Why is Mumsnet insisting that I log in?

[CrispEater]

I spend quite a lot of time browsing Mumsnet on my Samsung tablet, not logged in. I rarely post anything but if I do, I do that on my PC because I can type quicker on a proper keyboard.
Just now I was in Mumsnet on the tablet and kept getting a pop-up that insists I should either log in or join. As far as I can see, there is no way of getting rid of this pop-up except by logging in or joining or giving up on Mumsnet. It looks very genuine to me.
I really can't be bothered to keep logging in when I only want to browse and I hate being forced into doing something I'd rather not do.
Is there some reason why Mumsnet now wants everyone logged in all the time? Or have I missed something?

github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases

Ublock to download

Just wanted to add my voice to those saying I don't like this. I don't want to even log in once...

I've also spotted that the "remember me" box is now automatically checked on my ipad, so if I forget to uncheck it every fucking time I'm forced to log in.

And again this is a potential issue for vulnerable posters who don't want their login details to be accidentally accessed.

I hate it too - I changed all my details after the hacking and then forgot them when I logged out accidentally - so I've been using MN for about 9 years now... these days I'm logged in on my computer but do most of my browsing on my phone where I do not want to log in.
The pop up occurs after about 4 seconds, even over the active conversation list. I tried after midnight as apparently you can look at 10 pages each day before it appears - but no, it still came up straight away.

Maybe I'm being awkward but I don't like being forced to log in, even once. I won't be using MN on my phone if this continues; that's about 98% of my usage.

I emailed in when this happened to me on my phone as I couldn't access site stuff because I wasn't about to log in and the pop up wouldn't let me go anywhere without it. I was less than impressed: without prior warning of the change I thought MN had been hacked again. I won't be logging in from my phone, ever. This is so user unfriendly: a huge part of MN's value for me and DP and various friends is the ability to look things up without logging on. I'll also point out that when using a phone you can't select to see the whole thread at once so ten pages can be reached pretty quickly.

I hate this and won't use mn on my phone because of it.

Just popping in to say thank MN - you have cured me of my phone browsing habit. I tried to log in on my phone but I can't remember my fecking log in details so I won't be bothering.

Like others I will no longer be able to browse during lunch times at work for all the reasons mentioned.

Mumnet please offer a chance to opt out / cancel out of the pop-up.

Fair enough to have a prompt to log in, but to force it changes the nature of the site.

Saying it's for personalisation reasons is putting your marketing ahead of usability. Please let people remain anonymous if they choose to.

Hate this. Am logged in on iPad but not hone forgotten password so effectively blocked from mumsnet ting on phone now. No prompt for forgotten password either. Absolutely rubbish "innovation" and utterly unconvincing explanations please reverse asap.

I posted this on the AIBU thread but posting here in the hope MN might see it ...

Given a gazillion people must come here via Google Search, this is surely mumsnet shooting themselves in the foot as casual browsers will just hit the back button and mumsnet will miss the chance to introduce the site to a new user.

Also it'll be bad for SEO. One of the metrics Google looks at (it is agreed by SEO experts) is the time spent on a site. As they don't have access to actual webstats they measure this through people clicking on results via Google and how long it takes them to come back to Google.

If, from now on, lots of people bounce out of mumsnet when they see the pop up, Google will likely think Mumsnet is not publishing content people want to read and it'll harm their - currently excellent - position in Google searches.

"Given a gazillion people must come here via Google Search, this is surely mumsnet shooting themselves in the foot as casual browsers will just hit the back button and mumsnet will miss the chance to introduce the site to a new user."

That's true for me. I googled something I was having trouble with when I was pregnant with DS1 (9yo) and found MN that way. I wouldn't have stayed because like most people, I lurked and browsed for a fair while before posting.

I might have ended up on NetHuns instead

Just had to log in again since the hacking fiasco as the pop up meant I could no longer lurk - very unhappy with forced log in and no opt out button, didn't think Mumsnet HQ would ever go in for this sort of thing .

Actually can't be arsed with all this, going to give up on Mumsnet - had been looking for a cure for my addiction to it, so well done Mumsnet HQ.

It's definitely cut down my usage of mumsnet, used to read without logging in but with the pop up I've given up. I've only logged in to post on this thread. It's extremely off-putting and I don't want to be logged in all the time. I have posted a few times about personal issues and I would not like my partner or family to accidently stumble across those threads.

On the plus side I spend far too much time lurking, so thank you for helping me put my phone down and do other things.

