PLEASE can we have a "date joined" next to people's usernames

[ShatnersWig]

Many of us have repeatedly made this suggestion over many years. If alongside our names it said the month and year we joined MN, it would help people realise this was a long standing poster who may have name changed and people might invest far less in what turn out to be troll postings, previously banned posters stirring up shit, DM journos etc.

I belong to many other similar forums and they all do this (some also have the number of postings they have made).

There's a thread now about the recent deletions and how to spot a possible troll and several have made the above suggestion (including me).

I really don't see the objection and every time it is suggested it gets a lot of support. It won't necessarily stop trolls but it might prevent some people investing too much in suspicious new poster threads or make long time users who need to name change not need to assure us they've been here for years (stating Pom Bears, penis beakers etc)

There have been scamming trolls that have leeched off Mumsnet for months.

I think date joined has been turned down several times. What about adding newbie or something next to the name of new joiners for a while? This would work to mark a gf as new, but it might also protect people from the full wrath of AIBU.

I agree with that janey and don’t like the idea of a pecking order.

But I don’t think your posts about the Reddit site are correct.

I imagine some of us would rather not have the number of years or posts to be public, either.

Don't know about anybody else, but I could have learned another language instead.

I agree with JaneyEJones. People posting, whether it be after an hour or a decade, shouldn’t be judged on their length of membership (o’er). Comments from a newbie are just as valid as those from a MN dinosaur.
We have this at work. When somebody good gets promoted, the ones that have been there for ages, who are bitter and shit are all, “I’m not taking that from her! She’s young enough to be my daughter”.

Bad idea as the more specific it is, the more detrimental the impact on anonymity.

The reality is that on a site with reach as wide as this one, most people posting will also know some other poster and certainly non-posting readers IRL. Hence the name change function is so successful. People posting on here value their anonymity. If someone posts enough, people are going to recognise their join date even after they change their username.

So no, better you keep things as they are.

When I started reading this thread I thought it was a good idea - but having seen the counter arguments I think not.

MNHQ presumably do have the posting history available. So if we see potential trolling just do what we're supposed to - report it.

Reddit have been pretty clever in getting round the “no troll hunting” rule.

It just promotes a hierarchy of the longest members being taken more seriously?

This happens on every forum anyway - some posters will become more recognisable and respected or get away with things that others don't because they build up a following. A newbie designation in most places results in posters being cut a bit more slack for real newbies.

A broad brush category (maiden, mother, crone) would signify a NC is a regular and not a new account. You could also make it elective like the rest of profile information.

At any one time there will be too many people in a broad category for it to create a hierarchy.

Also, as OP says that whenever this idea is mooted it gets a lot of support, it also gets a lot of opposition. Lots of posters don't want it.

Lots of posters don't want it.

This would be addressed by making it optionally visible.

I used to be on a forum where there was a raking system ( different coloured stars) based on number of posts.

There was a bit of hierarchy, where if you started a thread as your first post you might not get many replies, but it emcouraged people to reply on other threads, to build up your score but also meant that threads were answered and ybe forums kept busy.

It is optionally visible now, I think? And point defeating. Anyone wanting to engage in some bridge dwelling, shit stirring etc would just ensure it wasn't visible.

It is optionally visible now, I think?

Date of joining? Yes but that is a very specific piece of info which people don't want to reveal. A general maiden/mother/crone type designation would be much broader.

A slightly better idea than specific date of joining info then, which it seems we both agree would have unacceptable privacy implications, but still leaves us with the issue of people potentially being given more weight depending how long they've been around. For that reason I'm opposed. Joined in 2014 myself iirc, so no particular horse in the race.

he issue of people potentially being given more weight depending how long they've been around

This already exists - its impossible to avoid on any forum. Very broad brush categories is not going to make that worse.

Ultimately the objective is to help with identifying and reducing the effect of trolls - I've wasted enough time in the past replying to posts which were then pulled or who turned out to be trolls (sometimes days later) that I just don't bother most of the time now if a poster has no history.

A mechanism for a NC to show a history would reduce skepticism on some of the wilder sounding OPs and get more useful answers.

Just the year would be grand.

It's possible to not make it worse though, which is what would happen if everyone has to display information about how long they've been here. Additionally, we also get trolls who bed down for ages before starting.

So still a no from me.

An L or something for a new account would be better IMO. A date joined would defeat name changing and therefore make it less anonymous, and solutions used by other forums, eg new accounts have to wait a week to post, would deter new people who need helo.

I like the idea of a star system. Broad enough not to be identifying, but helps to weed out the PBPs and new trolls

Anything with an algorithmic threshold is more outing than you might immediately think. Suppose one gets one's gold badge a year after joining, or after 100 posts, and the only distinction is good badge or no gold badge. Fine, right, just identifies newbies?

Now suppose I regularly namechange between two userids, one very identifying which I used to be helpful as a professional, and another on which I post really sensitive stuff I don't want tied to my irl self.

On Tuesday, I post with both, and neither has a gold badge. On Wednesday, I post with both, and both have a gold badge.

Anyone who sees both ids regularly, and has an eye for such things - especially, anyone who knows the irl identity of one nn and had been wondering if the other was the same person - has been handed a huge clue that these two nns that passed threshold at the same time are the same person.

It's a no from me.

So "year of joining", which sounds as though it leaks more information than a threshold system, actually leaks less, come to think of it.

Whilst I don't mind number of posts/date info being shared, I do worry for a new user that has joined with the specific need for help in a dire situation, and there are many posters like this unfortunately. If info says that they are a newbie, others may be wary of posting genuine help on their threads for fear of trolls.