To bring up the subject of troll hunting *again*, and look for input please from MNHQ?

[WhereTheFuckIsMyFuckingCoat]

I've read so many threads in the past couple of weeks that have been absolutely drowned out by troll hunting. Someone mentioned that they thought troll hunters were ruining Mumsnet and I couldn't help but agree.

I've been here for years, and this comes up fairly regularly, and every single time mnhq come back with the same response - troll hunting is NOT allowed. Report, and move on. It's not hard to understand, and what's even more fucking irritating at times, as it's often (not always) the same old names doing it over and over, like they think they're above the rules.

@MNHQ, are there actually any sanctions for people who continually do this? I know posts get deleted but it doesn't seem to be any deterrent, and even sometimes ends up in the whole thread being zapped, even in cases where HQ have stated that the OP is legit but the troll hunters with their smart assed, 'I'm so clever with my trolldar' comments have made it unsustainable. How is this fair?

I've been on the receiving end of mild troll hunting, and it's really fucking hurtful, particularly when the reason I've posted is because I'm upset to start with, and looking for advice or support.

So why do people seem to think that the rules don't apply to them? Arrogance? A need to be 'right' or not (god forbid), 'gullible'? Should there be a 'three strikes and you're out' type approach? I honestly don't know myself, but I just think it's horrible to see OP's with what could easily be a real, fucking horrible life situation, be shredded, when it's so easy to report and scroll by.

And before people come along to defend their right to troll hunt to 'save' vulnerable posters from giving too much of themselves - aren't we all adults, who can choose how much of our lives we wish to divulge without the need for knights in shining forum armour coming to our aid? (That's ignoring the fact that MNHQ's job, which they carry out regularly, is to remind us of exactly that).

and in the case of Jemimapuddleduk

I can see that was a horrific and vile troll, and in that situation..no words really. sorry , and yes OP that's a rare instance when I wish it had been policed

like you Jemima I avoid some threads from the very outset, I did get into a thtread recently as then I ended up asking MN to delete my posts. So its easy to slip/forget isn't it?

I hope your child is on the right healing path now X

stopfuckingshouting, it bugs me because I've seen real people, myself included be slaughtered by pompous arses who seem to think the rules don't apply to them, and because they couldn't possibly fathom how the OP's situation could be feasible, then they must be hairy handed fuckers and deserve all the vitriol they receive, regardless of talk guidelines or common decency. It irks me.

Will it be my thread that changes things? Probably not. Do I care? Not really, because it's maybe got some more people thinking.

there you go, exactly the same reasoning than many "troll hunters".

The difference is, I'm not hurting anyone with this thread, or breaking talk guidelines. The same can absolutely not be said for troll hunters.

the point was that people believe that pointing out that a thread is fake will prevent other people being hurt.

The thread about the crap birthday cake was a troll? NO!
(that one wouldn't hurt anyone though!)

to be honest OP, I have learnt the hard way

I don't post about RL problems here, as inevitably the bad advice and vitriol can outweigh the good for some topics (parenting/parents in law/relationships to name a few!), its to risky in so many ways especially if you have been here for a while and can be searched

I also avoid emotive threads, especially on AIBU and Rel. I now have a radar

don't get me wrong I try and offer support when I can, but after 9 years on here I have learnt a deal of self preservation

plus there is a the Daily mail risk!

I don't think that all people point out that a thread is fake to prevent others being hurt. At all.

I think they point it out because they want the self-preceived kudos of being the one to spot it where others have not. It's like they believe themselves to be more clever or astute than the rest of us. It's patronising. They are self-elected thread monitors. From my perspective they are also unwanted and unnecessary.

Yanbu. There are several regulars that just chime in with a sour faced troll hunt reply to threads and add nothing. Something should be done about them.

I wonder if MNHQ have a group of posters they are familiar with due to the number of 'Reports' they make. If MN were a village, they'd be the equivalent of the -net curtain twitchers- self-appointed Neighbourhood Watch.

I'm still not quite grasping why some posters think that because they believe that troll hunting is ok, this give them (or others) carte blanche to completely disregard the fact that MNHQ have said emphatically on many many occasions that it is completely not allowed. Do the rules not apply to them? Why not?

The rules do apply to me. I avoid doing it as I don't want to get banned, if I trollhunt and get reported I would have to take the consequences. However I also don't report trollhunters and I post on threads like this to make clear that not all MNers favour greater enforcement of the trollhunting ban.

I don't think that all people point out that a thread is fake to prevent others being hurt. At all.

true also, I didn't mean ALL posters are the same. Just saying there's both. There are some people terribly invested in this forum

I remember one poster (no idea of name) telling another one that she used to respect and admire his/her posts, but after some comment she disagreed with, she would "no longer follow" him/her and they had lost all her respect, something a bit like that. Way too much time spent on here!

