To ask why announce you've NC'd for a post...

[VestibuleVirgin]

With apologies, I may have asked this, but meno-pause memory...
Read several posts who have said they were NCing because they've posted before. Why? It's an anonymous forum. I have no idea who 'littletabacbar' is, nor 'iworkdownthedocksguttingfish', so why change user name for certain posts?
Is it because you've been a 'nice' person but suddenly want to post something nasty? Or vice-versa?
Or because you've decided to contradict yourself?
I am confused (more and more these days apparently!)
Thanks

It’s because people can search your previous posts and link together details of your life which potentially could ‘out’ who you are.

Previous posting history will invariably be looked at by someone. Thus posts like, 'have you posted about this before' and 'you stated in your post from 2012 x which contradicts y' .

You might have previous posts and together they could be identifiable.

You might have lied before and dont want to get caught or you might be lying now.

You dont want the same answers you got in your last post about this, but seem unable to realise that you will still get the same answers.

It's usually either because something posted is potentially identifiable and the poster doesn't want to have her entire posting history searchable to a person she knows in real life who just figured out who she is, or she'd like answers to the question posted without someone dragging up something she posted 5 years ago which has nothing to do with their current thread.
I'm sure there are other possible reasons but that's how I usually see it.

Some people on here are truly bonkers and will go through a poster’s previous history and challenge them if they feel stories aren’t consistent or will make comments about it being a dodgy first post if they can’t see previous posts. Personally I think there are a lot of people here who need to get a life and remember it’s just an internet forum but I do understand why some people would name change and state it to let others know it’s not a first post.

Because you might be about to post something you know is massively identifiable and you don't want that to mean all your previous threads can then be linked and people you know can find out loads more about that wasn't previously identifiable

For me it's when I think I've posted something that if you knew me and linked it to a few other of my posts you would be able to work out who I am or have suspicions. So if I NC I announce it so people don't think I'm someone who's new and starting trouble.

And they ‘announce’ it to pre-empt the people who will look up the user name, see it’s the first post from that name, and assume they are a new (and not genuine) MN user

Absolutely the fear of people searching previous posts and putting two and two together especially if it's sensitive.
My username gives everyone a head start!
I nearly always post to help other people but if I was needing help myself and it gave another big chunk of information I'd probably name change.

For me, it’s when I’m posting something I’ve shared / ranted about in real life. So anyone who knows me would know that was me. I don’t really want that linking with any posts about medical conditions, work situations, family problems, children’s medical details etc.

Because if you put one post about being a nurse

One post about living in Norwich

One post about what to wear on your 40th birthday (that also happens to mention you're 5 foot 10 and a redhead, size 16)

Then it becomes really easy to work out who you might be.

If you then want to post about how your sister has really pissed you off, your sex life or how you've got chronic diarrhoea you might not want that linked to all your identifiable info.

Also posters (myself included) very often change a couple of minor details that aren't material/relevant to the actual issue to make it less identifiable. But then maybe they need to post something where actually, that detail is now relevant, so they NC rather than have posters going "AHA but last year you said your DD was 12 so how can she be 15 now".

I think OP is asking why they announce they've NC'd not why they've NC'd.
I've often seen posters call out other posters as being fake, journalists or trolls when it's a first post under a name "Oh interesting first post 🤔". People often seem cynical about a poster if it's their first post, so people say "I've name changed for this post" to explain why they have no other posts under the new name.

I find it strange when someone announces a name-change as the story will be too outing - they then go on to tell some very detailed scenario that anyone involved in the tale would instantly recognise!

I didn’t NC recently and I changed a few details (of a death that had happened and the family details)
I got reported and some not nice posters looked at previous threads and said a few things

mumsnet not nice anymore most of the time (look at the Lorrraine Thread this morning)

That's exactly why they've name-changed! So those identifying details can't be linked with questions about medical issues, sex life, annoying friend, MIL issues, etc.

Lots of 'she' and 'her' in your post.

Do men not use this site?

I’ve always wondered why they announce it also. Just do it.

No, I'm sure men use MN, dp does although almost exclusively the gardening section, @SNMummy2024 but I would bet a considerable amount of money that the vast majority of posters who announce a name change are female.

@SNMummy2024 it's mostly women on mumsnet. There's a Dadsnet but men don't seem to go there

Thank you, everyone for replying. I didn't realise some would be playing miss marple and tracking us to pick up on our inconsistencies!
Being on MN appears to be a full-time job, and in order to stay private,mcovering tracks a national pastime!
The ability of people to make us care and angry in equal measure is fabulous!
😍😃

People nc because they often change small details to retain anonymity. If someone advance searches, they can derail a thread by pointing put inconsistencies and try to present the OP as an 'unreliable witness' and best and a liar/troll at worst.

Because people can advance search and piece together who someone is if they know them irl. Of course you're not going to know who a stranger is, but they might not be a stranger to everyone who is also on here.

And they announce it because, if they've nc due to a sensitive issue, there is always someone who will post "interesting first post, op" to try and derail the thread/cast doubt about their integrity.

Most people post on here as a bit of light relief from daily life, and don't really think too much about whether the poster is genuine but, for some, MN is a replacement for a real life (for all sorts of reasons) and they become quite heavily invested in outing trolls.

I don't know how genuine it was, but, in the past, peope have talked about keeping spreadsheets on posters. Most people invest what they can and don't take it too seriously. Others do. And no one wants to fall foul of that for whatever reason.

Well, to answer your actual thread title - it's to try and prevent other posters from saying, "Welcome to MN, OP. Interesting first post", etc.

PP have answered the other questions.

As pp have explained, people NC to protect anonymity. I do it a few times per week, must have had thousands of usernames.
They announce it so people don't assume they are brand new posters as they'll have no posting history under a new name.

NC ! lol

I've been outed in the past. Someone who knew me made a passing comment to me about something v similar to what I had posted. It was way too much of a coincidence. Whereas they never said 'I've read on MN that ..' (referring to my post), it was so obvious from what they said to me. In a way, they ruined it for themselves as they caused me to change my username multiple times now, so posts cannot be linked together. I will now also change some of the post detail eg instead of DD I put DC/DS, often refer to DH as a partner to imply we are not married. This will be my only post under this username.

But what are the chances that someone who knows you irl will see your post and figure out it's you?
I tend to agree that nc-ing is more about being a certain persona under one name and an alter ego under another.
The only things I am sus about are the posts asking random q's which seem like looking for material for a journalist and the "what did you eat today" is almost exclusively competitive under eating.
The posts I secretly enjoy, however, are the "does this look infected?" Etc posts with "sensitive" images. 😱🤣 I'd likely nc for that, I guess, if I felt like I needed an internet poll about a boil on my arse. 😆😆😆