mn hq, can we have an explanation - jess - and maybe re other trolls in future?

[wannaBe]

I am aware that you can't divulge the means by which you determine whether or not a poster is genuine, predominantly because if you make that common knowledge then posters will know how to avoid being detected in the future.

but jess (long ongoing eleven weeks abortion threads) threads have now been deleted for being a troll, and I was wondering if, given it's the site users who usually report these things, we could perhaps have a bit more by way of explanation?

e.g. when sassysusan was banned, mn hq confirmed that she had previously posted as washwithcare, and users were able to identify.

There has been some speculation that jess was dizzymare, and I wondered whether this was the case?

Also, these threads have been ongoing for over a month now. How is it that it takes quite this long to determine that someone isn't actually all they seem?

@Thumbwitch

Mary, that's actually why I think that one was so funny - because it was an extreme form of real bridezilla types!

Agreed, intention is a big part of it. And getting people's emotional involvement going is never good.

HelenMN - please don't delete the entire thread, just the comments that talk about "how to spot trolls" - no point throwing the baby out with the bathwater, is there?

OK, but we'll need those who posted about "how to spot trolls" to report their own posts to us for withdrawal please.

We have no other grounds for deletion really, do we?

What is wrong with how to spot a troll anyway?

Why do we have to take everything at face value?

We don't in real life.

When people are sharing really personal experiences and arranging RL meet ups it's a bit more serious Hully

Its vile everlong.
Its hardly ever someone who knew the deceased. I know that doesnt make it better though.

Hully when you have had the experience of the loss of a child/children and someone comes onto the thread saying they have lost a child you tend to try to help I dont understand why you find that difficult to 'get.' Each time they post about their feelings and emotions it takes you 100 steps backwards and you remember things that you had tried to lock away in the back of your memory. OK, in hindsight, when one or more of the posters are found to be not bereaved, the initial feeling is 'how could I have been fooled again?' Then comes massive anger.

I would help anyone if they had lost a precious child....I used to be very easily fooled on MN but that is not the case anymore.

Hully - 'more fool who?

Agghhhhhh huge apologies. Should have read the thread indeed. I was assuming it was the usual trolling nonsense, not that sort of thing at all.

I'm not sure if Jess was angling for a meet up, but in her PM she said she lived in Uxbridge and mentioned other chit chat which didn't really require a response, and since I didn't live nearby I didn't reply. I think if she'd been near me, I would certainly have offered her baby stuff to help her out and possibly even taken my kids to drop it off, since I couldn't leave them home alone. Things like this are scary and I do feel 'alerted' as it were.

OK I've missed a bit was Zeebrugge a troll then?
And is mumsnet moderated now? I've seen people posting that it is and just assumed they were newbies
Ta

Hully - you might not take everyone/thing at face value in RL, but there are people who do. And they are the ones who might get hurt by trolls on the internet. telling them to stop being foolish is perhaps akin to telling them to stop being generous, or thoughtful, or some other random character trait that they have had their whole life - it might not be possible for them.

And the "how to spot a troll" posts need to go so that trolls don't learn from them and make themselves harder to spot. But you know this.

Everlong - that's appalling :(. Sick, sick people - like the ones who deface graves as well. Just wrong in the head.

We need more words for the different types of things.

I saw that on tv everlong. I had no idea these creatures were organised. Some of them trying to justify it by saying they were taking a stand against public shows of emotion or somthing.
Because a parent with a website for their child is exactly the same as a bunch of hysterical 'fan's weeping outside a celeb's flat

xposted Hully - sorry.

[quote lissielou]starlight, I have never thought you were a troll. in fact, 98% of posters, I believe wholeheartedly. however, there is just something that gets me ing. a gut feeling that wont go away no matter how much I quash it. and whenever I see a thread by them I get a knot in my stomach. I make deals with myself "if this happens, I might mention to another poster with a better trolldar that I am having doubts" "if this happens I will email HQ" "If this happens I will comment on their thread"

Please, please, please - report to us, as soon as you have any ing or gut feelings at all.

We don't mind people being completely and utterly wrong - honest. We don't hold it against you or have MNHQ mugshots of 'people who are forever calling troll'.

We are properly, genuinely grateful for each report. The more you tell us - even assuming that some of the reports will be mistaken - the more likely it is that we'll be able to deal with the people who really are trolling.

no no thumb

mea culpa

Oh, me quote facility went awry

everlong that's awful. A similar thing happened when my friend was killed in a motorcycle accident a few years ago - people were coming on to his FB page and saying some really sick things and making sick jokes. The worst thing was no one could get in to it to change his privacy settings, so there were many emails sent back and forth to FBHQ before it got sorted. :( So sorry about your DS.

"WHY DOES ANYONE CARE?"

To an extent I agree with you Hully - I have posted on trolly threads (for example on the Mozhe thread) but don't generally feel personally involved, I give whatever support/advice I can but don't take it personally if either the OP doesn't want to take that advice or even may be lying through their teeth.

But sometimes you can't help it - if its something you have direct experience of and you empathise based on what you have been through its hard sometimes to take a step back and it can get quite upsetting. I have been upset by some of the things people have had to say on the adoption boards, presumably MNHQ do try to make Mumsnet a reasonably pleasant environment for the users and that includes putting a stop to trolls where they can.

I like the minimally moderated approach but appreciate that people cannot post whatever they like, even a total pack of lies, without some degree of policing. It's the difference between minimal moderation and no moderation.