Has anyone actually been outed?

[Elfranko]

Lots of people name change when posting I assume for the fear of people they know reading the story. However, alot are specific scenarios that surely people who knew the situation would instantly twig anyway.
There have been loads of times I want to post something and then chicken out incase this happens and I have absolutely no idea if anyone i know uses mumsnet.

Has it ever happened to anyone?

I've seen people I know on Mumsnet but never mentioned it to them

Once!

A woman I know recognised me on here and I her.

We had a good laugh about it

I still see her now occasionally

I saw a relative on here, never said a word to her

Oh no so it is possible. Good job I've kept my rants to myself for now then

I thought it was more a case of potentially being recognised from the situation, and so name changing so the person can't read and see what else you've posted?

I think the reason for most name changing is so that their current situation which could be recognisable to those that know them, isn't linked to their usual posting name. That way they can stil continue to post under usual name without being recognized.

I've recognised-

• parent at the same school complaining about a new rule the new head brought in
• my childminder asking for advice about a rare medical issue
• parent from nursery, on a thread asking for opinions about said nursery. We did a special wave after that.

Oh it’s definitely possible

I remember years ago, a woman posted on mn because she thought a woman was being rude.

She had gone into a cafe with her son who was making a lot of noise.

The other woman originally glared covered her ears and finally left leaving behind half a plate of food.

Mum of son ranted about how rude other woman was and that he was just a kid.

Other woman actually spotted it and told mum of son that actually she had autism and sound was a very big trigger for her. It wouldn’t have been too bad if mum tried to keep her son quiet but she didn’t even bother.

I have. My brothers wore went through a phase of stalking me on here.

One thread, may not give you away if, unless its specific.

But when you look at posting history, several posts or threads may out someone if you add it all up.

Spotted a friend. She told an anecdote on here she had told me just the day before. I have been spotted on here. And I think I have spotted my mum. So yes after being spotted I name change regularly.

I had a friend email me once with a theory about how a poster was me. It wasn't but it was very weird stalking. Can't say I've felt the same about that friend ever since ...

Ive recognised a friend through 2 name changes just from her style of writing. She types like she talks and if youd spoken to her for 2 minutes before youd know straight away it was her. Each time ive let them know in case they cant risk being outed

I have been.

I've seen several outings over the years. Some particularly nasty. One involved them messaging her DHs work to report him for fraud.

She was a horrible poster but that was very low. She's probably still around now. I hope she's more humble than she used to be.

I knew someone. Was an old school chum. Messaged her privately and told her I'd seen her thread on MN. Wasnt a negative post, was a fun one but even so I think discression is key

I've been recognised. I had a thread in relationships and someone I didn't really know that well recognised me and messaged me. We had lunch a few times and she was lovely and supportive.

That probably means other people I know might have read it and recognised me. But just not said anything.

Friend recognised a photo I posted on a "what's the ugliest thing on your house" thread Haven't said anything here I probably haven't already said to her though, so not an issue!

Hmm it is a mystery. I am sure SIL recognises me. I haven't spotted her in years.
Otherwise I doubt it, although there are lots more Irish posters now, I think the pool is still small.
I name change for writing a post usually personal stuff on SN board. I know from experience posters scroll past posts to hit you with a sly comment.
I don't create posts about random things but I enjoy reading them.

Yep, from one of my frequent boring musings.
Unfortunately it lead her to advance search me and she found out all sorts of deep shit I'd posted on other threads that I hadn't spoken to anyone irl about. For good reason.

I frequently name change now.

Yes - by DH no less!!

He was googling something and a post came up written by yours truly. He texted me a screenshot and asked if it was me...! I flatly denied all knowledge of course, but name-changed pretty swiftly afterwards.

I've just NC'd again to write this post - I'm totally paranoid now!

Yes I have thanks to sharing a photo of my butter dish 😂😆😂

Oh and I wa shouted when I posted on bereheavment. Which really upset me.

The circumstances were that someone I know, killed themselves. Turned out, this person had a drugs problem i knew nothing about. I wanted somewhere to vent because I was so angry at her, missed her and was heart broken and felt like I didnt even know her. People in real life just saw her as another doggie once the truth came out. So I felt I couldnt speak to anyone.

I actually said on the thread, I wanted to be vague as I didnt want anyone who knew her to out me.

And then someone did. I had the thread pulled and am trying to deal with alone.

So yes, outing happens and its shit.

I was - posted a link to some tiles I was thinking of buying, in a thread that had lots of context about our bathroom renovation plans. The guy from the bathroom showroom googled the company name (I think it was something they were encouraged to do regularly, as a local startup trying to raise their profile), found the link, realised the combination of things I spoken about matched my bathroom plans and, next time I went it, started the conversation with 'I saw your post on mumsnet'. He thought it was funny, but it really freaked me out. I have NC a couple of times since then, and I'm probably due another change now really.

I saw my DH's ex posting a load of lies on here about DH and I. It made her look really silly and she was horrified when she realised she'd been caught out. It did give us a wonderful insight into the lies she tells people though.

I’ve seen someone I know on here. It was weird because I read a thread thinking “ooh that’s the same situation XXXXX is in, wonder how this poster solved it” then realised it was her!