AIBU to think that MN are letting us down?

[MsHarry]

I have really enjoyed MN in the past, both for advice and sometimes for a laugh or a debate. I don't use other social media and feel I can express myself more freely amongst mostly other women and within the relative anonymity that a username provides. However in recent months i have seen thread after thread appear in the Daily Fail and now The Mirror and a live conversation on ITV's Loose Women!! Some of the subject matter is sensitive and could give OPs away. I know it's a public forum but sharing on here is not the same as publishing in a newspaper or an interview on TV . AIBU to expect a forum like MN, that used to feel pro women, to do more about this?

I do not think there is a benefit no.

How would you like them to prevent other outlets reprinting? You wish them to take ownership and be responsible of anything any member writes?

Amd rhey are not providing tabloids with content. They simply provide a forum. It's the person who writes the post who provides the content.

The point is that MN are not 'allowing' their content to be published elsewhere, the simple fact is that there is nothing they can do to prevent it.

Of course they're benefitting from traffic from the tabloid sites. They cannot take content from mumsnet and pretend they wrote it but they can quote and post screenshots. Just like how people often post screenshots from twitter on here too.

I think it's a really interesting point. I am with you,op. It may not be illegal now but feel there's something slightly immoral about it

I am really surprised that MN don't act - but what, exactly, do you expect them to do? You have already been told that something posted on a public forum on the internet is then available to be reposted ANYWHERE else on the internet. What is it that you want Mumsnet to do about this - apart from some vague "something"?

Basically providing tabloids with content,

No, MN aren't doing that; individual users are providing it by posting it.

I remember a poster ages ago who invited people to challenge her to identify them from their posts, I seem to recall she was quite good at it
My profile is extremely sketchy and if I want to post about anything identifying I name change (and by identifying I only mean a story so unusual it would be recognisable to anyone who knew me)
So, I'm fairly confident I'm anonymous here. People should just be careful.

You have already been told that something posted on a public forum on the internet is then available to be reposted ANYWHERE else on the internet
Sorry Miss!!

I'm not sure it's immoral eifher. Mumsnet literally has millions of members. Countless more visitors. If you post on here then you're making it available to millions and for a prolonged period. Arguably something like loose women might even have less viewers. The daily mail may have more readers, but how many click on those articles. Probably less than are reading it on here.

OP you're very naive. People take things from forums and reuse them ALL the time. There are entire channels on youtube devoted to it. It's copyright free.

I could write a brilliant novel on here...sign it and put the C mark on it but it means nothing....if I've shared it on a public forum.

I think it's the image that I have of MN. Their logo and strap line are all about parents and women and had a kind of empowering feel but something has changed. I guess it's just as it's grown.

What exactly is that you expect Mumsnet to do?

Posting on mumsnet is a bit like standing in the middle of a busy pub and very loudly telling a group of friends all your personal business. If you did that and there happened to be someone from a tabloid newspaper in the pub who overheard (or someone who thought to call a tabloid newspaper) then there isn't a lot (anything really) the pub can do to stop it appearing in the newspaper.

Take responsibility for your own private life. Once you tell something publicly - whether that's in the middle of a busy pub or on an online forum - you lose any control over where it ends up or what slant is put on it. Either accept that or don't share you story publicly or change enough information to feel safe that you won't be identifiable.

I don't share anything like that. It's not about me but a general feeling. I had thought more people felt the same. So IABU according to the MN collective today.

I'd be surprised if anything on MN is in the public domain (this doesn't mean 'publically accessible'); either the user or MN would have the copyright. However, quoting of reasonable length is considered legitimate — it would be interesting to see if taking the whole post plus screenshots is considered quoting, but who is going to test that?

I am really surprised that MN don't act. Do you not think they will be adversely affected by a backlash?

Act and do what? What backlash? Everyone else knows this happens and why!

something has changed. I guess it's just as it's grown

nothings changed. It's always been the case that you were posting publicly for anyone to see or use.

OP, Mumsnet can feel like a cosy coffee-klatch sometimes but in reality, it's anything but. It's bigger, it has a higher profile now and there is no 'gate-keeper'. You have to join to post but if you don't join you can still read and copy anything posted.

It's distasteful for sure; blame the piss-poor excuse for 'journalism' that we now have to endure in the UK and the salacious-loving public who are desperate for tabloid 'gossip'. What a way to make a living? Not one that I'd want.

Ignore the 'flouncer corner' posts, I don't know why they post. Another example of the melting pot that is a public forum.

My own mantra is 'post nothing that actually matters, nothing personal, give nothing of yourself'. Works for me.

I don't blame Mumsnet one bit, they can't control access. I blame the quality of people who lift this stuff in the name of journalism and I pay them no attention.

YANBU btw :)

It's a public forum. MN has no way to 'protect' the content.

To do so they'd probably (not a solicitor here) need to make MN private, members pay 'dues', vet and background check members to screen out those they feel wouldn't play by the rules, and require every member to sign a legal and binding NDA (non-disclosure agreement) banning them from revealing anything they read on MN. And that would include talking about MN threads over a cuppa with your bestie. And I expect the NDA would have to be binding in the person's country of residence in some way as opposed to just a UK-law based NDA.

Either than or they'd have to find a way to copyright each and every individual post. This would involved consent of the 'author' and mucho paperwork.

That's just not going to happen. Much better/easier to just caution us that although they do their best, our anonymity cannot be guaranteed. That's one of the reasons why virtually no one in my 'world' knows I'm on MN. And even less of them read UK based news websites.

Am I the only one surprised to see a thread that effects an OPs relationship discussed on Loose Women today?

You haven’t been on here long then?

Keep this phrase in mind MsHarry: If you are not paying for a product, you are the product

Yep, bit like a free range hen

What has changed is the frequency of threads appearing in DF, every week almost!

It is about parents and women, i think the issue is maybe you do not recognise the scale of this site and lack understanding of the internet

You post like you think this is some little private members club. It's not. It doesn't pretend to be. As said the fact you don't understand it doesn't mean the website is at fault. It is exactly what it says on the tin.

Here is the thread I was looking for which had ringle’s long explanation of the rights and wrongs.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3095607-to-not-understand-how-it-is-legal-for-the-Daily-Mail-to-pull-stories-from-Mumsnet
It starts about half way down.

Op. You also see trip advisor reviews and responses reprinted right? Discussed on programs. Do you see the similarity? Do you feel that if you post a review on trip advisor it should not be reprinte or discussed?

You also see it with reddit. It's the same thing. You know it's not just mumsnet, that this is how the internet works for online sites where members post their own content?

Oh please stop treating the OP like an imbecile, she isn't. We all understand that it's not a safe place to talk. The publication of posts didn't happen on the scale it does NOW. It's constant now whereas it seemed almost a rarity going back five years.

But bluntness the content is different, it can be quite personal given that it is heavily populated by women and parents discussing children and relationships not whether they's fly to Benidorm in August again. Surely you can see that.

Thanks Lying , naive maybe, but no I'm not stupid.