Hide Poster (again!)

[UltraBOF]

Hide me, hide me!

I think that it's time to revisit the arguments for this again: the site is much bigger and full of wankers than it used to be, and there is a lot of unnecessary conflict. Given that civilian moderators have been discounted, and that the community team's workload is practically Dickensian, don't you think that anything which will reduce personal attacks and thus the need for deletions would be a good thing?

I understand that Justine is worried that threads "won't make sense", but given that a) people mostly talk shite anyway and fly off-topic (eg Larkers in the face of Po-some OPs etc); and b) the hide button would be individually activated by choice and not compulsory, I don't think this argument really holds water.

There are many posters mature enough to never need to shield themselves from the profoundly irritating, and some folk are naturally imbued with a zen-like calm in the face of fucknuggetry, but for the rest of us, please please please give us the option to simply never have to read the posts of people we know invariably get on our last nerve.

I am convinced that spats will reduce; people will participate more widely and constructively in threads, instead of having to hide them once their nemesis appears; goading will become much less sustained; and the bill to MNHQ for gin at weekends will be slashed to pre-2005 levels.

What's not to like?

Can we have a poll? Like we did for the last lot of changes?

If a poster makes a personal attack it gets deleted but some posters make comments that are spectacularly offensive but because they are aimed at a large group the comments remain. This is the type of poster I would like to hide.

For example, a while ago a poster suggested DC of SAHM are more likely to be subject to child abuse as the DM's are stuck with the DC's and would be better off being with childminders, who are at least regulated. It doesn't add anything to my life to have to read crap like that.

I don't think that's the point about newbies or people being attacked, ArterialMonkey.

At the moment, vile posts are challenged or reported by other posters, not just the OP.

So your personalised MN might not have the vile post, but real MN does. And it will now be left to stand, because the people who might have challenged or reported it don't see it.

OP may eventually work out Ignore Bellend, but nonetheless it feels like the other posters on the thread are condoning the bellend because they haven't challenged. And MN gets to look like the sort of site where vile statements go unchallenged.

Of course it depends what scale this happens on, as to whether it's a major problem.

Parsing, that's why I think it should be linked to report. I wouldn't hide posters based on one irritating post. I don't think anyone would. Posts would still be challenged.

And MN gets to look like the sort of site where vile statements go unchallenged.

Very good point.

The worry about letting vile posts go unchallenged means that everyone would have to hide the same people and that just wouldn't happen.

I wouldn't - and on the other site I use, don't - hide everyone who says something racist or sexist or disablist (my own personal bugbear). I challenge them.

Looking at my hide poster list on the other website, it contains the stoopid woman who always comes onto BF-ing chat to complain that there aren't any formula feeding cafe's A bloke who thinks he is more funny that he actually is and whose posts get on my tits and a couple of ex-mners who joined the site after being kicked off MN and are always slagging it off.

Its hardly a long list of the offensive. Just people I choose not to engage with.

I intend to beg and plead for this until the cows come home.

I had a really, seriously horrible day (crying/raging/general emotional instability)... and yes, I'm aware that makes me something approaching an oversensitive loon.

However, thats what I am, and I would like to be what I am and still be able to post here, because quite frankly I love the place, and it is 98% extremely helpful.

I have an extremely damaged past, think in messed up ways that may hurt/shock other people, and that they can find abhorrent. That leads them to then mock me in a way that I find too painful to bear for long without simply having to leave (which I'd really rather not do).

Hide poster would let me stay, protect myself, and still let everyone have their say.

Please Mumsnet. Pretty please!!!

ArterialSpurtMonkey
I don't think we're all going to hide all the same poster though

Ohh, I am not so sure

I'm really quite strongly opposed to a Hide Poster facility. My reasons have all been given by others on the first few pages.

I can go anywhere for a conversation with people who just want to agree with one another and ignore anything they don't like.

AIBU would be amusing, though. I would post wildly inflammatory threads, then hide every single respondent while continuing to post in a highly U manner. After a gazillion pages had been reached, I'd unhide them all and have a chuckle. I am easily amused, yes [hblush]

I still think an "Explode Poster" button would be fun.

If a set number (to be decided) of posters clicked it, the poster would spontaneously explode into a gazillion pieces and disappear [hopeful]

I'm with Mary about exploding posters. I'm not really keen on a Hide Poster function tho'.

