To think MNHQ should let us delete our own threads

[BeaFuddled]

Just gone to catch up with a thread I was on and found this message

This thread has been deleted
Hello and thanks for the replies to this thread. The OP is very grateful but has asked that we take it down now - we have agreed to remove it.
MNHQ

I'm seeing it more and more with no reason given so why don't @MNHQ treat us like grown ups and let us delete a thread we've started if we think it's too outing, taken a nasty turn, wish we hadn't started it or its run course.

Good idea?

Yeah you are right I knew this just hadn't thought through my reply, locking threads and name changing and just forgetting about "your thread" is a better way to go.

Or, perhaps MHNQ, instead of deleting the username, could substitute it with a new, generated-at-random one, to put any would be stalkers/journos etc off the scent?

TBH though, I agree with the suggestions of a) thinking before you post anything that might be too specific/outing and b) post in the right place (i.e. one where your thread will be deleted after a period of time)

YABU to post this in the AIBU section - it should be in the "Site Stuff" section.

YANBU relating to threads being pulled because the OP of said thread either has had enough or they don't like the direction the thread is going in so claim that they have been recognises in real life. If that was the case and the thread had some useful information in it - it should be possible for MN Admins to remove the OP's posts (even if they are quoted) from the thread and leave the relevant helpful information behind rather than pulling the whole thread.

Also, to add my personal pet peeve, is where threads that are several months old (since the last message was added to the post) are showing up in the section of "You might like these threads since you like this one" section which is a section many have muted, but if you've posted on these threads, it appears in your "Threads I'm On" section and looks like it's got a recent addition (which it may have but is considerably out of date. I just wish MN would LOCK those threads after an arranged time (say 6 months of inactivity) so that you can read them, and if you want to post, it starts a new post with a hyperlink to the old one in the first message of the new thread. Stop allowing old posts to be bumped up!

I've definitely seen old threads where a username has been changed by MNHQ.

At the end of the day Mumsnet is a business and needs to make money, threads are their 'product'. If people could delete a thread it would drive traffic away, meaning less money.

I could be barking up the wrong tree here but....

like many social media sites, MN makes money from adverts that appear when you use the site. Their sole objective at all times is to increase traffic to the site (so advertisers will want to use it.)

Many of the contentious threads (ones the 'turn nasty') and are high volume in terms of posts, bring traffic to the site, (like the 'trending' ones.)

So, the more threads that are here and being looked at, increase their revenue.

If they delete threads all the time, it's losing the audience and, ultimately , potential revenue.

There is also the grey area of copyright where some threads are lifted by other media (the Mail?) and whether there is any benefit in that.

Threads posted on MN are the property of MN. No, you shouldn't be able to take back what is someone else's property, even if you created it. You don't own it.

Don't post if you're not okay with that legal fact.

It's buried in the T&Cs of the site.

BUT at the same time, content is 'stolen' all the time by other media sources.

I agree with you. I once asked for a thread to be taken down because I was concerned about having been identified from it. MNHQ deleted it and put a message up saying I had asked for it to be deleted because I was concerned it would be outing. DOH!!! Obviously it meant the person who had identified me then knew for a fact that it was me. Cheers MNHQ 😂.

No idea why they don't just have a one size fits all message when they delete a post.

I also once asked for a thread to be deleted and they told me no! Didn't appreciate that one.

I've found that when i have asked MNHQ to delete one of my posts, they have been happy to do that. If you have been outed the best thing is to then explicitly say "please say withdrawn at posters request" with no reason given on the thread. I guess they would do that.

but again: don't post outing threads.

Threads on MN aren’t the property of MN.

You retain copyright of your own words, and can use them anyway you see fit (which wouldn’t be the case if you transferred copyright to MN) but by posting you grant MN a right to use those words as they please. This is similar to most forums and it would be difficult for a forum to operate within the law if it weren’t the case.