Repeated threads by different posters

[BallerinaRadio]

Ok am I going crazy or are there so many threads lately that seem the same but the OP's claim they've never posted about it before? I read a thread the other day that was pretty much identical to one I'd read earlier in the day (think it was about DC throwing up clear mucus) but the OP said they'd never posted about it before. And since then I swear I've read multiple threads which are pretty much identical or just a couple of minor details changed.

And then there's the posts that just seem so ridiculous that they can't be true.

It's got me doubting how many posts these days are actually genuine and how many are... I dunno. AI? Trolls? Bots?

Please tell me it's not just me that's noticed this and I'm not going mad!

I am being unreasonable - people have similar problems and worry about ridiculous things

I am NOT being unreasonable - you've also noticed this and are wondering how many people on here are actually genuine

You are not going mad OP. Tbh I think Mumsnet is in its dying days, or will be if it doesn't get a grip on the bots and trolls.

I have recently noticed a repeated word, completely wrong tense, scattered in posts of a fantastical nature.

The more lengthy and complicated an initial post is the less likely it is to be bona fide which is borne out by a) the OP does not return or b) the OP constantly returns, refutes, retaliates, argues for the same of it, drip feeds informtion, embellishes, or warming to their audience, moves into the preposterous.

Occasionally a first post is so absurd I wonder at anyone responding, but no, there they are, the outraged and fixers : one in particular garnered hundreds of replies when it was clearly a monumental wind up.

AI is more of a challenge it’s true.

strange times

if this is the late evening one at least it provided a modicum of amusement despite its utter banality

which is then reposted, pp response - “I agree”

AI/bot posters tend to use Americal spellings too (canceled, behavior, etc)

Me too! I was part way through writing a reply on one the other week and it was deleted with the message that it had been written by a troll and I wondered how they knew as it seemed no more odd than many other threads.

Yes, I've noticed this too. I think that if a thread does well (in a bad or good way - but usually in a way that winds posters up) then it gets copied multiple times with very slight differences. We had a few days of very similar posts (in style and content) about incredibly useless husbands. Obviously not a rare topic on MN usually anyway, but something about the content and the style was so samey. Just a bit off somehow.

Yes I’ve seen multiple threads of the exact same scenario just with certain details tweaked. The current one about the tutor feels very ‘off’ doesn’t sound very natural at all when you read it.

It's difficult because sometimes I think someone's not genuine but I can't put my finger on anything they've done that specifically needs reporting. Like others have said, there's certain writing styles or topics that multiple usernames will have and they just "echo" each other. But if they're not doing anything against talk guidelines you can't do anything about it.

I have noticed that nearly every OP says "for context". It annoys me. It's all context.