To think there are way too many engagement farming threads on MN nowadays? s?

[MrMurphysComeuppance]

Do you know what an engagement farming thread is, and what the classic signs are to spot one? If not then you are probably being taken in on a daily basis on this forum by 'posters' who are not genuine about problems and dilemmas that are not real.

The site is absolutely awash with them. It's been a big issue for the last year or so and it really is getting ridiculous now. These 'posters' often start threads that can run for days and days with pages of responses, but after the initial OP and maybe one or two quick follow up posts, the 'OP' is nowhere to be seen. And they are always (or almost always) a first time poster/brand new user name. Even if they have posted on one or two other threads that day (very rare and only done occasionally to make the account look more genuine) they never have a proper posting history. There is a very good reason for this, which I can explain if anyone is interested.

Now I've been here a really long time and I name change often these days, for privacy reasons, but there is NO WAY I name change for every single thread I start and NO WAY I use a new name each and every time for my one thread only, without ever engaging on anyone else's threads using that same user name. Who on earth has time for that? That's just not normal forum behaviour. And yet that is what is happening on here, multiple times a day, across several accounts that only exist to generate fake threads and therefore traffic.

I can spot them a mile off now, they are so formulaic and predictable, but it really irritates me that so many posters are so gullible and get caught up in these long debates, giving their time and advice where is no genuine OP at the heart of it. You are being taken for suckers.

I can give you a detailed breakdown of what to look for in a probable engagement farming thread (or rage bait as they are often called, although they are often not always designed to get people in a rage, often just to spark long conversations and polarise opinion on a subject.)

MN is full of actual, intelligent human beings who are more than capable of starting interesting conversations by themselves. Or at least it used to be. Do we really need people/bots creating accounts then name changing several times a day to churn out fake thread after fake thread just to keep the clicks coming? It has massively dumbed down the site and no-one seems to care. Certainly the people who run the site don't seem to care, and why would they, when key strokes and clicks mean ££££?

How does an OP returning to a thread prove it's real?

There are shit tonnes of clearly made up threads where the OP engages throughout.

Some of them run into 2 or 3 thread sagas.

I couldn't possibly say.

It doesn't. But if the OP engages repeatedly throughout the whole thread then it's in all likelihood not the sort of thread I am talking about, even if it's made up.

This. I think for some posters they take mumsnet ver, very seriously. It is an important part of life to them and they get terribly upset about all kinds of stuff like OPs not updating, not taking advice etc. For most people it is a lighthearted forum that provoks a bit of discussion and is a way to waste couple of hours. I know I couldn't give a toss if something is real or not. I dont give it a second thought when I am not actually using mumsnet.

Do you think that the general IQ of posters on here is now so low that people are happy to perform like clapping seals when they know or strongly suspect that they are commenting on a completely made up scenario and an OP that isn't who they say they are?

If the answer to that is yes, then by all means we should have a sub-forum called Made Up Dilemmas - What Would You Do in This Scenario?

I'm sure it would be very popular and at least we'd be contributing in the full knowledge that it's hypothetical only and we aren't being taken for absolute mugs.

And we'd not be waiting around for the OP to come back with an update on her decision on how to proceed with her 'problem'.

Yeah, I understand you. Are they more often that not on the relationships board? Usually along the lines of,,,,,'I moved in with my BF after 6 months, he has 2 DC and he goes out to his hobbies 5 nights a week and is now starting a hobby where he is out of the house all Saturday, I asked if I could have a night out once a fortnight but he called me controlling as he expects me to stay in and look after his DC' . Obviously utter BS, no one is that fucking stupid. And of course they don't return to the thread.

Do you think that the general IQ of posters on here is now so low that people are happy to perform like clapping seals when they know or strongly suspect that they are commenting on a completely made up scenario and an OP that isn't who they say they are?

Well you clearly do, don't you? And I think you're being very insulting towards them now.

Because I clearly stated that many posters don't care, as they end up chatting and debating with other posters on the thread.

