Have you ever recognised anyone on MN?

[Starlight1979]

Just that really! Obviously I'm not after names or details 😂but curious to know if you've ever read a thread / post and thought "I know this person!"

I haven't but I always see people name changing so they're not outed and wondered how common it is actually is to be recognised on here?!

Yes, it was a 'how old do I look?' thread.

AND she lied about her age - adding 7 years on because people were guessing older than she was! 🤐

Once she told them her 'age' they all said she looked younger and she seemed very pleased, but God knows what the point of it was??

Yes, a sibling. Just as up their own arse as in real life.

Distant family member posted a picture of their pet that I had seen on FB earlier that day.

Yes. I recognised my ex best friend as she was going through what seemed like a self destruct phrase. A result of childhood trauma that would cause anyone to have issues.

I had previously become her kicking ball and, much as it broke my heart, had distanced myself to protect my children and I.
Her life really fell apart, including breakdown of her marriage, losing her home, getting criminal convictions, children removed by social services etc. It was a domino effect of one poor (unwell) decision after another.

It was a few years ago and I have no idea how she is now. But I still have moments where my emotional brain feels sad and wrong for distancing myself, even though my logic brain knows I couldn't subject my children to it all, and I probably wouldn't have been able to make any difference to the fallout anyway. I really hope she is well now, safe and happy, and reunited with her children.

Yes, although only people I knew were on MN already.

Oh no that is really cringy! Do you still see her and do you just wonder "why" every time you see her?

Yes, because she has posted photos of herself and her pets. I’ve realised what a nasty person she is when I’ve read her posts slagging off work colleagues, friends, family, even talking about patients at work in a negative way. She’s a complete attention seeker and likes to think she’s a queen bee on certain boards.

I was recognised by someone, and although it was a potentially sensitive and fraught situation as I didn't know them in real life, it was due to a past mutual connection, we had a very pleasant and mutually supportive private message exchange. It hasn't gone anywhere IRL but it was very lovely in the moment.

Yes, she posted a similar thing to Facebook as she had posted on MN. I went back to the post and the user name was a nickname that is common for her first name and the number matched her birth year. As I looked into more of her posts, job matched, a scenario she was in in real life matched…it was her.

Yes, the mum of a girl in my DS class at school. It's definitely her - she posted a photo of her unusual dog, plus she's commented on several threads about our school over the years. She always exaggerates her DDs achievements on here!

I have a fb .friend who posts on here, we are in an interest group but she also posts stuff on her fb that she posts about on here.

I’ve recognised multiple people, and it’s the reason why I won’t start a thread about ANYTHING. Mn hates a post where someone is being vague about something, especially when they refuse to mention even their partners hobby etc, but I have recognised people on such the smallest, most ridiculous detail. When you’ve got access to past posts, it’s not hard to piece together who someone is if they’ve posted something even vaguely familiar

Someone who'd posted the same basic post on Facebook, but then added a lot more personal details on here as it was anonymous. It was regarding a SEN issue and school.

I reached out in real life, as I have experienced this with my DC, but hadn't realised the extent of what they were going through, so it was a good thing really.

They change names regularly on here anyway, but it was a gentle reminder to me to make sure I do as well.

I am now worried that I’ve never recognised anyone on here. Am I oblivious? Do I have no friends? 😬

Yes someone posted someone’s insta, properly outed (I didn’t know them personally but anyone could find/see them.

Yes, my mum. But she also told me about MN because she was sick of me asking her so may questions with my PFB. She said to look it up on here and if I’m still unsure then I can call her 😭. She was asking about a new hoover and then she just got the shark one she was going to get anyway.

I've often read posts and seen posters who really really could be me... but are not.

Gawd no. I wouldn't want to. If I did then I'd get super paranoid loads of people were recognising me and I'd probably stop posting as much. If at all!

Oh no!! How embarrassing!

Yes, someone through work with a very specific situation. It was one of those that I think people thought was actually made up because it was so ridiculous, but it was actually true. Nothing stranger than real life!!

Me neither @Igmum !

Yes when I searched my village name - someone was posting and the username was chatting and the 1st part of their name. The details tallied with their real life dcs and other stuff. Think they put their dcs name in..

Yes, someone identified me (I think) some years ago (different username name) and because of the unusual situation I was talking about- their private DM to me gave me information I which I didn’t know and wouldn’t have known without that (horrible to find out ) - I owe that person a large glass of wine!

I think I recognised my former SIL before, though there’s still a chance it could have been someone else. I certainly wasn’t going to AS the username and read everything she’d ever posted to be sure and I can’t even remember what the username was now.

Somebody recognised me once, but only because they live in my local area and a couple of details made it obvious. They don’t know me more than in passing, and I don’t post anything which would make me unhappy to be identified by anyone.

To be fair, she posted a full length photo of herself, so there was a very high chance of someone recognising her!