dear mn hq why is a government department posting on mn

[Sevenfold]

here

You know I don't have the same problem with the Big Cheese threads

i think for me it just amkes MN feel like a sub division of YOUGOV now. Also there is a crucial if subtle difference between knwoing you are ebing read and having it stamped upon you in great big boots, IYSWIM?

I'd rather they were upfront as they have been (if indeed that's who they are) than register with an anonymous name and post as though they are just an ordinary member of the public. That would be creepy

And yes what mary says.

if I post anythinga bout my speciality I make sure they know exactly what my quals are, and am happy to say where I am absed, etc if asked.

And I certainly would never set up myself up with a username saying what that was.

How very disturbing! Not sure I can put into words why I am disturbed....but I am!

peachy that's it!

I quite like it. If the poster is genuinely a government bod then at least we're hearing it from the horses mouth rather than a random collection of experiences.

So how come they were silent on a thread about benefits the other day when I and other carers were panicking ourselves trying to work out if any carer support remained under new TC / UC rules?

If it's information they can bloody well be generous with it, otherwise it's propaganda.

If you imagine what you get from the govt is more true than the experiences of people actually living with the results of policies, you've got other problems, Alouisee.

Another complete misinformation story at the weekend about GPs "no longer signing off long term sick". Well that's nice. Only, they haven't done so for years.

So no change needed after all.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
The Party always apreciates input from the Proles.

PMSL Ministry

perhaps they are trying to reach out to people and help them?

Marz put it well

Ah yes Alouisee - because people on the Internet are always who they say they are and always tell the truth. Like the arseholes who drip feed inaccurate "facts" to the likes of the DM. After all if it's a Govt department then it MUST be true eh?

I am sure that the Government department involved are exactly who they say they are and are only trying to help fulfil the remit of Mumsnet - making parents' lives easier

peachy I imagine if you are genuinely posting as the DfE there are quite clear limits as to what you can post... I don't think engaging in debate on highly emotive topics would be allowed. Far too provocative and too easily picked up by the papers. Quite unethical too I think. As far as I can see those posts are only offering advice on helpline numbers and not really offering an opinion.

they could be anyone, but if not surely thay have had to ask mn hq if they can advertise freely on mn

If they are who they say they are??

Anyway, as others have said, they'll be reading it anyway. I'd rather they were open about it - they may be able to be of some use and if not will see what the general public really think about things. I can't see why anyone is bothered about it.

Perhaps Hecaye

But why should they get that for free in that way when a business owner posts their information and gets deleted?

Why should they be able to sell teh stuff they like (eg the 'listening') and let the threads on changes to welfare go unanswered?

Crucially, did MNHQ agree to it? For some reason that matters to me. I am not sure why but it does. State sponsored board over independent talkboard I guess.

And YY to teh crap government likes to feed the media with anyway.

Also, if they put stuff on ehre have they ticked their box that says 'public dissemination'? because this reaches what, 1% of people at a generous push? What about all the people without access to PC whose taxes are being spent on looking good and pro-active to a niche MC eduated market?

My head hurts.

Don't the government now base all their family/social policies around what mumsnetters say? 'We' seem to be asked to contribute to a lot of stupid surveys or questionnairs. I hate this so called collaborative government stuff. They will do what they want and are merely looking for opinion to back up what they already have planned.

I think MNHQ could have at least informed us that this was going to happen

There was a (now deleted) thread last week that looked like it was trying to gather opinion about private health insurance as a replacement for the NHS, or potentially form opinion on same.

I'm expecting to see more and more attempts at using MN in more manipulatlve ways as departments become more adept at using non-traditional media. They'll be joining the commercial spam, but selling policies instead of products.

They don;t bloody abse it on what I have to say DF. They should though.

Meh.

I'm sure the dept of health can advise you on steps to take to eradicate that headache Peachy