Username search not allowed now

[CarefreeMe]

I believe I’ve just had a thread deleted by accident (sorry!!!) as myself and another poster recognised the username and mentioned something in her previous thread.

MNHQ deleted the thread as they said doxxing is against the talk guidelines.

Is this a new thing?
As I wasn’t aware of it and assumed that’s why you could search usernames.

Sorry to the OP who started the thread, although her thread was very misleading and completely different to her other ones, which is going to affect posters advice.

And this is why Mumsnet is a haven for trolls

They bend over backwards to enable and accommodate them

At least half the threads I read are obvious trolls and the credibility of the site is in the shitter

Sounds like stalking is ok though. . .

The trolls help reel people in though and keep the site active. Same with all the bigotry that is allowed to flourish on the site these days.

It really is pot luck with the mods. Some will let vile posts and threads stand, others will delete.

How is it stalking in your perspectives ?

Well not necessarily. When every other thread that you bothered to contribute a long, well thought out response to is taken down "while MN looks behind the scenes" it's quote easy to say fuck it I'm out. Quite the opposite effect I would say.

"Other people are SO INVESTED and OBSESSED with MN that they make a few posts on a thread... whereas when I make a few posts on a thread it's to tell people how much I don't really care about MN and am not at all bothered!!"

Hi OP, we're going to move this thread over to our Site Stuff topic so it doesn't get lost in AIBU.

And just to reiterate, we’re not banning people from cross referencing threads - as we said, this is looked at on a case-by-case basis. But if you see a thread where the OP’s post doesn’t quite tally with something you’ve seen previously, please report it to us and we’ll take a look. It's always better to do it that way rather than post your suspicions on the thread itself.

What’s the point of having AS if the conditions on people using it are arbitrary? It’s not just posters posting conflicting information to mislead, but people who post the same thing repeatedly. Others take the time to respond but then the same person comes back a week later with another thread about the same thing. There’s someone around at the moment who has posted at least 10 threads about the same subject, received advice every time yet continues to waste everyone’s time.

Ooo I saw this thread but before anyone mentioned her previous posts. I saw the deletion message later.

I think this is a weird one, because MN are above saying to report it. I understand that you're supposed to report suspected trolls, but I don't think this OP was trolling. She was just misrepresenting her situation which affected the advice given. It's not a "hang on; you're saying you're 29 but in a previous thread you said 63 so you're clearly a troll". Or even someone picking over details that OP might have changed for anonymity purposes. The previous thread was pertinent to the issue the OP was looking for advice about.

Doxing is not the right description at any rate.

I really hate it. I don't mind on one thread saying the area where I live, and on another mentioning my field of work and on a third my hobbies but I really don't want any random person being able to put that together at the click of the button. I really don't think that ability is proportionate to the supposed benefit of preventing people "wasting their time advising". The whole persona could be made up, you post knowing that risk. I realise I could name change regularly but on certain threads continuity of poster names is valuable.

What about people like me who might just remember these details in connection with a particular username? Are we supposed to try to force ourselves not to remember and make connections?

It doesn't seem that difficult to me.

Case 1: Julie decides to post on MN about some difficulties with her husband, whose real name is Paul. They are both too busy to have many hobbies, but Julie likes to go to the gym and Paul goes cycling with some friends at the weekends when he can. Julie and Paul are married. Julie works in the NHS and Paul works in IT. Julie and Paul have three children, now grown up. There must be hundreds, if not thousands, of families who match this description across the UK. Julie could keep the same username forever with minimal risk of having her real name doxxed from the details given above. Continuity of poster name may be valuable to Julie and by good luck she can have it, along with her own anonymity.

Case 2: Artemisia decides to post on MN about some difficulties with her partner whose real name is Titus. Artemisia is a potter and White Witch, formerly a Buddhist nun, and her hobbies are beekeeping and ice hockey. Titus is a Nobel Prizewinner in a STEM subject and now works mostly as a sculptor. Artemisia and Titus are in a polycule with several other people of various ages. Artemisia and Titus have a large and complex blended family, including biological, adopted, fostered, step and ungodchildren, conceived in a number of different ways including surrogacy. If Artemisia posts in any detail about her family, she will be identified in minutes. She would probably want to change username fairly regularly. For her, there is a simple choice - continuity of poster name but achieved either by being very reticent about her life, or accepting that she can't be anonymous; or regularly changing her name.

No it's not impossible, just a risk that's way more proportionate imo

@JoMumsnet what's so wrong with asking a poster about their earlier posts?

So are you one of the people who believe every single thread? There is so much Bellshill posted on here. I couldn't be that trusting.

Bullshit

Is it bad I at your autocorrect?

*laughed at

Eh? How can this suddenly be against the rules? Never was before.

Not at all 😀.

This is so confusing! Also thought was the pregnant SIL thread as that was odd, initially saying brand new baby only days old awful sil announced pregnant cue how mean! Dreadful of her, then someone said hang on you said in September you had a 5 month old, which totally changes things!

There is a poster who does not NC and lies about bereavement. I have pulled her up in the past and I got deleted. God knows. It really annoys me when she trots out her lies on threads.

There are really only two instances where I might be likely to do a search on someone's username.

One is where they have been plain nasty to me on a thread and I want to see whether they are objectionable all the time, or if it is just me they have taken a dislike to.

The other is when I'm reading a thread and I start thinking 'Hang on a minute, I think I'm getting a case of deja vu here'.