Not everyone cares as much as you, seriously.

What’s the point of engagement farming if you don’t earn karma or whatever?

Once the thread has taken on legs, the OP doesn't come back. Their job is done and they've moved on to a different thread under a different name.

Assuming you're talking about my husband is having an affair-type thread and it's not a Russian bot/malevolent actor trying to sow discontent in the UK for political motives, who are you suggesting an OP has done this 'job' for?

Clue 3: The language and writing style. There is often (not always but often) something very similar in writing style about many of these threads. They read like someone writing a story. Almost as if they are relating their account of what happened to a magazine journalist who is putting it into a feature article in Take A Break or something.

The OP is often quite long winded, loads of sometimes unnecessary detail, can use quite flowery language and yet can be weirdly lacking in real emotion, even when you'd expect it given the subject matter.

Lots or repeated use of certain phrases, like 'for context...' and 'I just don't know what to do.' Or my favourite, 'now here's where I am struggling.' then dropping in some outrageous game-changing detail about her MIL or her DH or whoever.

But any subsequent posts (of which there will not be many) are brief and low on detail, just so that it doesn't look like a 'plop and run' thread. Which it is.

I think the bulk of these OPs are written by AI then tweaked by a human to make them less formulaic and more relevant to the UK. But sometimes they slip up and say things which don't make sense, because (for example) AI doesn't realise that people in Spain have a free at the point of use national health system, instead of needing private medical insurance. Or they talk about a foreign holiday with the teenagers and forget that it's in the middle of term time, or some other boo-boo that outs it as nonsense.

There was one a while ago where the long, detailed OP made perfect sense in English but then the next two or three subsequent posts went all weird, like the OP was suddenly foreign and even then, was writing complete gobbledegook.

It was suss as hell but funnily enough, the OP never came back to explain the glitch in the matrix....

I have some theories....

Over a quarter of a century ago and a whole different world, how is that relevant today?

I don't subscribe to the theory that MN staffers spend their days making up threads but I do agree that other people do

Well I'd have hoped they'd have moved on from that now - at least from doing it in person. 😂I understand needs must, in the early days of getting a new forum going. No-one wants tumbleweed. But this is MN. It's massive. An institution. We don't need this sort of crap on here. It's cynical and disrepectful.

Yes, that's exactly my point.

Post and run threads have been going on since internet forums began.

So in a nutshell what the OP is using a million words to say is, "It's going on a bit more now".

Checking to see if an OP comes back before posting on their thread doesn't mean it's real.

And obviously people can check for posting history but given the amount of name changing, that means nothing either.

Do you think Apple thinks they've sold enough phones so there's no point in making anymore? Mumsnet is a business, they are always going to try and grow it.

And yet it's not going away.

And as always none of us are forced to post here.

given the amount of name changing, that means nothing either
Exactly and OP says they name change often too

It's not paranoia. It's common practice on forums or other social media platforms that rely on advertising for their revenue. Mumsnet have never tried to hide that they generate a lot of the thread. If they were, this thread would have gone ages ago!

Seriously? I just dont get this. Why are you waiting around on OPs coming back with an update. Maybe you need to step back from your Internet usage of you are letting it get to you that much. Most people will read, maybe post and then get on with real life and not give ut a second thought.

I thought it was going to be about farmers looking for romance 😅

Well, go on then... now you're engaging me further!

Am I the only person who thought you meant posts about farmers getting engaged ??? … genuinely thought that’s what you meant.

I just presume that mumsnet employ people to make stuff up. It is a business after all.

False advertising in that case 🤷‍♀️

You're not wrong, @MrMurphysComeuppance

If we're happy to agree it's not MN themselves who do it to increase traffic, then for my money it is political, despite not being political in content.

A great deal of public discourse in the last 20 years has been about promoting polarisation and intolerance of anyone who disagrees with our own viewpoint.

It's important people understand this so that they can check themselves before they get sucked into polarised debate in all kinds of contexts.

It's the meaning behind my username, funnily (though I also name change a lot).