Do you ever suspect that some threads are planted.

[notacooldad]

Sometimes I wonder why some posts have been posted and the real reason behind them.
Some may seem fairly innocuous but I often wonder if they are posted to gauge public reaction to things.
Eg posts like "my mum wants to meet up for a cup of tea but I think this is a bad idea.whst do you think?" Everyone piles in with "your mum is an idiot, you did the right thing to day no" type answers.
Maybe I've not explained myself well and have been listening to two many conspiracy theory podcasts!

Nowadays, probably not. Early on, it’s how a lot of forums get started. If you read how Reddit started they admitted they created lots of fake posts and discussions to make people think the site was busy

I don't know about AIBU but style & beauty is full of product placement.

There's probably a certain element of that on every social media platform in existence so I doubt MN is immune.

If you're suspicious, report the thread and let MNHQ 'check behind the scenes'.

Yes, happens on reddit and they are actively tracking them and publishing the suspected accounts once cracked, and their threads and replies so people can see what a 'plant' account looks like.

Very sane and informative video about it here

I was thinking the same thing this morning op.

Of course they are.

And the phrase ' genuine question ' in an OP is usually a sign.

So you think the government is posting?
They’d need to work out how representative each site is compared to the general population. Could be, I suppose.

If I was in the world of selling to lots of people there is no way I wouldn't have a member of staff who posted on here, get the main purchaser for the home interested in whatever it was. I remember an insanely active thread for 'how to make the best mashed potato' that had a suspiciously large amount of people recommending a brand new dried potato mix that was just hitting the supermarkets with a flourish. I thought it was very clever marketing.

Back in the mists of time I think Justine and co made nearly all the threads then sat and talked to each other to get things up and running!

I think there might be planted threads re releasing lockdown, to gauge what the public might accept.
It seems to me that schools opening first won't work as people don't want to 'risk their kids'. So we will need other areas to relax first before schools re-open.

Of course there are threads that aren't genuine. There always have been and there always will be.

And the phrase ' genuine question ' in an OP is usually a sign 😂😂

I dont mean troll posts by the way. I'm not on about the ones that are seeking drama and attention and the stories get more bizarre.

I doubt anyone policy making looks at MN now. The days of being influential are long gone.

But yes, the marketing is pretty damned obvious.

(PS: I'm guilty of the 'genuine question' but I don't think ever in an opening post - not least because I rarely start threads as they usually sink with tumbleweed - but when the thread is a bit combative esp if derision levels are high but something really isn't clear or just seems wrong. To me it was an attempt not to be the next person in the pillory)

I don't know about AIBU but style & beauty is full of product placement.
I've wondered about sock puppetry on there tbh!

Def agree with threads on S&B!!!!
Every single time someone posts about having acne/spots, about hundred people pile on to say that La Roche Posay is the best thing ever. Without fail.
It was the worst thing I’ve ever used on my life for my skin.

So you think the government is posting?

Or a government.

I think the dog pooping in the garden HAS to be planted because it's so ludicrous!

I have been fascinated by the sudden outbreak of threads about schools re-opening. Considering we had only two weeks before the Easter holidays, so kids have currently missed only two weeks of school (a period of time that many on MN would happily let their kids miss for various holidays over the year) and the site was ablaze with people demanding school closures, it seems very odd. I can only conclude that either a. the government/other bodies (teachers’ unions etc) are doing research or b. We are utterly infested with the sort of person who wants the ‘next thing’ to happen immediately - those peculiar folk who put up their Christmas decorations in November and take them down at 8pm on Christmas day to put up an ‘Easter tree’, for example.

I suspect that there's an element of this on here.

However I don't subscribe to the point of view that many posters seem to have that is anyone who disagrees with them is not a real poster but some form of bot (many of them don't even actually know what that really means).

b. We are utterly infested with the sort of person who wants the ‘next thing’ to happen immediately - those peculiar folk who put up their Christmas decorations in November and take them down at 8pm on Christmas day to put up an ‘Easter tree’, for example.
It's this - just go back and look at how many "I have removed the tree and all evidence of Christmas because I am sick of it" posts there are in December each year.

You'd never conduct serious research on social attitudes here, unless you want to find out what MN thinks and go with the opposite.

Majority opinion here has been on the losing side in every election and referendum in years; recently there was oodles of derision for COVID volunteering and retirees returning - public turned out in droves.

And there's a determined attempt to decry skinny jeans on S&B that I can only assume is instigated by a PR type actindpg for someine whomwants tomsell npmore jeans and persuading people to ditch skinniest is the way ahead

Oh yes the style and beauty threads. And the constant hushed references to "Dr Tracy Mountford always make me quite suspicious just because she's always referred to in exactly the same way

What's the real reason for this thread?

If the government, or site owners, or newspapers wanted to "plant" threads here, the first thing they'd do is have a thread drawing attention to it as a double bluff.

The second thing would be have a post in the thread pointing that out. Oh shit.

Like PPs I doubt there’s much posting from policy folk on here, but agree that style & beauty is awash with product placement (Hush, anyone?)