Would it be possible for all threads from first time posters to need approval before submission?

[AlternativePerspective]

I get that people think that if we stopped first time posters from starting threads for a period of time then people might feel they couldn’t come here for support.

But given the prevalence of trolls and spammers wanting to post fearmongering threads about the war, the possibility of nuclear war, how to build a bunker in the back yard and so on, wouldn’t it be an idea for all threads from first time posters to be subject to approval before they were allowed on to the boards?

That way we would at least stop an awful lot of trolls and spammers posting here, even if we couldn’t prevent the fearmongering entirely.

Plenty of fb groups have a rule where a post is submitted for admin approval before appearing on the group, and while it would involve some work for HQ, this would presumably be countered by the fact that HQ wouldn’t have to look through so many reports about these kinds of threads because they will already have seen them.

I would make the moderation for say, 30 days.

I think private messaging should be disabled for newbies who post carefully crafted threads asking for money. Usually with a couple of hungry babies and only 37p in the bank.

Yes I agree, I remember that one not long ago. Usually a Saturday night, what is it with these people!!

@Sparklingbrook

Vulnerable people should be encouraged to seek RL help. It's not about 'giving a shit' but vulnerable people potentially being given incorrect or harmful advice that's not going to help in an emergency.

Yes. And if MN can help them get the real life help they need that's a good thing.

There is a greater chance of harm from denying those people the virtually instant help of MN than there is for people finding out they've helped a troll.

Yes. And if MN can help them get the real life help they need that's a good thing

In an ideal world but it doesn't always work like that sadly. The instant help can be very variable.

Like I said upthread though, this idea is never going to happen so it doesn't really matter, things will carry on as they always have.

I can't see this working because there are far more non first time posters starting fearmongering threads about the war. Usually under headings like "I'm terrified" etc.

I think this is where personal responsibility comes in, in simply hiding them or (if they're not obvious from the title) hitting the back button once you realise it's the 50 millionth war thread.

After dealing with anxious people in RL all day long ,especially through this pandemic, I want somewhere to go where it's straight talking and honest

If I can't get that here then where? There's many educated people here and over the many years I've been here I have learned a lot

Trolls will ALWAYS. Be a problem. Some of the biggest troll stories are from trolls who are here amongst us building up stories for a long time. Not someone joining up just to post something controversial

Hello and thanks so much for the suggestion.

We've always been post-moderated and rely on reports to let us know if anything is wrong on the boards - to be honest, this isn't likely to change in the near future.

We're very aware that parenting can throw up A LOT of unplanned late-night googling, with parents seeking help online, and we'd never want to cut anyone off from that support. That's one of the great things about the site.

We'll always deal with reports as quickly as we can and boot trolls off of the site with haste. These past couple of years, we've been working on lots of new moderation tools - for instance, our spam filter tool auto-hides spam immediately. We're continuously working to improve our moderation behind the scenes in order to make Mumsnet a great place.

As ever, please do report anything that's causing concern - we're always more than happy to take a look.

@rosesarebluey I agree! That is how I felt too.

A quick search shows I am not new at all.

Sorry that happened to you x

[quote Workinghardeveryday]@rosesarebluey I agree! That is how I felt too.

A quick search shows I am not new at all.

Sorry that happened to you x[/quote]
My post was deleted. I actually don't get what I said was wrong.

I wonder how many brand new genuine posters MN gets each day compared with numbers of trolls?
if it is 99:1 new:troll then it wouldn't be worth pre-moderation.
On the other hand if it is 1:99 then it would save MNHQ a lot of effort to pre-moderate, even if it meant that new posters had to wait 30mins for their first threads to be posted.