AIBU in suspecting that MN start threads to increase site traffic

[Newbutoldfather]

When I first looked at MN, the best part of 20 years ago, the popular threads were on parenting, health, FWR and a couple of others. And there were loads of posters!

Now there seem to be fewer posters and the ‘normal’ type threads that were the stock-in-trade of MN seem to get little traction. I think AI has had a role here. Many of those questions are well answered by an AI query.

OTOH, there are a lot of ‘exciting’ threads started where the OP contributes relatively little for a few hours and then disappears, and they keep going until often full. Sometimes they are deleted later. There are at least two that I contributed to early now which are still going.

Of course there are loads of genuine trolls (if that isn’t a contradiction in terms!) but it’s also great for MN, increases the value of advertising and, if the site is for sale, will increase the value.

Of course, maybe they are all trolls, but Occam’s razor kind of says that it wouldn’t be hard for employees of MN to quietly and anonymously start these threads which are very helpful for the site.

Of course we can never know the answer, but it is odd.

Oh I am not saying there aren’t trolls, there definitely is and way more than there used to be! But when I post a thread, I always put as detailed of an initial post as I can, so that I don’t get accused of drip feeding later. I also will engage with as many post as I have time to but I’m also a single parent and have a life! So I can’t sit there on the thread all day or all evening, I have things to do. I do come back when I can though.

I recently posted a thread under a different username which is still going (slowly as not much to update at mo!) and as it was initially a relatively infuriating situation, I had troll hunters in the beginning.
I’ve also posted before about a deeply personal situation (about 10 years ago) with an old MN account and was troll hunted so much that I never returned to the thread and deleted my account completely. None of what I’d posted was untrue and was still trying to come to terms with it myself, but the volume of nastiness I got that day from those declaring me a troll, was so vicious and ill never ever forget it. It was almost as if the troll hunting was being used as an excuse to bully and pile onto me.
So yeah, my point is that whilst there’s definitely wayyyy more trolls than there used to be, I think many genuine posters are being incorrectly declared as trolls which to me, is just as bloody bad!

They probably do.
It's a business. They are going to do what makes money.

I remember when they started they did loads.

How do you know they’re a ‘troll?’ Because you’ve just decided that they aren’t genuine? Why? Because they have a different opinion to you? Or have acted a different way than you would in a certain scenario?

I would like to think it’s increased AI because fuck me so many posters seem stupid these days. It’s not spelling or grammar which can easily be mistyped but basic comprehension skills that are lacking.

I think the site is quieter with fewer genuine posters because a lot of people are asking AI instead of posting on MN.

I avoid creating threads now because of the sheer amount of posters who are condescending/contrary/obtuse - we all know the ones!

Every sentence is picked apart to find something that can either be twisted or misinterpreted to make paint the OP in a bad light. “Interesting choice of phrase there, OP. You hate older women, no?”

Or if the OP has dared to make a SPAG error, there’s all of the “I don’t understand” and “I’m confused” responses. And all the accusatory responses “You say you’re an English teacher but I find that hard to believe as you’ve used the incorrect spelling of x word and missed a comma in sentence five in your OP. And when you created a thread six years ago, you said you worked at Tesco”.

I’ve been lurking on MN for maybe 10-12 years now and I’ve definitely noticed an increase in MN who are absolutely batshit in their responses. It’s hard work even reading the replies lately never mind having the guts to create a post so I think there probably are a lot of fake posts by people just wanting to create a drama.

100% agree with this - happens all the time and not just on AIBU.

@Eudaimonia11

So many responses are obtuse or contrary now & so many posters seem to want an argument & repeatedly misconstrue what posters say. I find it more boring because I actually don’t want argue.

I think the standard of literacy is much higher on here than on, for example FB, which makes me suspect AI has had a hand. The content is still often weird, stilted, lacking real insight, with no ability to calmy debate and engage with others, or understanding of nuance, but the standard of writing is, on the surface at least, better than it used to be. People who are frothing at the mouth about some unimaginable slight or personal situation or immigrants or trans in toilets or whatever topic is hot today are invariably barely literate on other SM sites but on here (and Reddit) the opposite applies.

I don’t use FB or similar so can’t compare but I do find the lack of nuance, comprehension really odd. I don’t remember that a decade ago. I have just started using Reddit though but not posted.

Don’t know, but the DM grab threads from here. And this site is known as MumNuts. 🤷‍♀️

Guilty of that.

Nothing wrong with that just evidence that the user base is older

Ha,ha. Yeah me too. Just quoted 'This Life' elsewhere and felt very old (1996 ffs).

The activity of bots online is impacting all comment and forum sites. There are predictions that put the activity of bot posting at 50% across all of these types of sites. It is impossible to tell how much MN is affected by this but all comment and chat sites are impacted.

The origin of the bots is often politically motivated.

Yes.

It used to be ‘I told DH and he says…’
now it’s ChatGPT.

@beigepaints
I really like Reddit but very much use it as a place to discuss niche topics. It doesn't feel overwhelmingly weird once you get your list of 'joined' communities set up, there's no newsfeed type thing and you can block the obvious trolls/numpties.

YANBU. I have been on here for everrrrr. (Name change very regularly). Everything that makes money gets enshittified in the end. In fact it would be odd if the staff weren’t feeding the threads to increase engagement but I’m definitely suspicious of loads of them now.
I just can’t imagine a woman wanting input in to some of the stuff that gets posted. I don’t care that much because subsequent posts on the dodgy threads are genuine seeming and the topic might be interesting.

Definitely a lot more middle aged women than parents of young children now.

Which is OK but does suggest the concept has had its day.

I think that is either people seeing a thread that reminds them of a similar situation that happened to them or people making up a similar thread rather than MN itself.

The name of the op here suggests some (lots?) of men too? When MN first arrived, I never even wandered in for a reccy as I didn't have children. It just never crossed my mind it'd be relevant. Now, i suspect a lot of men are on here too, some to make mischief of some sort, others, like the op, maybe not but who knows.

Yes, I agree with this and the AMAs used to be genuinely interesting (to me). Now I just think how up your own arse would you have to be to start a thread saying 'I'm having an affair, AMA'.

Really, who gives a shit? It's obvious that it's just goady rage bait.

'AIBU: 'OMG I shagged the vicar'...it's no wonder this site has become a joke.
🤣

I think the AMA topic is odd in itself. It only arrived (unasked for as far as I know) a couple of years ago, and it always amazes me that anyone would be arrogant enough to start a thread in this topic. I did assume, when it was set up, that MNHQ wanted it because of the obvious possibilities of product-related AMAs.

I'd assumed they would do that openly, though. Perhaps I'm naive, but I find it hard to believe that they are prowling around undercover and creating threads themselves. Surely we the users are a prolific enough fountain of garbage?

Probably.

Justine said in an interview years ago that in the early days of MN she made lots of sock puppets to start threads and even talk to herself on threads to get the site going.

MN isn't as popular as it was. There are more similar websites now and the days of going on threads and recognising lots of names are gone.

It may have more traffic but that doesn't equal popularity, it's just the nature of social media now. Tonnes of traffic doesn't equal tonnes of dedicated users which is what made MN thrive in the 1st place.

It's just a business at the end of the day. It made the owners millionaires and they want to continue making that kind of money. And will do whatever it takes to make that happen.

I think the sharing of threads on FB is misguided. We all know it was never confidential anyway, but the risk of being outed on FB 'feels' much higher than on MN alone, so I suspect posters with some of the more interesting matters to discuss are more reluctant to share.