dear mn hq why is a government department posting on mn

[Sevenfold]

here

Thanks Seven, was about to do the same.

really feel uncomfortable with this.

And have they nothing better to do anyway?

If one is posting openly I think it is fair to assume DWP etc are reading all wetype.

Scary stuff.

And they said labour led a Police State!

Don't see why they shouldn't.

I am very as to whether that's official - v strict guidelines around posting 'official' advice etc on public chatrooms/websites. Pretty sure the Dept wouldn't fund a civil servant to sit about on MN, would they?

well I don't want a government department posting on a parenting site, they should have better things to do

Because they should have better things to do?

Becuase someone should be able to post here without feeling that they are being watched by the state- eg in the SN section?

Becuase they complained about Labour and CCTV yet read anonymous talkboards?

Have checked again & some of the links they've posted are indeed to official govt websites - how odd!

I reported the first one I cam across SGM, will report this

Looking at those posts they're all either useful basic information or requests for feedback. My knee jerk reaction would be that they shouldn't be wasting their time with us scruffy lot, but actually, bearing in mind that Mumsnet threads are often near the top of any search, it's not a bad way to get information into the hands of people who need it.

Yes

except that once you get into the realms of AIBU you are reading rants / people under stress etc rather than rational posts.

If I post that S1 was refused DLA last thing I bloody want would be a DWP bod turning up with a link t the appeals system

As a random example

And reminding people that this is not a private conversation, and that for every one poster there are one thousand lurkers reading over their shoulder, is not a bad thing - stopping them posting wouldn't stop them reading, it would just stop us remembering they're reading.

Quite SGM

Probably the first in a week where the LEA questioned DS3's statement funding though.

Difference is whois that most random readers son;t have GCHQ to work out who people really are

Which is possibly a little paranoid and not really why I objected but nevertheless

Is there a problem with them posting on here? Quite apart from the fact that I'm sure they've got more important things to do, this is a public forum and is probably quite widely read in Whitehall. If you don't want people reading certain things about yourself then don't post them on a public forum.

The thing is peachy, that regardless of the status of the actual poster, any thread about, say, DLA will be read by many many lurkers who find themselves in a similar situation, and there is real utility in having information on there.

I do understand why you might not fancy it, but them not posting wouldn't stop them reading - it's an entirely separate question.

I think that this is incredibly creepy and shows a total lack of self awareness on the part of whatever dreg is doing this. So, business as usual at Conservative HQ then.

As a government worker: we're constantly told to look for new and cheap ways of engaging with the public all the time, to find out what they think of policies and so on. The traditional alternatives are holding meetings and focus groups and running consultations - the former are expensive and often unrepresentative of the wider public, the latter can be expensive, risk not asking the right questions, and again don't always reach a representative section of the public.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Dept for Education has decided to try telling their comms team to go online and join in conversations, especially to do myth-busting. My dept have done similar, usually in mainstream newspapers and specialist magazines, but wouldn't be surprised if the weekly media coverage analysis now includes Mumsnet!

How Mumsnet confirm that DeptforEducation really does represent DfE is another question.

Oh, this is fascinating.

Hope we get some answers. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease. I think notcitrus is right.

Considering the amount of money govt spend on PR, spin and focus groups, etc, I'd think it very likely indeed people get told to come on here and "take the temperature". At the very least.

The big cheeses come on for web chats when they want us to vote for them, so they obviously think MN's worth the candle.

x-post with notcitrus who Really Knows.

We should all re-name ourselves as Cabinet ministers and post our opinions. Some of us could be Shadow Cabinet ministers and then we could have power struggles on AIBU.