To NOT believe some of the threads posted on Mumsnet?

[NovemberMorn]

Some are far fetched, some threads ask for advice then the posters don't bother to respond when asked for details, some threads just seem to be started for provocation.
I don't mind any of the above...but I certainly don't believe they are all genuine.

YANBU.

i reckon only half on MN posts are genuine. But I don’t really care, I never take it too seriously it’s all entertainment at the end of the day

It's certainly entertaining.
I have read a couple of threads that have really touched me, insofar as I will find them again, hoping that if the author has updated, their dilemma has had a happy ending.

It usually hasn't.

England's a bit of an outlier re "gotten". It's used in Scotland, Ireland, NI, the US, Australia etc. If you're noticing an increase it may simply be a more diverse user base as the site grows.

I think there's an increase in goading too. Perhaps that's not the right word. But people posting something positive or a "totally genuine naive" question about trans people/people from X country/injectables/weight loss jabs/Harry and Meghan/William and Kate/religion Y etc etc etc in order to bait posters into slagging that group off.

YANBU but it's one of the reasons I love MN.

Even the ones that have an element of truth, are often hugely exaggerated, especially the threads that are deliberately set up to run into 3 or 4 threads.

But possibly more batshit than the trolls are the MN aunties, swallowing every line of BS.

They don't like it pointed out to them and can get quite defensive, which just adds to the hilarity! 🤭🤣

Yup.

No. It's a site owned my MNHQ and they can veto anything they don't like.

There's not as bad as The Guardian when it comes to doing it, but they can do it.

Obviously there has to be some limits to what people say on a public forum, hopefully it's not too oppressive.
At least this thread, which is harmless imo, has been allowed to run it's course.

MN is more than just AIBU, Chat and Relationships, where the trolls tend to hang out. There have allways been trolls and there will always be trolls. But there are interesting posts and responses. It's not as funny as it used to be though.

I don't feel there's a lot of AI - certainly not without quite a lot of effort put in by a human. If people want to waste their time that way, I don't really care as my starting point on the popular boards is that the post is unlikely to be 100% true whether it's because it's a troll, or the OP has changed a lot of detail for privacy or to influence the responses.

Being fairly new myself, I am getting pretty good at spotting the trolls.
I suppose they have to get the attention somewhere.

Why would you expect “free speech” on an internet forum?

“Free speech” is lobbed around indiscriminately these days; it’s lost all meaning.

It baffles me when people call out the OP for posting the same or very similar thread already and others still continue to post asking if the OP is OK or offering advice. It just seems like a total waste of time to respond to a thread that is highly unlikely to be true.

Well, since so many threads get pulled for being weapons grade bollox, I would say it's not remotely unreasonable to proceed with caution.

I am sure MHQ has been replaced by bots already.

I’m beginning to think this. I’ve seen a few recently that made me raise my eyebrows.

Just exited a recent thread where a poster who claimed she earns 6 figures seemed so completely clueless, lacking in financial and common sense and utterly passive about the fact her partner is clearly using her.

Everyone was trying to sound the alarm but the poster was focused on minor things like where he buys his groceries. And then other details just didn’t add up.

I eventually just left the thread. They are either taking the piss or they’re so far gone.
Some posters do seem to be winding people up and their responses don’t seem real.

Yep.
I often read a thread from a ai or troll and feel bad for the nice, genuine people who reply and try to give "it" advice.

I’d wager that the majority on AIBU aren’t genuine and that even the ones based on a real situation are exaggerated with extra details fabricated. I feel like almost any which goes across more than one thread is sure to be mostly bollocks, even if the initial post was based on something true I never believe the updates are. I enjoy reading threads but I would never invest too much care or emotion into any, I mostly view mumsnet as a live fiction website, not as real people sharing real lives. It would be boring if the threads were all people’s real lives!

Not coming back to a thread doesn’t necessarily indicates they’re not real. Especially as you can get some crazy replies that could put them off engaging. If anything I’m more suspicious of the ones where they’re regularly updating their major life events as they happen.
I do think though that you should reply as if they’re real just in case.

YABU

Everyone knows every word published on the internet is absolutely true facts.

There was one earlier in which each update became more outrageous.
The ones that open with a brief paragraph, then drip feed a sentence at a time are a dead giveaway.

What were they about?

I just asked chat gbt to write me a thread about an item that was not returned. Interesting how it says 'has anyone had similar happen?' I've seen that a few times at the end of a post...

Title: Friend Borrowed Expensive Item and Hasn't Returned It – What Should I Do?

Hi all,

I’m in need of some advice. A while ago, a good friend of mine borrowed something quite expensive from me – an item I really value (it's not a super common item, so it's not like I could easily replace it). She was going through a tough time, and I agreed to lend it to her without hesitation, thinking it was a temporary arrangement.

Well, it’s been months now, and she hasn’t returned it. I’ve brought it up a couple of times, but each time she either forgets or makes excuses. I feel awkward asking for it back directly, but I’m starting to feel really uncomfortable about the whole situation. It’s not about the money, but more about the principle and the fact I trusted her.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? How did you handle it? Should I give her a firm deadline or let it slide and hope it comes back eventually? Any advice would be really appreciated!

Thanks in
advance.

Fake posts aren’t nice, I felt like rubbish once when I post of given advice on, turned out to be false. However the info I,, and others had given could potentially help someone else in a situation like it. So though they are annoying, they may come in handy at some point! Unless they are pulled down like!!

Oh lordy, I miss scottishmummy.