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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

AIBU Trollhunting is ruining AIBU

830 replies

Trueheart1 · 26/01/2018 22:47

I understand troll hunting if the OP is giving dangerous advice. However, increasingly every single poster is being grilled by troll hunters about every aspect of their post. It makes a thread hard to follow and really boring to read.

I don't understand why the troll hunters do it, there is an easy to use report button. I have read several threads in the last week where the OP was subjected to constant snide comments about the veracity of their post. I think if these troll hunters persist then people won't want to post at all.

OP posts:
JaneyEJones · 27/01/2018 09:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

53rdWay · 27/01/2018 09:22

Maybe if you're on a chat forum just assume most stuff is either excessively embellished if not totally made up?

Hey, it’s MN who have a rule against not trolling. If you think all discussion boards are like this, why don’t you ask them to remove the ‘no trolling’ rule?

bossbabymomma · 27/01/2018 09:23

Yanbu re the troll hunters
What I want to know is WHERE IS PHYLLIS?!?!

53rdWay · 27/01/2018 09:23

A rule against trolling, even. A rule against not trolling would be like... well, AIBU on a Sunday night.

Original poster
Trueheart1 · 27/01/2018 09:24

ShastaTrinity very well put. I agree with everything you wrote.

OP posts:
Pepperedbeef · 27/01/2018 09:31

I was accused of being a perv and I was surprised. I’m come on MN a couple of times a week at most and wasn’t aware of the issues with perverts. I only look at the threads that interest me and one about a child wetting themselves just wouldn’t interest me and I definitely wouldn’t make an assumption from the title that it was posted by a pervert. I don’t think there can be such a thing as oversharing on MN by the very nature and size of the site. I guess everyone comes to MN for different things

Sparklingbrook · 27/01/2018 09:34

I am often surprised at what people are willing to overshare on here TBH. Caution isn't a bad thing on the internet is it? It's what we teach our children after all.

WinchestersInATardis · 27/01/2018 09:35

I find the troll hunters very annoying.

Anyone who was genuinely just trying to flagpost a thread for the unwary before MN can get to the report, wouldn't then keep posting about it being a troll or feel the need to be the tenth poster on the thread to do it.

That tells me they're not that concerned about other posters or worried about waiting for MN. They're far more invested in proving their theory right so they can say 'I told you so'.

There have been plenty of genuine threads derailed by troll hunters trying to prove they're right. It's really tiresome.

And like the OP said, most of us are capable of spotting possible trolls. We just use the report button instead of jumping in with the sixth or seventh accusation on a peculiar thread.

JaneyEJones · 27/01/2018 09:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Pepperedbeef · 27/01/2018 09:41

Sparkling except I’m an adult, using a site used by fellow adults. No one has any idea who I am, where I live. I think I can be trusted to know when and where oversharing is appropriate and not

Johnnycomelately1 · 27/01/2018 09:41

I disagree. Open season on trolls would make MN way more Interesting.MNHQ don’t have the sophistication to know if someone is trolling or not unless they’re a PbP. At least half the threads in relationships and 80% abortion threads are pure fiction.

Aridane · 27/01/2018 09:43

For me it’s the endless exaggerated CF threads - and the enthusiastic response to,them-that ruins AIBU for mr

Sparklingbrook · 27/01/2018 09:44

You can't be absolutely sure anyone on here is over 18 really. But if people want to overshare it's up to them, but they shouldn't be surprised if others think it unwise.

Pepperedbeef · 27/01/2018 09:44

I’ve never reported a thread or a post. I’ve had HQ delete a nasty comment directed at me under a different user name but they did that of their own volition. I just ignore the stuff that doesn’t matter to me and being called nasty names anonymously online is one of them. Incidentally, re my thread HQ emailed me, not the other way around. I responded and they reinstated my thread

ShastaTrinity · 27/01/2018 09:45

I have been accused to be a troll (and a goady fucker, which is always pleasant). I wasn't, some posters just could not agree that what I was stating was true, it wasn't even opinion it was facts. It's much easier to call "troll" than come up with decent arguments.

Sparklingbrook · 27/01/2018 09:45

Where did the CF thing come from? It's all over MN now. Is it an extension of the parking threads?

Pepperedbeef · 27/01/2018 09:45

But sparkling why do some users think it’s their job to question others wisdom to the extent they report?

53rdWay · 27/01/2018 09:47

I'm just not that bothered about the harmless embellished threads with pom pom waving followers really.

I don't think they are harmless. They change the norms of the site, so it's more focused on 'who can make up the most batshit Cheeky Fucker story' and actual support threads start getting fewer posters because they aren't as OTT and they don't have thrilling live updates every five minutes. Also, people start expecting everything to be made up, so genuine posters get jumped on and accused of trolling too.

I'd be fine with it if those threads had their own board where people could pom-pom-wave to their hearts' content.

Sparklingbrook · 27/01/2018 09:47

No idea Pepperedbeef but MNHQ welcome reports.

WinchestersInATardis · 27/01/2018 09:51

I disagree. Open season on trolls would make MN way moreInteresting.

It would make it more interesting. It would also put off even more genuine posters than it does now.
I can't think of a quicker way to get rid of all the genuine posters asking for support and advice in good faith.

Bluntness100 · 27/01/2018 09:53

To be honest I have much more of an issue with the people who post pages and pages of "thinking of you op" "so excited for an update!""place marking" shit, which makes a thread impossible to read. There was one recently which was quite interesting, however I had to scroll through twenty pages of "I need an update!! "crap before I realised the op hadn't been back since the second page.

I think thr troll hunters make you think, they point out obvious inconsistencies, and in a large amount of cases, they are sadly right.

There was a thread last night, which was clearly total bullshit, which the troll hunters highlighted, but no where near as much as the whole "I'm s excited"gang ruined it by posting endlessly. I just avoid the threads now totally when it looks and smells like total bullshit.

Bluntness100 · 27/01/2018 09:56

For me it’s the endless exaggerated CF threads - and the enthusiastic response to,them-that ruins AIBU for mE

This.

Pepperedbeef · 27/01/2018 09:56

And rightly so sparkling for guideline breaches (which I didn’t commit hence the reinstatement). But because they think a post is unwise, or not the type of thing they’d post? I think some folk don’t understand the internet Smile

Sparklingbrook · 27/01/2018 09:58

Some people really don't understand the internet. That is a big problem on MN and elsewhere. Very true.

CoteDAzur · 27/01/2018 09:59

"MNHQ welcome reports."

Is it not true that some have been banned for reporting too often, then?

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