Why trolls make up threads on here ?

[Happyone8]

I’m fairly new to Aibu and have been on two troll threads recently. One was about dating and was three threads long , where I took time giving lots of advice over several weeks . Ends up it was someone making it up and she/he had several other threads running too. Another thread from someone else has been shut down this morning for a similar reason .
Just wondering why someone would make stuff up ? It must be so boring and pointless! Also now don’t feel like investing time to freeing advice as feel that it’s all made up .
Is there a way to spot these people ??

I don’t mind people telling me it’s common, advice on how to spot etc that’s fine. I’m being defensive about the very rude people coming on here sneering at me and some of the others for being gullible , feeling sorry for our kids and telling us we are over invested etc there’s no need for that and I cannot stand smug up themselves people like this .

@Happyone8

I don’t mind people telling me it’s common, advice on how to spot etc that’s fine. I’m being defensive about the very rude people coming on here sneering at me and some of the others for being gullible , feeling sorry for our kids and telling us we are over invested etc there’s no need for that and I cannot stand smug up themselves people like this .

Your last few responses do suggest you take these things a bit seriously though, I'm afraid. It's just the internet, the worst thing you can do is get invested or care what anyone thinks of you.

I thought that was zapped

The date

The fans

Sends the book

So many following and making troll feel interesting probably.

It was obvious

@Happyone8

I don’t mind people telling me it’s common, advice on how to spot etc that’s fine. I’m being defensive about the very rude people coming on here sneering at me and some of the others for being gullible , feeling sorry for our kids and telling us we are over invested etc there’s no need for that and I cannot stand smug up themselves people like this .

'smug up themselves people' That's such a weird thing to say. You have posted a thread in AIBU asking a question and you have had a variety of answers, but you seem to be taking everything personally and getting annoyed.

As @BrumBoo says it's just the internet.

In answer to your question op, I think they have sad and empty lives with low self esteem.

Trolling has been a problem on MN for a long time. It's an issue everywhere online, but I would say that there are more trolls on MN than on any other forum I've ever been involved in. Some people have trolled MN for years and years before being banned. I won't mention any names, but some fantasists created completely unbelievable tales and posted away merrily for a ridiculously long time.

I appreciate that MNHQ are in a difficult position and try to give the benefit of the doubt. But sometimes trolls are blatantly obvious.

Overly invested MNers just encourage the trolls and exacerbate the problem. All the posts calling for updates, the wailing and competitive sympathy, the guff people post: "I'm heartbroken for you, OP, I haven't been able to sleep, I'm so worried, please let us know you're O.K." Seriously, take a step back.

I used to think that at least half of the threads on Relationships were started by trolls. Now I would say that it's a much higher percentage. Same for AIBU.

@Happyone8

Agree *@EarringsandLipstick* those slating people ‘investing ‘ seem to have been on mumsnet some time and have a lot of experience of it all . Who’s invested really??

People like yourself OP (and that's a serious answer, not an insult).

You said....

Also now don’t feel like investing time to freeing advice as feel that it’s all made up.

I've been a regular user of Mumsnet for 10 years now and if I felt like that, I'd take a massive step back.

Remember you're not using Mumsnet purely for the good of others. You're using it for your own interests too.

As I said earlier in the thread, don't bother giving advice if that's how it makes you feel. There's really no need for it as lots of other posters still will.

I think it's more odd that so many threads get people accusing the OP of being a troll at the slightest thing than people being gullible and believing everything. So many threads disappear, but there are also a lot more that don't that have had at least one accusation of being trolls by someone on the thread.

I was following those threads too and was really invested in them. I'm gutted it was a troll, OP seemed so lovely. I actually miss her updates yes I am aware I need to get a life!

I have to admit that if something is posted in AIBU I am more inclined to think troll. I mean there's no point in them posting in the correct topic and not getting any attention-they want ALL the clicks.

So if I see a heartfelt post asking for help/support in the topic it belongs I do tend to look at it a bit more favourably. But some people don't seem to venture out of AIBU at all.

I must admit I did laugh at a few troll threads of late that began with, "Fuck off Daily Mail" when they clearly meant, "Pleases give me attention Daily Mail and all the other shit tabloids and TV shows" 😂😂

@WorraLiberty

I must admit I did laugh at a few troll threads of late that began with, "Fuck off Daily Mail" when they clearly meant, "Pleases give me attention Daily Mail and all the other shit tabloids and TV shows" 😂😂

Hoping for a hilarious item on Loose Women?

