To wish that people wouldn't keep name changing!

[Huskylover1]

I have seen some brilliant posters on here. The women, who every singe time they post, I think "yep, that's exactly how I feel". And, when you are scrawling through a thread, you stop on that posters post, because you just know that she's going to say something brilliant. But, with all the name changing, it's totally lost. How are we meant to feel a bond to the other users on MN, when name changing keeps losing the connection? And there's no need for it!

I miss the old mumsnet where you had a lot more familiar posters.

Sadly hackgate saw an end to that. Lots of us regularly name change now.

For me I started to name change prior to Hackgate after an over zealous troll hunter went digging through my old posts snd chsllenging me by quoting my previous posts and splitting hairs.

It started after a long running thread I started about something pretty shit going on in my life. I was in a pretty bad place and troll hunter started to say I must be making the shit up cos no one would react/put up with xyz etc etc.

I was then bombarded with comments and messages saying stuff like "on 5th July 2007, you said you recommended xyz place (In north of UK) funny that as you now claim to be just an hour outside of London. " and "September 2006 you said your child had a long term health condition but now you mention they are doing xyz".

It went on and on and on and on. It becsme a bit obsesdively weird. What shocked me was how much info 1 person had gathered from my years of mn posts. It kind of made me paranoid especially as I didn't want anyone in RL to know about what I had been posting about (the original long running thread that had prompted the troll hunter).

Hackgate then was the final straw. Especially as my old mumsnet account was registered under my primary email address. So I de reg'd. Got myself an email account just for mumsnet, re registered and now I name change every now and again. Although I rarely post very personal stuff anymore.

I miss a lot of the old regulars and lose track of who is who. I always feel a bit nostalgic when I see someone who has stuck with their original long time name I recognise.

I named change after being latched onto by somebody who popped up on every thread banging on about something we didn't agree on x months ago.
I see she seems to make barbed comments to others as well.
I'm well rid of her, she hasn't tracked me down again yet

What is Reddit?

I name change frequently, or at least flip between a few names. I have a current thread where I need advice but generally don’t use MN for “serious” things, and I associate my various names with different types of subject matter.

I prefer it like this, I don't want a cosy forum with familiar names and popularity contests. Anonymous feels like a safer space, everyone can have an opinion.

Reddit is another huge online form where people chat about various topics. One of those topics is Mumsnet.

Mumsnet is also discussed on many Facebook groups; Twitter (there's a 'whole batshit threads on MN' Twitter account); and in the articles and comments sections of publications such as the Spectator and Daily Mail. It isn't just Reddit.

So that's another reason to name change.

I used to think my username was my username and I stuck with it through flack and mortar. It was suggested I change to reduce unpleasantness. It does seem to have brought a degree of respite even though I’m pretty sure I’m still recognisable as I haven’t changed - just the username.

Why don’t people chat about Mumsnet on Mumsnet?

I don't get why people have to point out that they've name-changed at the start of a thread. Surely if you're not wanting to be identified it's better not to give away that you've created a new identity - seems very attention seeking and dramatic to me.

I don't tend to nc.
I can see why people do though.
Parts of the internet are like a particularly badly supervised minor public girls school.

I've been on here about 8 years and this is my 3rd name. I never alternate between names though, I understand doing so for a personal or sensitive thread but I think MN should introduce a rule that if you namechange to post goady offensive stuff such as racism, disablism etc when your post is deleted your other names are listed.

Dreamy some websites allow you to post without registering, so you post under anon. That's an anonymous site.

Discussing mumsnet threads on reddit seems quite sad to me.
I always thought most people on MN checked it through the day, enjoyed mindless browsing over a brew or whilst the kids were getting on or avoiding housework etc Or after specific advice on things.

Going from mumsnet to reddit and then picking apart posters and threads seems a sign of having no life and getting a bit too much validation from online bitching. But maybe that's just me.

I n/c reasonably regularly. I do it because sometimes I post quite personal stuff that I don't always want to share with people who I know and it is possible, if you read back through several posts, to work out who I am. For me, MN is somewhere I can safely talk about personal things, let off steam about MIL, talk about work etc, all if which could be quite outing to anyone who knows me. So I n/c, otherwise I might as well stick to facebook where I never, ever, discuss anything personal and my most controversial offerings are birthday greetings to friends and family.

You are allowed to discuss some aspects of Mumsnet on Mumsnet, on 'Site Stuff' normally, but not absolutely everything. The thorny subject of trolls, trolling and troll-hunting tends not to dissected in any great detail and that's MNHQ's shout.

There are also posters on Reddit who have either chosen to leave MN or who were banned, and who have started a talk community over there.

Reddit is an open, public forum. Anyone can see and read it. The Twitter thread about batshit MN is open, too.

It's the Facebook groups (or some of them) which I believe are closed.

I was outed in real life. Got pulled in to see her headteacher at my dc school as it was a post about me being annoyed at them (to say the least)
I'd had that username for years so someone obviously thought "oh that sounds like our school " and gone through my past posts....and I got told off by the head teacher!! Lol

Anyway that's why I name change to keep holes in the jigsaw so they can't find me again. (Hopefully )

I've never name changed, but then I've never started a post/thread, just comment and browse.

But having read a few "outting" threads I see why people do.

I do find it bizarre that people dedicate their time to searching mums net just to out or ridicule people.

It's a good thing to be able to name change.

There is a genuine risk to people currently for saying perfectly reasonable things. Anonymity makes it possible to say such things without fear of personal repercussions.

It matters that we judge a person's words on their own merit, by what they are saying, and not by what we think of the personality who is saying them.

See as much as I'm not a member of Reddit, I don't get the angst about it.

It's just a group of anonymous people who have bonded over Mumsnet, discussing (amongst many other things) who they do/don't like on MN and why.

Yes, there's a mix of pleasant and unpleasant posts there (just like here), but it just boils down to anonymous people on the internet, discussing other anonymous people on the internet, brought about by their posting style/information they've chosen to give.

Now if it were Facebook and your nan and grandad were posting to say what a dick they think you are, I'd understand why people might get a little hurt

But the majority of people on both that forum and this one, don't know each other, have never met and probably never will so it's hard to work up a sweat about.

I doubt you’d be saying that I you’d been stalked by an abusive ex, OP.

I’d rather forum users stayed safe and got the support they needed than being able to follow certain posters.

I've never name changed. Maybe I should.