It was you

[Margauxdes]

Have you ever read a thread on mumsnet and realised that the person was talking or complaining about you?

The only time that is acceptable is for cases like "my boyfriend won't marry me til we have DC" but when you advance search the poster claims to be a married mum of 4 complaining about her lazy/greedy dh

I once posted something and my sister screen shotted it and said is this you? (It wasn’t about her was about something she knew about tho)
i got the thread removed instantly.
Very careful now.

The thing is that there are weird and creepy people out there. And it must be annoying to have something dismissed as an 'interesting first post' by troll-hunters, because when that happens people are put off from giving genuine advice.
It would be interesting if people were IDed more often in real time to get a different perspective, as with the neighbour dispute story.

No but I did spot a friend once. She had told me the exact same story earlier that day. Wasn't very juicy but I knew it was her right away

Hi. You’ll have to tell us more and add a link.

Yes. At one point, every other thread on FWR.

No. It's made me realise how very many people share common experiences because I've often seen a post that I could have written, and which people who know me might think I'd written, but I haven't.

I would never make a list, but there are some usernames that make me think ‘oh, you again’, usually after seeing something petty, self-important or just downright unpleasant they’ve posted.

Yes I saw one of my clients on here - luckily they were saying lovely things about me!

Name changed for this for obvious reasons.
No.

Nope although I have been outed, luckily I wasn’t saying anything controversial (just very personal).

I was identified by a friend when I posted a thread on here. It was a fairly unique situation (about DC, nothing whatsoever to do with anyone else) so I wasn't too surprised. But I WAS super embarrassed as I got pulled to bits on the thread, absolutely slated, and THEN the bloody media picked it up too. I learned a lesson or two that day, and worked out how to name change. And never to post in AIBU, or about anything that was painful for me.

I still feel a sinking feeling when I remember her 'assume this is you?' message. Mortifying.

Yes, but was 17 years ago and the site was a lot smaller. To be fair, in retrospect, it was justified. I never replied on the thread.

I've posted lots of personal info, but under different names. For example, I've posted the names of my DC, my age, height, hair colour, what I do for a living, what sort of clothes I wear, my heritage, what hobbies I have, whereabouts I live etc

Two years ago I was stalked IRL after I posted on a sensitive issue.
It wasn't about anyone else it was asking for help and advice. The husband of a friend of a friend recognised me. He made fun of me at an event. He also posted arsy answers to my posts. I reported him.
I now regularly name change bar one thread I've posted on for years.

No, but I once recognised a post by the sister of one of my best friends complaining about said friend; there was a lot of specific info included about a family situation my friend had been talking to me about that day which made me think it was from the sister and then an advanced search confirmed it as the sister had posted lots of info on other threads about age of children, location she lived in, location they’d grown up in etc. There were also other threads and posts with her complaining about my friend. I had heard friend’s side of the story and sisters was quite different so it did make me realise how much you need to take Mumsnet threads with a pinch of salt sometimes. I never mentioned it to the friend.

There was the hilarious thread from the user with the Playmobil about how to tell the cousin her niece couldn't have her Playmobil. Then her cousin read the thread. It was a light-hearted one.

I did. It was a reply in a thread and I thought it sounded suspiciously like something that had happened in my life. I had a look at the poster’s other posts and realised it was a friend of mine and this time she was writing about me. It was nothing terrible but strange to read about her perspective on an issue in my life.

"Name changed , but been here ages, penis beakers, yoni massage etc"

I can help it - but whenever I read this I automatically think Trolly McTroll Face or journalist

I've seen people do this on threads

Yup. Someone giving a very different narrative to a family tragedy. It took a lot of restraint not to comment.

I have been recognised posting about my DCs school. My ex colleague used to post all the time, very identifiable stuff she was talking about IRL. Someone told me their user name and I identified a post about me.

Yes. I don't want to go into much detail, but it was someone posting about something I had organised as part of my job. The situation was 100% recognisable. It wasn't anything I'd done wrong - more that she had concerns about an aspect of it. It was weird to see it on MN though. I didn't comment on the thread!

I do get a few comments on my other username that strongly hint that people know my posting history and then I get a nasty dig that does make me think twice. I'm such a dull person, I don't get why anyone would advance search my posts but party sure they do. It's not flattery. It's from a place of hatred.

I recognised someone once and told her. It was something fairly minor so it wasn't a big issue.

It also happened on Baby Greenhouse (anyone remember that site?). I recognised a PTA situation and told her. She asked me not to read old posts of hers, because they were personal. I hadn't and didn't.

Does anyone remember the poster who was very recognisable, who said something she shouldn't about her husband's past? Some posters contacted the husband, because everyone knew his name and where he worked. Mumsnet ended up deleting every post she'd ever made.