People doing passive aggressive troll hunting should have temp bans, too many of them around. If you have nothing to add to a thread then shut the fuck up.

coddiwomple I respect and admire your post. I will continue to follow you. Today.

I prefer to know so have no problem with people posting suspicions. I can always tell when it's a troll anyway. I don't troll hunt though because I can't be bothered but I never fail to marvel at gullibility on here sometimes.

The problem is that MN HQ are so slow to respond to reports that sometimes if the subject matter is particularly sensitive it should be necessary to consider that posting is really a bad idea.

E.g. There was a thread recently talking about a sexual act where the OP was blatantly encouraging people to share their stories of sexual abuse in children, with graphic detail in the OP and subsequent posts. She went into more and more detail the more and more she posted, including giving details of cum marks and so on and encouraging others to do the same. Even if it were true reality is the thread had no place on a parenting forum. Many people posted on it in incredulity but there were definitely some which discouraged people from sharing personal experiences and rightly so. It was hours before HQ responded and pulled the thread even though hundreds of people had reported it.

The difference though IMO is the way in which more light hearted troll threads are dealt with. A thread about a cake is pretty harmless really, in the same way the hamster casserole thread was harmless years back. The difference is that hamster thread, pirate sex thread etc all stood with the lighthearted "not a chance this is real," comments still on them whereas now even lighthearted threads are pulled in the same way as the more emotive ones.

As for posters thinking it's despicable that people be told certain threads are obviously trolls and they were mugs to fall for them, no it isn't. If it wasn't for the fact that so many posters become so over invested in the emotive threads and log on every five minutes to "just check in" and "sign up for duty," as happened on the Oliver's army threads, those trolls wouldn't have so much incentive to troll on those particular subjects. it should be obvious that a thread which gives a certain title, where someone is posting at every available opportunity, allegedly involving their newly diagnosed child in the story all under a new username having just discovered MN cannot possibly be real, and that posters over-investing to that extent usually says a lot more about their need for hero status than it does about the actual thread but still keeps the troll in active where they're getting all the attention and validation they need.

I always report

Never in the thread but to MN

But yeah anything personal and highly traumatic I often step away

I wouldn't even know how to tell if a post is fake. I haven't been on here long, but I've believed every thread I've read. Maybe I am completely naïve. I really don't understand why anyone would want to make up a random post. What do they get out of the responses if it's not advice or something 'real'. Bizarre.
I didn't know troll hunting was a thing either but after reading this thread, I'm thinking back to a couple of comments on a thread I started and there were some comments that passive aggressively suggested they didn't believe me. I just ignored those posts and thought they were a little weird. The online world is indeed an odd little place. You wouldn't make up stories in real life so why do it here.

I often report suspicious threads and troll hunting. I very occasionally comment that people may want to avoid posting personal stories and details of something on some threads. I sometimes read people rushing to share stories of earliest sexual experiences, or poo accidents etc, with the feeling someone somewhere is getting their rocks off. I try and add a supportive comment for the OP, just in case!

I am glad to have come across this thread, there have been plenty of times when I have commented on a thread and people have doubted what I've said, basically called me a liar 🤥 which is not a nice feeling, I understand that there are some people that come on here to troll such as "the plimsole, shoe troll" which is very obvious because they continuously come back under a new username.

If someone believes that the poster is a troll/being dishonest just report the thread and let MNHQ deal with it.

WannaBe
Don't you think though, that trolls, troll hunters, & posters who allow themselves to get way too over invested in threads all have something in common?
Too much time spent online, a need for attention, drama, escapism, it all boils down to the same thing really, they're all very lonely with not much going on in RL, or horrible things going on in RL? Who knows? But they're all kind of the same, which is why it never ends.

A lot of forum software allows posters to be upvoted/downvoted, and displays a summary of a posters "reputation" and last few posted topics when the mouse hovers over their username.

Makes first-time shitstirrers stand out a mile. Also allows regular posters to build up their reputation by community standards.

Very useful information to spot trolls.

Wanna / that example you gave is spot on
Fuck me

That said MN are very fast to delete comments when I ask in all fairness

A thread like that's needs deletion immediately / unacceptable in every level

I think I'm finding some of the troll hunter hunters as sanctimonious as the troll hunters. 😂

It really is weird, though, that those fakers take the time to invent stuff to reel people in. What sorts of lives do they lead if doing that gives them their thrills?

The ones who automatically attack others when they post and those who call people "GFs" - really despise that stupid abbreviation - are just as bad as the sad weirdos who make things up.

On the one-upmanship threads, there was one woman who once posted a pic of a boutique hotel bedroom and tried oassingbit off as her own! Haha There are many more who do the same, I'm sure.

...passing it off...