MN, I thought you said upthread that we would only need to log in once once on a particular device and then the pop up wouldn't reappear even if we logged out again? Maybe I misunderstood, but I am still getting the pop up.

I want to add my tuppence worth to say I agree with all the points other posters have made.

I'm utterly furious that MNHQ landed this on us without an explanation (before this thread forced some very, as has been said, patronising and also defensive responses); this assuming that they have decided our consent is irrelevant here.

I think I was part of an earlier 'test' because I've had this happen to me for a while now. As others have said, my initial response was to think there was something dodgy going on and I was hesitant to log on. But I couldn't read anything without logging on, so eventually I reluctantly decided to chance it.

I then did a quick search for an explanation - MNHQ seem happy to update on other site stuff, so why not this? My assumption when I found nothing and when other MNers didn't seem to be posting about it was that I 'missed the memo', figuratively speaking.

I have very reluctantly remained logged on for the last couple of weeks... The 'remain logged on' box seems ticked by default and initially I kept forgetting to log out or wanted to avoid the hassle.

But, if MNHQ cares, I don't want to remain logged on, for reasons others have said. I also don't want to log on at all on some devices. I resent feeling I am being coerced in this way.

Now, having read this thread I realise that for most of you, this has been a very recent thing. I feel exploited and manipulated that it happened to me sooner, without any explanation or checking if I'm ok with being included in a trial. Don't you have an ethical obligation to have my informed consent before you include me in an 'experiment'?

Or are these commercial 'provider experience' () trials exempt from consideration of the impact on and wishes of the site user?

I am also annoyed with myself for - albeit reluctantly - going along with it and not bothering to start a thread when it first happened to see if other site users felt as annoyed by the login box as I did.

Since this first happened, I have also found that I appear to be unintentionally clicking on ads in which I have no interest - is that a coincidence or part of this, that pop ups are more 'sensitive'?

See... You've made me paranoid now too...

Overall, how I feel about your choice to impose this on us is definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, detracting from my MN experience and feelings of goodwill towards the site.

And has made me want to get a pop up blocker.

Another one who's tried the "fix", i.e logged in once on my phone, immediately logged back out again and then cleared my Safari and tried to read the site again.

Immediately the pop-up!

I absolutely HATE it; I was just getting into Mumsnet, but now off to find something else to do.

I had the pop up on the I-pad a couple of weeks ago and gave up reading mumsnet on there. I wasn't sure it was phishing (especially after the hacker debacle) and it is a shared I-pad so I did not want to log on from there.

I did not get it on the desktop, there was nothing on Site stuff, so assumed it was dodgy.

It went away, and I could browse on the I-pad again!

Then it came back on the pc. And it won't go away.

Also, it 'pings' back as soon as I log off - I am sure it gets there before the rest of the page! I am certainly not seeing 10 pages.

Another one who still gets the pop up even though I've logged in and out.
I only log in to mumsnet when I want to post something as my children sometimes borrow my iPad.
I've hardly been on mumsnet the past 2 days.
I don't leave any accounts signed in on my devices whether that be Twitter, Facebook or others.

No response from MNHQ today? Please let us know what you are going to do about this?

Of course lots of people don't mind about it - many of them are logged on all the time - so nothing will change for them or for Mumsnet or for advertising data. The people who are affected seem really unhappy and are likely to be lost to the site. I'm pretty sure I will leave if it continues. I will never log on from shared devices.

The fix didn't work for me either. I must have been logged in for over an hour earlier this AM. Logged off. Came back about 30 mins later and I got the pop-up again

Justine's advice works - as long as you don't clear your history.

Very annoying.

I think it proves the point that I stated that I feel that HQ don't care about what's going on with MN, because although Jessica refuted my feelings, Justine's advice clearly isn't working for everyone, and we've had no response from HQ at all.

Used to be that HQ would be swift and happy to engage.

Oh well. Times are a changing.

That's me stuffed then as I always clear my history when I come off my iPad because I don't want my children seeing what I do on my iPad ( not that it's anything illegal )

Thunder

Same here.

I probably should add - the advice about logging in, then out and therefore getting rid of the pop up worked for me - clearly not for everyone.

Its very annoying.

Good morning,

Apologies for slow response yesterday.

We'll only be running this version of test for a short time longer and we do appreciate it's been annoying for some. We do need to run tests in order to find out what works and what doesn't and sometimes we can't really announce these ahead of time because that can impact how people behave.

Part of our analysis of testing is also to consider users' feelings and reaction not just the stats and we will absolutely be taking your comments here into account. We'll try to answer some more specific points raised now.