You are digging a deeper and deeper hole MNHQ

[amillionyears]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/1664850-to-be-furious-with-dh-for-eating-cakes-he-knew-were-destined-for-the-bin

Oh, TSC, you don't get it do you? The post that you 'reported' had me accusing s. of bullying behaviour, bot being a bully (not the same, criticise the behaviour not the person they say...). The second could admittedly be construed as a personal attack, but as it is there simply to highlight the difference between the way two phrases come across.
And why do you want people to stop reporting things? yet claim to have reported me

I'm not only taking issue with that one nasty post, but also the way that a group of posters tried to bully me after reporting it. It's just fucking nasty, and I'm surprised that you think it's OK.

Slubber Like raisin wine?

FWIW I enjoyed the thread, saw no harm in it and think this is all silly apart from the fact that people got deleted for calling it a wind-up. And, obviously, the fact of the bitchy bullying behaviour on this thread.

Puddle, that has been MNHQ's definition since they were forced to give such a definition. As I said, many many people join Mumnset because there are no strict and rigid rules in place. Posters, young and old, regular and lurkers are left pretty much to their own devices and I always liked to think we used a dollop of common sense where necessary. After all we are all grown ups and surely don't need to keep running to teacher when things don't go our way. And so arguments were settled between posters, jokes were widespread and everyone more or less just got on with it.

The joke threads were a bit of fun.

Satin, I didn't read the King Tut thread. I can only think of a handful, most involving sex but all of the joke threads were well received and if someone didn't get it, the OP apologised and it was all sorted out. There was none of this running to tell over each other. That just smacks of playground mentality and if posters have to go running to teacher all the time then yes, Mumsnet will have to enforce rules and become strictly moderated which will result in more deletions, more censorship and less fun.

I guess that must be what some posters want. They obviously can't be mature enough to solve the issue on the thread in question and want someone else to enforce the rules and solve it for them.

It's a damn shame.

It's not about namechanging and starting a genuine thread though is it? It's about namechanging for the purpose of winding up other posters, and it's moreso about the fact that MNHQ (whilst initially innocent in believing the OP had a genuine cake issue ) went on to admit that they knew it was a winder-upper but did nothing about it.

Or something.

Afternoon.

Might be helpful to recap/clarify a few things, to start with.

First of all, as we have (blushingly) admitted on the orig thread, we didn't realise it was a windup. We received lots of reports asking us if the OP was a troll, saw it was Greensleeves, boggled a bit at her crappy baking skills and ranty mood, and then posted to reassure folks that she was a regular MNer and we sure she wasn't a troll.

We also then deleted some trollhunty posts. As we would do, in any situation where we believed a genuine poster was being called a troll.

We then left the thread to go on its merry way.

It was only later in the evening that we realised it was a wind-up.

If we'd realised it was a wind-up from the beginning, we wouldn't have posted. And would probably have replied to those reporting to say the OP wasn't a troll but we suspect it was a regular having a bit of a larf.

We are sorry for not being smart enough to have rumbled Greensleeves straightaway. And we're sorry some folks assumed from our post that we were somehow in on the act.

However, we really do think there is a massive difference between a light-hearted, non-malicious wind-up like this and a 'proper' trolling thread. As several posters have pointed out here, there was clearly no intention to be malicious or creepy/pervy/abusive, and no agenda to persuade people to divulge personal info/hand over money etc etc.

And yes, amillionyears, we have removed one phrase from the Talk Guidelines about trolls (the 'for the hell of it' bit) as we realised late last night that it could be misinterpreted as 'for a bit of a joke', when that's not what we meant at all. It was disingenuous of me not to mention that when I quoted the Guidelines on the orig thread this morning - and I do apologise for that.

There are probably some other points on this thread that we should answer. We'll have a look through now.

We'll also be deleting the personal attacks. Whatever your frustrations - and we can see there are plenty! - they're really not on.

I love a good joke thread and this one really cheered me up on what was a very stressful day. I was deceived too at first, brilliant.

An old favourite was one where the op was mrs Wottinger from the night garden.

Mumsnet is often accused of changing for the worst.

It's not Mumsnet changing though, it's the people on the boards. The general attitude on Mumsnet has changed.

FWIW I couldn't care less about cake. I don't even eat cake, and I have loads of birds. I just don't like double standards which this seems to be.

If someone could tell me why the rules don't apply to the cake thread but they do to other threads then I'd stop banging on about it.

In fact, I'll stop banging on about it!

Helen, you have my unbounded admiration for not running at an oven and hurling your head in it.

Altho you were still wrong about the other thread and deletion and just hoped it would go away

Fair do's Helen, nothing else to say is there.

What Randall said at 13:14.

I don't mind a good wind-up thread. Have done a couple myself over the years and a bit of lighthearted fun is what makes MN.

I don't agree with amillionyears on this, but some of the comments on here aren't just skating on the edge of being a personal attack, they've fallen through the ice.

I would try and explain iworshipsatin but I don't know and I am just reading this thread in amazement and eating chocolate.

I know that doesn't help but I thought you should know someone cares. A bit.

Agree with you Rhubarb. But am not actually here as I flounced and really really meant it that time.

yes that was funny mitnyyyyyyyyy

three days was it?

If people are still mad about that jokey thread, here's a classic one that I'm sure you will find offensive pirate noises during sex

I'm now going to relive some of Mumsnet's finest classic thread moments. I urge people to join me and leave this rather disappointing thread to float away ne'er to return.

rhubs, every xmas we have a joke "mary" thread... BAN IT!

"the op was mrs Wottinger from the night garden."
oh god I so want to read that

Might have been a week. Anyway I'm really not here, had to come back and ask a techy question and then ...

Oh dear God. Look, MNHQ are queen and can do what they bloody well like. They own the site, not you and if they want to change their guidelines every hour on the hour then that is their prerogative. They don't owe posters anything nor should they be answerable to them. You didn't like the thread, tough titty. Get over it. But for the love of Pete stop bleating.