of reports. I don't think name change scrapping would make much difference.

I'm on the fence with troll hunting on threads - sometimes people jump in too quickly and anything out of the ordinary indicates troll...it's like a race to get in first with the troll accusations. However when there is something that really doesn't ring right and posters are investing and sharing deeply personal experiences I do appreciate discrepancies pointed out.

I still think naming and shaming is the way to go, it would help on three counts.

1. You might recognise the name if you had been involved at all and judge if you needed to nc yourself.

1. you may have a picture in your mind of the way the person posted and remember topics they used, which may help you recognise the same poster under a new name.

1. You would know who everybody was talking about, and not still be clueless, days after the event.

YANBU. It is annoying and it can be very upsetting/hurtful/damaging for those who get taken in by their lies. :( I'm not sure how it can be solved though.

I agree that ignoring and reporting is the best way to deal with trolls because they just want attention -best not to give in to their demands! It doesn't help all those who tried to give help/support and maybe shared their own experiences though. It will make people more cautious next time and genuine people may end up losing out.

I've never changed names, except for when I have.

Don't take part in suspicious threads. Like this one. I'm certainly not.

Evening all
Thanks for all of this - (hard to know what to say here as sure as hell don't want to patronise anyone)
Can we just say we know it's been a bit of a rough ride recently and bear with?

A 'no name changing' topic.
A 'joined 2005' sticky after poster name.
A post count (not post started).
Thread hidden/suspended after X amount of separate reports.
A limit on namechanges.
Auto ban/posting suspension after X amount of reports.

All these things are done on other sites, so all are possible. Even just one of the above...

Oh it would make MNing so much more pleasant.

@Itsmine

sugar that's very odd, have you let mnhq know they may have a word with the weirdo.

Yes please do

I like the 'joined 20xx' after the username. .. that might add a bit of credibility to a poster? Caveat. .. I know truly sick trolls may fall through this net but it may help weed out a number of the more idiotic chancer ones?

Not sure what the answer is, but I don't think that stopping name changing is it. I have a few names I use for different things. I change names so that any personal stuff I post can't be linked and therefore make me identifiable to anyone who might know me in RL. If I couldn't NC, I would not post at all on any threads looking for support and I would definitely not ever feel able to post asking for support. I suspect others might feel the same, which would be a great shame as the support on here is second to none.

I don't think the removal of the NC facility would do anything to stop the fuckers. Think like a troll, if you can, for a minute. You really don't want anyone behind the scenes to have a trace on you. I would bet that 99% of them start with a new account with little or no posting history. So yes - a "joined on" date would help but that's about all. On eBay if you change name there is a symbol that shows you've done that which sticks to you for a month. Wouldn't that be a better idea?

Thread hidden/suspended after X amount of separate reports.

This would help tremendously. It's a guaranteed way to stop feeding trolls and minimise fall-out some troll threads AND would stop all the "well we know this thread seems utter rubbish, but the poster seems legit" flannelling from MNHQ.