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See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

dear mn hq, please could something be done about the anti sn posts on mn

410 replies

2shoes · 10/09/2011 23:45

as I know you are aware(I have the emails) people from the sn community have left this week, due to the vile things that have been said to the/or about SN.
isn't it time that mn hq took some steps to eradicate this, as you do with trolls? surely disablist/anti sn/ personal attacks should be deleted and something done about the posters.
or do we just keep loosing well informed, SN educated people from mn.
(no I can't link to a thread as there has been too many)

OP posts:
UsingMainlySpoons · 13/09/2011 09:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Mouseface · 13/09/2011 10:10

Well said spoons Smile

I'm often far to wimpy to venture into AIBU, I know that most of the time I'll get confronted about my views, even if I or others try to explain them simplistically.

Sometimes I think 'can no-one see what I mean'? because the flow of a thread is going one way and you'd better not disrupt it or else!

wannaBe · 13/09/2011 10:12

Right have now read the entire thread as well as the threads that have inspired this one.

MN hq:

By saying that there weren't enough people to deal with the threads over the weekend you are IMO being disingenuous. If those threads had been posted about a racial issue, or a certain missing child who-must-not-be-named those threads would have been dealt with immediately. If someone had posted a thread and been slated for being black there's no way you would have left it until Monday and then come back with the reasoning that "sorry, we were busy over the weekend, we'll deal with it now," no way.

I am divided over the issue of whether offensive comments should be allowed to stand or not. On the one hand I can see the argument for letting posts stand that are offensive to show the point, but having said that, if mn hq then start deleting what they consider a personal attack (and I think that they need to be a tad less trigger happy on that score), and leave the offensive comments to stand then it creates the sense that challenging the offensive posts is more offensive than the posts themselves. It would be better IMO to delete comments but to be able to put a reason as to why the post was deleted. i.e. message deleted by mumsnet due to its disablist (sp?) nature. or Message deleted by mumsnet as considered to be a personal attack. People might then consider what they were posting if they thought that they would be labelled as disablist (or racist, or any other reason why posts might be deleted) on their deleted posts.

In terms of a hide poster option I am a moderator on a site where this feature exists and I can categorically state that it doesn't work because:

  1. it disrupts the flow of discussion on the topic. You can argue that people skip over the comments of the posters they don't like, and that is true to an extent, but there is a vast difference between that and actively not being able to see the comments and thus not having a full grasp of what the topic is about.
  1. You will get people that read the hidden posters' posts from outside the boards i.e. by not being logged in, but who will still come back on to make the point that they have x' posts hidden..
  1. it puts more of the onus on to the users to hide peoples' posts if they find them offensive (which is fair enough in some circs) and less on mn hq to actually do anything about them.
LeninGrad · 13/09/2011 10:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Mouseface · 13/09/2011 10:50

I've wanted a hide the poster for ages. I'd rather hide something that I personally find upsetting/annoying/utter bollocks and don't want to engage with, than hide a whole thread.

There are often posts here that make me think STFU and I'm sure that can be said of my posts too no doubt but I might be enjoying the thread in general.

Hide the poster button get's a thumbs up from me.

Original poster
2shoes · 13/09/2011 11:06

good post wannabe
although I do not like the idea of offensive or diablist posts being allowed to stay. but if you are going to leave them (as was done at the weekend) ffs don't come along and then delete the backlash.
also hide poster imo is a cop out.
if we had it it would just be another think that mn hq would make the offended person do, whilst the vile stuff stayed.

OP posts:
Peachy · 13/09/2011 11:12

'AIBU should be a place where you can get a reality check from MN posters, not a ghetto for the rude and willfully ignorant.
'

So true.

Easy to forget though.

And YY to 2shoes wrt to deletions; if someone is deliberately stirring, and MNHQ I am sure you know full bloody well that certain people do and they were on the benefits thread, why not let them get a sense of the frustration and anger they inspire? A few trolls will be fed of course but others might realise. Still delete individual words that are OTT, but leave most to stand.

Which is why I can't be an MNHA moderator: the response to report posts would often arrive as 'well if you would stop being a fuckwit then people wouldn't feel the need to call you on it would they?' Wink

Original poster
2shoes · 13/09/2011 11:20

"Having said that, whether posted by trolls or otherwise, we don't tolerate any unnecessarily abusive postings and would certainly ban anyone who was persistently doing this of kind of thing."

from the talk guide lines, that mn hq are always referring too, seeing as most of the posters who do this aren't banned.... what use are they?

as for AIBU why should it be a fight club, surely the same rules apply there as every where else.

OP posts:
Peachy · 13/09/2011 11:35

From AIBU header:
'Note: Please bear in mind that whilst this topic does canvass opinions, it is not a fight club

Original poster
2shoes · 13/09/2011 11:48

begs the question as to why people are then allowed to be so vile on there

OP posts:
Mouseface · 13/09/2011 12:00

Indeed 2shoes, indeed.

