Hi all,
The last thing we want to do is to sound blase about yesterday's goings on but it's worth pointing out that there were no trolls involved - it was more a case of a private conversation about an argument being exposed and then continued in public - unfortunate and unpleasant for all involved but I guess a few of us might have also lost our tempers and said some things we shouldn't under the same circumstances. It could happen at any time of course - mumsnet is a public forum and lots of us reveal personal stuff that we would not want everyone to see - but in truth everyone can see it, which is worth bearing in mind.
We have had one, maybe two, genuine trolls in the last few months and before that we can only remember one other this year. So that's 2 or 3 in 9 months. Meanwhile there are well over 300 conversations being harmoniously (well most of them anyway ) conducted every day.
This year we have also mistakenly deleted a few genuine posters' threads because they seemed suspicious. It's worth pointing out that
a) sometimes what motivates people to come to mumsnet for the first time is that they are a bit desperate with a difficult/ embarassing/ unusual problem.
b) regular users can and do change their names to post the really sensitive stuff - so what can seem like a new person posting something suspiciously revealing is often not.
c) first time users are often not familiar with mumsnet tone or etiquette. They can sometimes come across as rude or controversial when really they just don't know anyone yet and maybe don't particularly care about offending a group of strangers. More than one of our most esteemed mumsnetters (mentioning no names here but you know who you are ) began their mumsnet careers with some injudicious postings that led to an unseemly spat.
So it's easy to become a bit paranoid but in truth, there's no reason to be. What's more if we are occasionally taken for a ride by a troll isn't it worth it to make sure we don't put off genuine posters with a genuine problems? Mumsnet is known for being fantastically welcoming to new folk - hopefully everyone who's here has benefitted from that hospitality at one time or another - and we've no doubt you all want to keep it that way.
Having said all that if anyone has any concerns please do contact us immediately - we promise to take it very seriously and we are looking at ways right now to "improve our response time" .
Best,
Justine, Carrie, Rachel and Tech