Do you think anyone from the government monitors mumsnet?

[nellodee]

This is in the Guardian today:

"A third cabinet source said: “There’s no exit plan at the moment because they don’t want to do anything without the boss’s say so. “Not a huge amount is going on in these cabinet meetings.”

The source added: “They are waiting for the public to change their minds.

“We didn’t want to go down this route in the first place – public and media pressure pushed the lockdown, we went with the science.

“The lockdown will only start coming loose when the public wants it to – not ministers.”

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Given Johnson has history of seeing "which way the crowd is running, then dashing in front", do you think anyone has the job of monitoring these forums to see what public opinion is on easing the lockdown?
And more tin foil hatty - do you think anyone on here is a shill, paid to try to nudge that opinion?

Definitely. 100%.

@ssd - definitely monitors, or definitely nudges as well?

Yes. Definitely.

Of course!
Not just MN.
But MN will be a particular source of public opinion that the Govt tracks.

Do I think people are monitoring Mumsnet on behalf of the government? Errrm no

What do you mean by nudges?

Both. Why wouldn't there be? Mn is a huge site covering all the UK, it's an obvious place to get peoples opinions and to try to put certain opinions out there.

That can't be a surprise to anyone surely?

Nudges are the trolls we get with wild opinion see which ones take off

What, so the lockdown will be eased when the public wants it? Whatever happened to 'following the science'!

Yes, in amongst other spaces such as piston heads, digital spy, Twitter and Facebook primarily.

It won’t be Raab and Gove With covert Mumsnet accounts though obviously, just junior political analysts collating feedback and data.

Ooo, interesting thread. I’ve always wondered this too!

As I said on a previous thread, the government is waiting for business to make the decisions. For example large fastfood chains beginning to re open with systems in place for social distancing.
Boris is a populist, he won't want to make the hard decisions because he might upset his fan base.

Fucking hell you think they’re monitoring Piston Heads??!! But why would they be doing such benign shit as that when there are a trillion more important things to be doing right now 🤦🏻‍♀️

“We didn’t want to go down this route in the first place – public and media pressure pushed the lockdown, we went with the science.”

Are they for real? So how many people did they not mind dying?

If this is representative of the government’s view as a whole then I can’t see them getting out of this via serious testing and contact tracing as they clearly are not bothered ?

I don't think this is beyond the realms of possibility. Several times I have seen issues raised on threads here which have then been addressed by the press or the government very shortly afterwards. It could be a coincidence, but monitoring public opinion is important to TPTB. How many people are members of Mumsnet and other forums? It's a good slice of particular demographics with a wide range of opinions and personal anecdotes that may be useful to analyse. We have the technology......

Possibly, but MN wouldn’t be top of the list. The site was taken seriously a decade ago, but not now it’s mainly known for the batshit that the tabloids (print and telly) lift

MN has so many threads on every aspect of the pandemic that some are bound to occasionally chime with policy thinking,

… no.

Boris has already said that he wants to set up a internet army based on the Israeli model to target “disinformation”.
He’s been quite open about it.
If it is based on the Israeli model it will include sock puppet accounts that argue and debate online pushing his agenda.
Boris already had groups like this pre election that comment online on Mail online etc.
They don’t just follow online opinions, they attempt to direct it.
This is part of our political landscape now and it’s a global problem.
See the Trump campaign and the amount of bots pushing pro Trump opinion online.

Yes they definitely have accounts on mumsnet 100%

Probably and also monitor many other media forums and comments under news stories.

But I think people are over estimating how important mumsnet would be in it all.

I don't see a problem with it and governments have been monitering public mood in various ways for centuries.

Are they for real? So how many people did they not mind dying

The lock down isnt to stop people dying, it's to slow down the spread of the virus so that the health service isn't overwhelmed all at once

Almost certainly.

We aren't screaming into the ether here.
Public opinion is absolutely crucial to strategic success - which is why I keep screaming. 😉

I'd imagine so, somewhere. It'll be useful along with lots of other things for gaging public opinion.

sock puppet accounts that argue and debate online pushing his agenda.
Boris already had groups like this pre election that comment online on Mail online etc.

This is not monitering. Its influencing. Two completely different things. I doubt what you're saying is true

They don’t just follow online opinions, they attempt to direct it.
This is part of our political landscape now and it’s a global problem.

The argument against this is that the civil service and security service does not change with each newly elected government. It's body basically remains the same and is made up of thousands of people, all with differing political opinions. Any attempt to break the law in this way would soon be noticed and whistle blown, which would be disastrous for any government. Why would government take such a huge risk?

Government won’t be “monitoring” sites but will have media monitoring agencies who give them daily breakdowns of media and social media coverage- an awful lot of large companies use such a service.

It won’t go into details such as “JaneMum2Two said she doesn’t like Gove’s tie” but will give the headlines of papers discussing particular government departments/projects, and associated online posting titles and links.

Given Johnson has history of seeing "which way the crowd is running, then dashing in front

Haha sums him up perfectly.

I'm not into conspiracy theories generally, but I do think there's some truth in the idea that Boris wasn't ill enough for hospital, and is now fine. Simply because it makes perfect sense to keep the bumbling persona out of the spotlight, let Gove, Hancock etc take the rap for all the shit decisions and then wheel Johnson back out in time for him to be a hero.

I hope a lot of Mumsnetters are paid government shills. Otherwise, they've actually managed to convince people that all that matters is that the NHS can cope. So what if we're headed for the highest death toll in Europe - as long as the NHS can cope

And don't get me started on herd immunity over suppression.