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A slightly hypothetical question about 'fictional' posters

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Thurlow · 06/04/2015 14:46

I thought this might be the best topic for this.

What would, or do, you do if you come across a poster you really start to suspect is creating an entirely imaginary persona?

I don't mean people who come on and post goady, inflammatory OPs under a new username, or even those whose situation seems to escalate even within the same thread. I mean posters who maintain a pretty consistent profile across the site - just something about them or their situations makes you think that it is entirely fictional?

Now I'm not naive and have been on here a long time, I know the 99% of MN is probably complete bollocks Grin (though don't get me wrong, there's a huge amount of great and supportive stuff on here) Also of course there's nothing wrong with making up a different life on here. It's certainly not against any rules.

I guess I'm also thinking about a poster who was banned a while ago for creating a fictional life which drew a lot of people in, got them to share some very personal and emotional things, and really hurt a lot of people when it was revealed to be entirely made up.

So if you see a poster, who you just have a gut feeling is making a lot up, and you have a worry that maybe over time - months, years - it is slowly escalating and might turn into that situation again where many, many people have been 'sucked in' (for lack of a better phrase) and then the poster will have a massive drama/event that could upset other posters - what would you do?

Sorry if this hasn't made any sense. I can't really explain it without getting more specific, which certainly wouldn't be fair or right.

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MNHQ

DawnMumsnet · 06/04/2015 16:51

Hi Thurlow, hi everyone,

Would you like some MNHQ input here too? We're happy to explain things, even if (under the terms of TSSDNCOP) we may not give you ALL the answers. Wink

Basically, if you suspect something or someone is not genuine, report, report, report. We love reports! And we'll always reply. The more information you can give us, the better, obviously, but even if it's just a 'can you check this one out please', we'll make time to do that.

The internet being what it is, we can't ever really guarantee someone is who they say they are. And it's the same with threads - they may be 100 per cent genuine, or the OP may have changed a few details to avoid being identified - which is perfectly understandable - or, of course, they may be completely made up. A lot of the time, we'll never know.

Our major concern, though, is if they've been started with malicious intent. If somebody is posting about an emotive topic and we suspect they're not on the level, we'll step in pretty quickly - provided it's been reported.

If it's a lighthearted thread with no danger of hurting anybody, we're more likely to turn a blind eye. For a while, at least.

But we only know what's going on if you report. And in answer to your last question, Thurlow, yes, it's absolutely fine to report someone even when they aren't doing anything wrong. Just leave it to us to decide. Smile

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