Thread deletions

[racewhorse]

Every time I get invested in a thread it gets deleted, often without any message as to why.

AIBU to find this frustrating?

I'm fairly new to MN and recently asked for a thread to be deleted and MNHQ very kindly obliged. I hadn't considered the possibility of a particular person being on MN who would have recognised the situation, had they read it.

I would sooner MNers be frustrated than offend people in rl. I believe I have learnt my lesson from it and am grateful that I don't have to live my life constantly stressed that the thread might cause unnecessary offence.

But if you’re that worried about being outed, why not post it in 30 days only, where it does disappear anyway?

But also to the op, threads that you’re refering to are deleted for a reason, not by the op requesting them get taken down.

I agree OP, especially when they close threads requested by the OP after they have flounced because no-one is agreeing with them. They never used to and it's not a positive change. It's frankly ludicrous to say the thread could identify them in real life when, eg, all we have been told is they are married with three children, living in the North.

I've never seen any deleted without a deletion message. The vast majority recently have been trolls or previously banned posters.

Threads are usually taken down because they are ether trolls or the OP has fears of being recognised in RL. No point getting over involved in any thread. I think over many years i have learned to retain a bit of detachment from all threads.

Some I totally get. A very recently deleted one she had put a lot of identifiable info on, probably because she was in a state of panic, but others I think it's just because the op doesn't get the answers they want so uses the excuse of being recognised irl.

It seems now all you have to do is ask and it gets deleted. I do find it a bit annoying

I think that deletions may have increased since the old-style chat topic was abolished.

If the 90 days topic was restored to its original name 'chat'; and a new 'perma-chat' topic introduced, then most of the stuff would just vanish, and there would be less back-history to the poster to make them identifiable.

Or make AIBU ephemeral (most of it is not worth keeping!)

But yes, the basic responsibility is for posters to remember that they are publishing globally and quite possibly permanently, and to consider content that way.

I don't think threads should be deleted because posters don't like the responses. If in an ephemeral topic, it's a self-limiting issue

Every time I get invested in a thread...

That's your mistake though. It's not worth getting invested. Probably 90% of those kinds of threads are bullshit, if not completely they'll be massively embellished.

It is frustrating though.

But also to the op, threads that you’re refering to are deleted for a reason, not by the op requesting them get taken down.

That simply isn't necessarily so. As people have said, a number seem to get deleted for the flimsiest of reasons, including claims that something might be identifiable when it blatantly can't be. If people are that worried about being identified it's easy enough to change some details.

It would be nice after a thread is deleted 'to be investigated further etc' if mumsnet hq came back with a short explanation of what the found out.

If it's not reinstated, it is reasonable to assume the thread was started by a PBP or troll.

I have never seen a thread deleted without a deletion message.

I'm a bit confused too - I was watching that thread about the rocks being moved in front of the OP's front door, and her stepdad was going to come over and help investigate. Now it's disappeared from my watch list and I can't find it, was it deleted? And if so, why? Surely if there was a deletion message it would still be in my watch list?

That rock thread. There was about ten threads started yesterday asking where it had gone.

I don't think deleted threads who onyour watch list for some reason, unlike Threads I'm On.

flugelhorn81
Apparently she was a PBP.
I was disappointed when that thread went poof too.

The irritating one is where the message says that a thread has been taken down while MN look behind the scenes, and the message never changes once they've looked.

i always wondered how do mnhq know its a previous banned poster? x

Oh thanks @bluebellforest - that is disappointing!

What is a PBP? I haven't been on here that long!

Never mind just realised!

I think MNHQ will be able to trace the IP address even though the user has changed e mail addresses.

They always say that they don't publicise how they find out as this would given the trolls something to find a way round.

I get irritated by rude/flouncy OPs in AIBU who are clearly BU, get annoyed when they’re told they are BU, start being a complete arse and then go bleating to HQ.

Then we get “the thread was causing upset IRL” or “lots of replies which aren’t really in the spirit of MN”.