Can you work some magic so that mentioning a MNer's name lets her know she is being called to that thread?

[CoteDAzur]

... like on Facebook?

When a MNer's full name is written in a thread in a specific way, an automatic message can go to their MN Inbox or directly to their email when a MNer's full name is written in a thread in a specific way.

It would be very useful if someone sees a Relationship issue that AnyFucker would give great advice for, or a breastfeeding thread in Chat where tiktok was needed, for example. I would like to call Remus's attention to a thread where someone is talking about a non-fiction book about mountain climbing.

What do you think?

Yes, I think we have established that everyone is aware of the PM function on MN.

There is a messaging function on Facebook as well, and yet linking the name of a person (and thereby alerting them that they have been mentioned) is also widely used.

Next time I come across a thread where non-fiction climbing books are mentioned, it would be useful to be able to name magimedi & Remus and draw their attention to that thread. Imho it is time-consuming and perhaps slightly odd in the long term to write PMs to people in such circumstances a la "Hi, I hope you are well. I just thought you might be interested in this thread because it is talking about blah blah blah..."

It is just an idea for MNHQ to consider.

DIY stuff Mrsjayy, boilers etc

there are no experts on mn, just people with strong opinions

The idea seems a bit like stalking to me and has the potential for misuse. Last time I looked participation on threads was optional, so shouldn't we leave people be?

On other forums I frequent if someone types your name in like @HelpfulChap you get an alert when you log in.

Up to you whether you want to read it or respond. Quite useful.

How will everyone know who the 'experts' are?

Oh OK the husband used to be A plumber heating engineer so I'm sorted look these posters who hang out on specific boards should be free to post as and when AF isn't working for relate she can post if she wants or not

I agree with Soup - I don't think it would be a good idea. People who post on here are not resources to be summoned by other users at their beck and call.

Yes, that's what I mean Helpful.

Definitely not as an obligation. Not sure why anyone would think of it as such.

I think sticking a username in a thread title is fine. I guess it's up to the OP if they want help from a specific poster.

Maybe we should lighten up about PMs though and use them more often, people can always opt out of receiving them. They seem to be seen as the equivalent of knocking on someone's front door rather than an email they can choose to respond to or not.

Hmm i could see that being open to abuse. Some posters have been targetted by trolls/ stalkers in the past and i could see how if someone was always being tagged as an 'expert' in X it could put then at risk of being outed IRL. Like a google search throwing up their username in loads of tags.

Oh I don't know really.

Imagine getting tagged in a thread that you've been ignoring because you think it's a pile of made up crap. So you ignore, but then you get tagged again by another couple of posters.

I expect they'd then feel obliged to explain why they're steering clear and that could cause all sorts of crap.

Also, some posters who are seen as 'experts' get enough flack from other posters because of it. You know with all the 'royalty' digs.

Having said that, as long as there's an 'opt in' function (rather than opt out), I suppose it might be worth a trial.

I'm sure people would be able to flag any problems with PMs, so they could ask MNHQ to "do something" (I dunno - disable the offending member's PM function or something) or I'm sure MNHQ could spot if one particular account was sending a lot of PMs.

What worraliberty said if poster has been tagged and tagged again.. It is intrusive and poster might feel obligated. I get annoyed at being tagged in these daft challenges on fb

I think anyfucker ( as you've used her as an example) would be the first to object to being hailed as some sort of hero to be summonsed onto a thread for her words of wisdom. I think it promotes the feeling that some posters' views are somehow more worthwhile than others, which is not what Mumsnet is about.

Or a FAO topic. I often wonder why we don't have one of those.

I think doing this will just make people feel obliged to answer though, and they may not want to.

A lack of a reply from those tagged could look rude to the op, or whoever had tagged them.

One way to really get the named poster's attention is that once they've been summoned they are unable to post anywhere else until they've posted on the thread to which they've been summoned.

Or leave things as they are.

nauticant!

nauticant - Or send a virus their way to seize up their computer for good if they don't respond in 15 minutes. Possibilities are endless

It's not summoning, though, just drawing someone's attention to a thread. I would type @magimedi on a thread where a non-fic book about mountain climbing is mentioned, because she said she would be interested to hear about those. That does not mean I insist she show up or that my heart will forever be broken if she doesn't.

Surely all it means us that if a poster gets mentioned in a thread they get notified? Why anyone would anyone feel obliged to respond?

We already work for free for mumsnet, spend time creating content so that advertising revenue can be generated for the site owner I think I'd want to be paid if there was a chance of being summoned

Since the magic can do anything, let's make it so that you can only tag the names of people already participating in the thread. So if you're replying to someone's post or quoting them, they'd be notified.

Evening all,

Just letting you know that we're watching this thread to see what you all think about tagging/notifying posters.

So far, the consensus seems to be NO, you'd really rather not go down that route!

But please keep posting, we're happy to look into this.