Hoping for a hilarious item on Loose Women?

They must've been gutted when Jeremy Vine took over from Matthew Wright. He doesn't tend to choose that nonsense for his show

'Trolling' is usually misinterpreted these days. Creative writing exercises and made-up stories aren't necessarily trolling, just a bit attention-seeking and sad. Trolling is a deliberate attempt to stir up discord, derail threads with inflammatory comments, attempt to inflame, upset or distress other posters. There are plenty of them around on the net. A good example is the ones on this site who deliberately latch onto threads by abused women, some of whom have shown real courage in sharing horrendous stories of what they've suffered at the hands of men. I can guarantee that along will come a derailer with the NAMALT or 'women are abusers too' defence.

Guaranteed. And they do it because they know they'll get an angry reaction, and to cause distress to people already posting about distressing issues.

This is some of the nastier trolling I've ever seen on this site.

Fetishists trying to draw posters into revealing detailed information about intimate habits, personal hygiene, sexual behaviour etc, are also not exactly unusual around here. They usually won't return to a thread once they started it (unless someone points out who and what they are, in which case they'll generally pop back on to deny it).

Takes all sorts I guess.

@WorraLiberty

Hoping for a hilarious item on Loose Women?

They must've been gutted when Jeremy Vine took over from Matthew Wright. He doesn't tend to choose that nonsense for his show

Do you remember when the thread about not putting the clock dead centre on the mantlepiece made it onto Matthew Wright? Hard hitting stuff right there.

@Sparklingbrook, yes! I honestly think a lot of the trolls at the time were researchers for that show.

It used to make my morning seeing Mumsnet posts popping up on there

I can't believe I just admitted that on a public forum

On a thread like this I once hypothesized that some troll threads are people reliving things that have actually happened to them but some time ago, in order to process them.

Someone pm'd me to say they actually had done that on here and fo had a friend.

So when something moves a bit fast, and the OP never takes any advice, that might be why. It's in a zone between real and trolling, in my view, as it did happen, just not right now.

I think the premature twins that sadly die troll is someone reliving the loss of premature twins from a long time ago, back when you were not allowed to mourn this kind of loss. I hope I am wrong and it just never happened.

The weirdest one is the school shoes / plimsolls troll. Starts a thread about their (imaginary) child's school demanding lace up leather shoes or similar, and then says they will be sending child to school in a pair of cheap £5 trainers off the market.

Nowt so queer as folk.

Why wouldn't they just say it happened a long time ago and they're trying to process them?

Maybe because the distress is such that they feel like it happened yesterday and they didn't get any sympathy at the time. I dunno.

There’s also PE knickers troll who posts stories about their teenage daughter being forced to do PE in her underwear after forgetting her kit (ew). Or sometimes because OP can’t afford the kit. It’s grim.

There was a long running thread recently about someone who had been married 36 years whose husband had left her for a 37 year old woman, and it suddenly disappeared. Was that a troll?

@RaspberryCoulis

The weirdest one is the school shoes / plimsolls troll. Starts a thread about their (imaginary) child's school demanding lace up leather shoes or similar, and then says they will be sending child to school in a pair of cheap £5 trainers off the market.

Nowt so queer as folk.

Oh I miss that troll, there was a pair of manky Ugg boots too-it was so blatantly stupid. Wasn't there a tights troll as well?

And all the 'Sharon/T Rex stuff which I have to confess as not totally understanding if I'm honest. But at least you knew where you stood.

Trigger alert - I have seen at least one thread where the op is wondering whether she was raped the night before. Describes what happened. Everyone says yes without a doubt, call the police asap and whatever you do don't have a shower. Then she comes back with "well I've just had a shower. . ." Cue everyone getting frustrated. It's because it was years ago.

@BalloonSlayer

Trigger alert - I have seen at least one thread where the op is wondering whether she was raped the night before. Describes what happened. Everyone says yes without a doubt, call the police asap and whatever you do don't have a shower. Then she comes back with "well I've just had a shower. . ." Cue everyone getting frustrated. It's because it was years ago.

Or because they're a disgusting troll who 'gets off' on other women sharing their rape stories.

That's the thing about the internet, we just cannot know.