Censorship.....

I don't think that this argument holds water at all:

'That people would misuse 'hide poster' so that they only had people who agreed with them left visible'

Or if it did, it would likely be a very tiny unreasonable minority anyway.

Consistently, everyone (including myself) who has said they would use 'hide poster' have said they would only use it for the one, two, or handful of posters who never add anything constructive at all, and simply consistently try to wind them up for sport (its pretty obvious when people are doing this.

These people are also usually just clever enough to duck under the MMHQ rules/guidelines enough to not get deleted, but still cause a lot of anguish deliberately (so report is not sufficient, nor quick enough).

The rest is just people fretting/imagining how other people would use it.

Its not censorship anymore than 'hide thread' is censorship. And would make stop threads that are 98% useful to someone going to waste because of a malicious few.

A copy/paste of my response to HelensMumsnet post in my thread regarding 'hide poster', because I think the arguments are very relevant here, and don't want to retype the whole thing when copy/paste will do.

---

Thank you for your substantial and considered response to some of the concerns raised here.

I would like to respond to some of yours (obviously just from my personal perspective).

I categorically would not have used the hide poster button to hide those whom I disagreed with... as, as you say, that rather ruins the whole point.

I would have used it to hide the posters that you eventually got around to deleting yourself (not your fault regarding the delay, I know), because they were not helpful in any way, and were simply rolling about laughing at what was for me a very painful issue.

If it happened in a thread about someone helping a rape victim, and people were posting making jokes about rape, everyone would be up in arms.

Everyone would be up in arms because they would 'get' that it was a serious matter and not something to be laughed at, and that laughing at it would be a cruel and vicious thing to do in the context.

I understand that people genuinely didn't 'get' I was serious, and I did report as quickly as I could. I just wish I could have hidden those posters in the meantime until you could have got around to it.

I would have had to see one mocking message from each of them, and then no more (which would have better than being bombarded, from my point of view, with them). I also wouldn't have had to see them again and again every time I went back to review the thread for better insight.

Let me clarify again, by "mocking", *I do not mean disagreement. I mean "haha, isn't this funny, lets make a joke about the whole thing"... right in front of my face on my thread. That really hurt.

I'm not asking for more policing. I'm not asking for censorship. I'm asking for the individual ability to hide posters continuously posting things that really shouldn't have been there in the first place, and cause distress the longer they are left up.

I don't want to have to go elsewhere. I want to stay here because the site is a breath of fresh air in my life. I'm not asking for huge, sweeping changes. I'm asking for a viable small one (in my opinion), that would have seriously helped me, and therefore can feasibly help others like me, and empowers me to stay despite my own weaknesses and flaws.

Once a poster starts laughing at you, and refuses to stop despite pleas. Its unlikely they have anything further of worth to say, and I would like to hide all subsequent posts from them.

I know people think I should have just hidden the thread. But there was genuine help on there, that I wanted to see and take on board. I didn't want to abandon the whole thing.

Not least of all, because that means the bullies have won.

Regarding the other concern (which is that people might simply hide instead of reporting).

How about when an individual presses the 'hide poster' button, a little pop-up reminder asks them if the post is also worth reporting?

Just an idea, as you can probably tell, I feel very strongly about this, and am obviously not alone.

I really appreciate that you are seriously considering it.

I don't want a 'Hide the Poster' feature. Can't we just hand out a large box of grips on joining.

Stratters - what is your opinion on my "exploding poster" button?

While I can think of a few I'd like to explode, you do get this thing on some forums where a poster gets automatic suspension after a certain number of reports. Problem arises when a clique (only Mumsnet has quiches, obv) decides to get rid of someone they don't like. Snot fair - and the suspended individual generally has to rely on others to report it & get them back. It's horribly much like school.

I love the idea of exploding posters. Possibly we could draft in Jeremy Clarkson, he has lots of experience.

garlic, I don't think they will acksherly do it, but I can always hope [hgrin]

P'raps just some sort of human cannonball then?

I sometimes wonder what dictionary people are using. It's nothing like 'censorship'. You might as well say 'radishes'.

We could use this as the big red button to explode people

Oh, yes, the fecking biscuit. Another emoticon we could do without.