to think most MN members would like to be able to click on any given username and see when they joined the site and how many posts they've made?

[LindorDoubleChoc]

It would be an easily added helpful tool in assessing - for those who care - who might be a troll or other type of fake (say AI) poster.

I has been in operation for years on other forums I use, along with no name changing without quite a convoluted process of emailing and asking permission and giving reasons.

I'm sure HQ are never going to modify the name changing facility now, but maybe they would listen if there was enough feeling in favour of establishing some sort of poster history (albeit quite minor) on the site?

Please vote! Thank you.

IT'S NOT ABOUT NAME CHANGING.

Honestly I’m not bothered. And anyway, there’s no foolproof way of knowing anything when you use internet forums.

Dunno, I’ve literally never wondered or felt the need to find out who’s who and how long they’ve been around, but can see why others might.

Well then don't, if they seem like a troll report and move on. I like the anonymity of MN.

19 years. Trolling has always been an issue but AI is new.

I'm not bothered if I post on a thread of a troll. I either feel I have something to offer or not. I hope it is also useful to others.

SO WHY MENTION NAME CHANGING?

In answer to your other questions no I don't care how long people have been posting, literally means nothing to me.

So you think that someone that joined last week that needs help with pfb having a temperature or DV or as in my case the very sudden death of a partner or something less worrying like the best way to get stains out of clothing , which vac to buy , what book to read .

All of them and the 1000s of others should be treated with scepticism?

I haven’t seen an influx of AI threads. Do you have any examples?

I change my name every six months and I've been here for about 15 years. This is because of my work and my personal life: I don't want to be outed.

No. It’s easy enough to spot an AI thread once you get used to them.

I think that it would be fine to have something saying:
member since 2016, 684 posts. I name change all the time. I don’t want someone I know reading what I’ve put online. I wouldn’t care though if someone knew when I joined and how many posts I’d made, so long as they couldn’t see the posts that were made under different names.

I name change a lot because I’ve put a lot of identifying information on here. If someone could do that, I know somebody who knew me would recognise me very easily because things that have happened to me have been very specific.

So, no I would leave mumsnet if they introduced that feature because the whole point of mumsnet is it is largely anonymous.

Surely that is troll hunting, and not allowed?

I also think even if the feature told you the number of posts somebody has written/replied to it would leave people vulnerable to either being called a troll unfairly or being told they have no life because they post too frequently. Mumsnet can be unkind enough at times.

I’d be all for year of joining, there’s lots of us who have been here for getting on to 20 years which in itself is wild 😂

Fuck losing name changes though, it’s one of the absolute best things about the site!

I think I joined in 2006, can’t remember.

But I was on ‘the list’ if anyone remembers that, so it might not look like I’ve been a member as long as I had to re- register with a different email.

This comes up periodically. It's a bad idea, and the reason they don't do it is because on a site with this level of usage, there needs to be as little identifying information as possible. People will be recognisable by their joining date and rough post numbers.

So it's never going to happen.

I think some people would still try and track with you, based on year of joining and number of posts.

I think MNHQ doesn’t want to go back to the days of cliques.

I can just imagine posters saying ‘check my profile, don’t you know who I am, I have been here since 2003!’

The most that could realistically be done is something very vague like been a member for at least 1 year, 6 months or whatever figure they want to use, and has made at least 500 posts. Or similar. Some threshold that makes it unlikely the person is a troll, unless a particularly dedicated and forward planning one.

@LindorDoubleChoc I'd have no problem with that. I participate less and less of late because I suspect so many posts these days. My #1 complaint about MN is that they aren't doing enough on this front - tackling fake posters and time wasters. I have been happy to provide ID and/or paid membership to get verified status on several sites and the benefits are enormous imho - it has a huge impact on minimising fake or spurious/pop-up accounts making antagonistic/inflammatory/time wasting posts - as a consequence - I spent more time on those sites and participate far more.

I’m not really that interested tbh.

No partly because I’ve been here far too long and posted a ridiculous number of times. It means nothing though I could be a paragon of wisdom or some sort of poo troll.

No thanks.

I like that I never know who I'm chatting to. Someone oldschool/someone new/someone I debated fiercely with years ago, but then we might agree perfectly on some topics. I like that we don't know anyone's history and therefore have to take them totally on face value on a particular thread.

Eh, naw. Trust my own judgement on spotting trolls, AI etc n canny be arsed doing a full DBS search on posters.