Original poster
2shoes · 13/09/2011 12:08

"Having a son with serious mental health problems, of course I feel tremendous empathy for people with special needs. The trouble is the definition of SN and the people who make the diagnosis.
In my experience, there are far too many people being wrongly "labelled" by inexperienced so-called professionals, when really all they need is a bit of parental discipline and a kick up the jacksy!"

here is a prime example, someone with form posting a comment that is meant to stir....
note the mention of a child with AD, so saying something back to a nasty post like this is more or less impossible and don't they know it, yet they have attacked a whole section of sn....

OP posts:
Peachy · 13/09/2011 12:13

I missed that.

But you know, unless they post me some research backing up thier opinion I am far less likely to accept their opinion of what is an incorrect dx than that of a qualified diagnostician.

In my own field I see far more undiagnosed children, some actively denied a dx by SENCOs etc unwilling to refer, than wrongly dx'd children- not that it is even vaguely possible to know if a dx is wrong or not in a single meeting or even run of them; ds1's asd is well documented but it takes 6 weeks or so of contact with someone (eg a new teacher) before he releases hoimself from the pressure to appear nt.

Mouseface · 13/09/2011 12:16

"Having a son with serious mental health problems, of course I feel tremendous empathy for people with special needs. The trouble is the definition of SN and the people who make the diagnosis.
In my experience, there are far too many people being wrongly "labelled" by inexperienced so-called professionals, when really all they need is a bit of parental discipline and a kick up the jacksy!"

What the actual fuck? What a thing to post!

Mouseface · 13/09/2011 12:18

Peachy - that's awful that DS1 feels that way. So he has to 'pretend' to be NT because of feeling pressurised. Sad

4madboys · 13/09/2011 12:24

that comment is unfortunatly on my thread Angry and i have just responded.

as for staying away from aibu? seriously, i cant believe someone would even think that was an answer!

ime the ignore poster function does work on other sites, again its down to personal preference tho, i am too nosy Blush but it could work for some :)

Peachy · 13/09/2011 12:26

Mouseface I know, currently talking to his Base about that as it caused a massive meltdown on saturday; they say most chidlren they get feel that way. Maybe he'd be less hitty etc if society could accept his little noises (even I draw he line at his sonic boom, hurts your ears!)?

wannaBe · 13/09/2011 12:32

I think that ibu has a lot to answer for and does not show mn in a good light at all.

On a site that is frequented by supposedly grown women I think it is shocking that there are sections where the onus is basically on the poster to not post in certain sections of the site if they don't want a pasting.

Ibu is seen as a free-for-all where posters are basically given permission to post what they like and if the op doesn't like it then they shouldn't have posted there... would you tell your kids not to go and play with the nasty bullies if they didn't want to be beaten up, and if they were beaten up then they shouldn't have been playing with those kids in the first place? no? then how is this diffeent exactly?

wannaBe · 13/09/2011 12:35

and yes, hide poster option would be used as a means to not deal with the issue, I can almost write the response "we like to encourage free speech, obviously if this upsets you we have the hide poster option..."

Mouseface · 13/09/2011 12:49

Not for me wannaBe, I'd use hide the poster simply to hide people who get right on my breasticles. Grin

There's not many, only one or two but they are out there! And I'm sure the same can be said about me.

WhollyGhost · 13/09/2011 12:59

I wouldn't use hide poster for truly offensive posts - I'd report them to MNHQ.

IME, as a moderator on a large forum, it does cut down on bickering. Instead of derailing threads with a lengthy tit-for-tat squabble, people write something along the lines of "that's all I have to say, I'm putting you on ignore".

People who just rub you up the wrong way
by not engaging in arguments and just cutting and pasting crap that supports their own POV
can simply be hidden.

I wouldn't want the people I have in mind to be moderated in any way, I'd just rather not see their tedious posts

garlicbutty · 13/09/2011 13:36

I take your points about AIBU not being a fight club. Perhaps it's difficult to know where to draw the line between 'provocation' and 'verbal assault'. It probably varies by individual. The posters being reviled here clearly are aiming to offend. Nonetheless, their opinions drew very worthwhile replies so they served as useful provocation, in context.

I never go on SN boards and would still be blissfully ignorant of most pressing issues you face, were it not for threads like these.

It's always useful to draw a RL comparison, I agree. If the ranting of the pub bigot annoys you, you can't just hide the bigot can you? You either have a go at them (reply) or move out of earshot (hide the thread).

I thought WannaBe made a very good argument about MNHQ hypocrisy inconsistent policy wrt deletions & bans.

UsingMainlySpoons · 13/09/2011 13:55

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Tortington · 13/09/2011 14:00

i think the aibu culture has permeated the whole of mn

its hard to go anytwhee without a pasting tbh.

i think i;m getting old becuase i'm tired of being pasted Grin

Original poster
2shoes · 13/09/2011 16:13

wow custy if you are old, that makes me decrepid.
your right about AIBU, chat used to be ok, but have noticed some really nasty stuff on there just of late. if I was at school I would call it bullying

OP posts: