To think that all these ‘to think that’ posts are bloody annoying?

[Scooterb]

The past week every single few hours:

“to think that (insert something that’ll get people throthed up- IE people living on credit cards / spending money on weddings / kids using screen time”

has anyone else noticed? User name is always 3 words, usually with one word as a colour.

is it a bot?
it’s so annoying!

I hear you. It certainly doesn't feel authentic.

YANBU

It's been going on a few weeks now and it's tiresome.

Especially one that starts threads with 'To think that all people are XYZ'.

So clickbaity.

Glad it’s not just me! There’s one currently on trending about credit cards.

is it a bot or AI do we think?

I see there is currently one on "to think that" posts.

It doesn't have to be a bot or AI (and if it is AI it needs a LOT of work). It's probably just some unimaginative gonk who's giving it all they've got - which is pitifully little. Best ignored really. If nobody fell for it there would pretty soon be no point.

I agree. I just hate seeing people give a lot of their time to something or get wound up when it’s just potentially some mean spirited person who just needs to get a hobby.
some of the stuff actually comes across quite woman/mother hating too so maybe it’s a man I don’t know.
glad I’m not the only one who’s noticed I thought I was going mad

I noticed it, they start the thread and never return.

I think the user name is auto generated but might be wrong, I noticed a lot of people with an animal and colour in the user name that seem to be a new user and post once.

What does ‘throthed’ mean? I’ve never heard the word and couldn’t find a meaning.

Frothed

A couple I looked at were deleted too which suggests not genuine.

If they can be detected as not genuine why does this not happen until we are 16 or so pages in, I wonder?

There's a lot about schools I've noticed at the minute, but yeah in general I don't believe most of the stuff I read on here at the minute

I assume it's MNHQ posting for clicks.

They always seem to get deleted eventually. The message for one was ‘previously banned poster’ so I’d guess it’s the same for the others.

To think that all these ‘to think that’ posts are bloody annoying?

Like this?

I reported a couple and they were deleted shortly after. Suggest people report posts if they are suspicious.

It's an AI. If you run some of the rare answers via checker it shows AI.
Same post structures etc.
Most stand, very few get deleted

I kind of assumed it was MN generating threads themselves but if they are being deleted, maybe not!

The site feels very sluggish at the moment, lots of threads are getting barely any engagement.

Agree re sluggish. Maybe everyone is out enjoying the nice weather or helping revision for their DC's maths GCSE.

Mine has his coming up. Does he want any help from his mum? No. Possibly after we had a falling out because he insisted on using the quadratic formula and reverse-engineering the answers instead of factorising quadratics like a normal person.

Also he can't go out and enjoy the nice weather because he's 'revising'. Nor can he tidy the books all over his floor because that's his 'system'. Gah. Roll on July.

Glad it's not just me noticing this! The username is nearly always new, and as you say, it always features a colour, and sometimes an animal (eg ThisJadeNewt, or ThisOpalAntelope etc....) Nearly always goady, froth-inducing, controversial etc... No idea if it's a bot, or if it's someone who just enjoys creating debates. But why the new username, almost every time? It's like, every day now!

As has been said, these weird 3 word names (MyEmeraldOctopus etc,) are suggested usernames when you join. But why is this individual creating new accounts all the time? Just keep the same account and make up new usernames on the existing account.

I do see some of these threads deleted, but some others do remain.

It's odd that MN would be targeted with fairly bland AI posts when it's not monetised. That's what's ruined Facebook and twitter with bots, because engagement farming is lucrative.

Trolling MN to whip up froth about immigrants or whatever makes sense from political actors.

AI generating boring threads on a non-monetised site. Why?

Seems like several posts often get made on a similar topic or theme at the same time, sort of seems like someone is trying to teach AI what works on forums, very dull threads.

It’s either bots or Mumsnet using fake posts to drive up engagement with topics that will make people argue. It’s incredibly annoying.

I really don’t think it’s MN because when reported, these threads usually get deleted.