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).

How does one become a paid poster? I'd love to earn a living by posting on the internet :D

I am interested by the "Paid poster" position too! I spend enough time on here, might as well get paid for it

@pynk: "I report trolls, troll hunters ( unless they are really funnywink) and 'nasty' posters. I report a lot 😂. MNHQ have probably got my reports set to go straight to junk ...."

Scarlet for you.

I know the thread has moved on but I had to come on here and respond to QuiteLikely's post implying that because there are "hardcore JC fans" on MN it can't all be white, middle-class and educated.

Most of the "hardcore JC fans" I know are indeed that demographic - as is JC himself.

Rant over.

I understand why MN needs the rule but I agree with PPs who point out that sometimes it's better to break a rule than run with the herd.

Personally I'm bothered much more by the tedious, tedious troll threads that sometimes seem to make up half the board and can run into several threads. Especially the ones about supposedly cheeky / awful DPs / friends / MILs which invite a pile-up of nasty revenge fantasies and applauding the OP for behaviour that anyone in RL would find appalling. (Not saying all threads like that are fake, of course!!)

I don't troll hunt but I've been very sorely tempted sometimes. So it's nice to see someone question a timeline or detail on occasion, or ask for more information to expose the gaps in a story. It's more often than not the mundane stories with a high outrage factor that get my radar going though, not the ones with unusual stories. Like many have said, life is strange.

Sorry, just to add:

If some ppl enjoy fantasy stories so much maybe there could be a sub forum. I'd much rather read real people's dilemmas and experiences and I actually feel I can learn quite a lot from them. Joke threads are only entertaining to me when everyone is in on it.

Someone who used to troll hunt a lot hasn't posted for nearly two months, so I wonder if they've been banned.

Maybe they've NC?

Could have I suppose but they'd posted for some years before under the same name.

Ah ok.

Yes come to think of it there's a few regular faces that haven't posted for a while. Not saying they are troll hunters though just that I've noticed their absence!

Trollhunting will continue because MN is rife with trolls. And excessive trolling will continue as long as the name-change option exists. Removing that facility won't bring an end to trolling

Agreed. MNHQ has the lion's share of the responsibility for the sheer number of trolls on here. A few simple measures like 'member since' or limiting name changes would make life more challenging for the trolls, plus if mumsnet weren't so tight and actually employed more than a handful of moderators, it might help.

In the absence of which, it is utterly unsurprising that people will take matters into their own hands when the monitoring of trolls is so half arsed.

Oh FFS LtEve, I usually have a lot of time for your posts, but that last one takes the . Do a creepy AS on me if you want, I'm neither a troll, nor 'suspect'.

Don't forget personal attacks are against MNHQ uses too

Couldn't agree more, Pynk, where have you noticed those on this thread? I must have missed them.

Completely agree with OP and others. The desperate little troll hunters are really pathetic and often ruin threads by posting their oh-so-clever snide comments.

There's one particularly irritating regular who was bragging in a Chat thread about how she "always" spots trolls. Well yeah, love, if you accuse 100% of OPs of trolling you're going to accuse every troll.

The troll hunter hunters are coming across as not very pleasant at all on this thread.

Quite telling.

Sorry OP, but I said your defence of the trolls was 'looking suspect'. I neither called you a troll nor said you were suspect. Your passive aggressive aggressive post at 10:17 makes me wonder who it might be that you want to protect, especially as you seem to have leant towards 'gf' territory in that post. Your posts seem very 'impassioned' over something quite trivial and I simply wonder why?

Having seen how much damage a troll can cause, especially one who started trolling over funny/incredible stories to ensure a 'history' before letting off the big guns. One that left a lot of people shell shocked and questioning their own judgement. Watching the fall out and the distress it caused for people I care about, I will NEVER be on the side of the troll - now matter how 'funny' 'entertaining' and "Oh come on, who cares if it's not true, we are having fun here?" it is.

And if you don't like that, well fine, ignore me, block me, whatever. The trolls are the reason I rarely post here these days (and miss it very much) so it's not as if I'd be missed. Trolls have ruined MN, not anyone else. The troll hunters don't bother me in the least.

You're 100% right Eve. I hope HQ read your post

I've been on mumsnet for quite a long time, and I'd say that blatantly fake posts are ruining it more than troll hunting. It's so annoying to start getting invested a thread that seems plausible and then as more and more crazy details are added to eventually realise the chances of it being real are very slim. I don't think people necessarily set out to troll to cause havoc or dupe people for the sake of it, probably even some regular posters end up making up or exaggerating stories on certain threads just to be funny or get some attention.

People being unecessarily mean and harsh is to me the worst thing about mumsnet at the moment. It's like people increasingly have to be black and white about everything, measured reactions or acknowledging shades of grey is becoming more and more rare.

It's not an either/or situation.

Of course trolls do damage but troll hunters do too.

I can think of two recent threads where a lot of posters were calling troll where the OP was having a difficult time, and MN had to come on and say 'Nope, this one's been around for a while. No doubts'

Trolls are a problem and need to be dealt with, but having a mob jump in with and and 'I don't believe this' at someone who may be very vulnerable is just as bad.

I'd be very surprised if genuine members haven't been put off asking for support because they're feeling vulnerable and would have a hard time coping with not being believed on top of whatever is going on in their lives.

People being unecessarily mean and harsh is to me the worst thing about mumsnet at the moment

I agree, some people are really unpleasant. I come on Mumsnet because it's interesting and often enjoyable. It ruins thing when posters are so sharp. I don't understand why people can't disagree with one another without the need to be snidey.

It isn't like Netmums pynk. Mumsnet has always had a lot of posters who are forthright and can come across as sharp to some people. It's not all fluffy kittens and rainbows. But it does have some amazing posters who would go out of their way to help you if they could, in many different ways.

It would be thoroughly boring if everyone agreed all the time and false to boot.

Winchesters trolls destroyed the SN board to the point where even regular mnners but not regulars to the SN board where unable to get help from the sn board and its regular posters. IMO it has never recovered and I know we lost a lot of very lovely posters to the incident.

Thing is, there are times when MNHQ are very thin on the ground - evenings/early mornings and at the weekend. And - oh quelle surprise! - that's when a lot of dodgy things get posted.

And it's mind bogglingly amazing how many people get suckered by trolly/goady fuckery-type posts.

So the odd 'welcome to MN' doesn't go amiss, I feel. And - as long as it's supported by a report to MNHQ, I think that's a good thing. It's not guidelines, but I'm unrepentant. If MNHQ were here 24 hours a day it would be a different matter - but they're not.

And it's stupid to say that trolls don't do as much harm.