Trollhunters: The bane of MumsNet

[TaiShanShe]

Several regular users seem to make it their life's work to troll hunt on MN, even when posts are quite plausibly genuine. It's becoming a regular occurrence for posts to be taken down just simply because of the sheer amount of reports a post gets, rather than for genuine cause. But what is this doing to MN? How can we expect people to be open with their expressions/feelings/ life stories if they are questioned for being trolls and reported if there is even the hint of disagreement etc. (Thoughts here are from observing the Parishioner and the Hat thread, but are also based on many other threads I've followed here)

Wow, whatever VelvetKiss said went whoosh right over my head! But it got deleted pretty sharpish.

I guess the whole thread will disappear now.

himalayan

That'll be cos i said reddit three times

I believe Velvet Kiss is a PBP

Velvet's post wasn't delete worthy, can only think PBP.

Sorry, anyone who gets that involved and invested in anonomys internet threads claming whatever calamity, has only herself to blame if taken as troll-fodder.
I mean, come-on, anyone somewhat sane wouldn't be posting on the internetty when life-threathening/changing events were to take place.
If they were, well, they were stupid enough to get what was coming....

Yes PBP with a washing basket full of socks.

Have all the socks gone as well

Im very confused

No PBP for being prolific socker in past - don't know if any clean socks available to be worn on this thread, but washing basket has plenty of old ones.

Thanks respectable

I can never spot a sock or troll or PBP

Several regular users seem to make it their life's work to troll hunt on MN

The last few days I have noticed one username in particular who is troll hunting on many threads. I have reported them on occasions for it and I assume others have too because their posts are being regularly deleted. I can't understand how they are still getting away with it (and being so bloody obvious about it). It's great that they are being deleted but surely there comes a point when someone should just be banned for doing it repeatedly.

It's a pain especially when something fun and light hearted comes along and doom mongers, ock eye it's always troll... Who cares!

I said this before - but wouldn’t you think trolls start out small, dipping their toes in the water, so to speak? So they might start out with a few light-hearted - even boring - threads, testing out some strategies, even on some some smaller boards, before moving on to AIBU. Then they might throw out a more alluring, not at all light-hearted but guaranteed to draw numbers thread.

‘Harmless’ trolls are still trolls and they evolve into trolls that damage.

Chaos - yes, that one with the twins was Dizzymare.

Another one who caused real damage was CVQ (Coping not very quietly) - she claimed to have had a child as a result of rape. Many posters were very concerned and even met up with her in RL, but her story then came apart very quickly as she didn't seem to be the age she had said, and no evidence was seen of her child. But she caused mental trauma to the person she met up with, which was bloody awful :(

CVQ was my first "troll experience" on MN and it was a shocker - made me very wary. But, having said that, there was a poster a couple of years ago who I and several others thought was a troll, but who was never "uncloaked" as one - and I feel guilty now that she may have, in fact, been completely genuine but not got the support she needed because her posting was being picked apart by people who honestly didn't believe her. Not going into details on that though!

And that's the problem with trollhunting - yes, the trolls are a huge problem, but troll-hunting actually genuine posters is incredibly damaging to them too.

Hard one to solve.

The last few days I have noticed one username in particular who is troll hunting on many threads. I have reported them on occasions for it and I assume others have too because their posts are being regularly deleted

That's really not OK. Did you highlight the fact that they were repeat troll hunters when you reported. I know it must be incredibly difficult for MNHQ to police the sites consistently but sometimes it looks like troll hunting posts are dealt with haphazardly.

I wonder if it's to do with the way the site is monitored at night or if it's more to do with the shear numbers of posts that require moderation

One thing I have noticed more recently is posters NCing to start goady or downright nasty threads.

Or not so much like the above but a topic they don't want their usual name associated with OP.

I understand the fascination with NCing either, so you don't want other people to read some of your more personal threads? So you don't want a question about trollhunting next to a more personal post about your personal health etc.? Both are valid reasons and have nothing to do with being afraid to use a regular username. MN is anonymous and personally, I don't see the problem with NCing to post on entirely different subject matters. Last time I didn't NC on a post, a MN took it upon themselves to bring up an abortion thread I had posted on a new thread about finances at university. Safe to say I pretty much consistently NC now, as I don't see the value of keeping a username. It sure does seem to irk the nosier MNetters though.

I don't understand*

Fair enough OP. Personally I wouldn't have NC to start a thread about troll hunting because I didn't want it associating with my other threads. I don't see why you'd be worried about that

Unless you NC for every single thread you start? Which I guess if you want to remain anonymous there's nothing wrong with that.

That's really not OK. Did you highlight the fact that they were repeat troll hunters when you reported. I know it must be incredibly difficult for MNHQ to police the sites consistently but sometimes it looks like troll hunting posts are dealt with haphazardly.

No, I didn't highlight it actually, I didn't think of it. It's a good point though and I'll do so in future.

Not every thread, but pretty much every other thread, I have not had a regular user name since that incident.

People can be very defensive when their behaviour is challenged. It was within the realm of possibility that someone would not like me calling trollhunters the bane of MN and nosy up on any of my other threads to hold something more personal over me. Probably not, but its happened before and could happen again so I don't risk it. Personally, I don't see the positives of being able to search for someone by username, I only see the negatives i.e. being nosy, checking for inconsistencies (troll hunting)

It'd make a great Netflix series