Sex board in Active and Ann Summers

[AutumnLeavesFallingIntoPlace]

Hi @MNHQ

As the previous thread about the sex board being in Active is almost full after a lot of discussion, I think a few of us were hoping you could address the main concerns arising:

• firstly and most importantly, it seems that no one wants it in Active. Posters on the sex board and off are widely agreeing across all threads that it was better not showing in Active for many reasons. It's making everyone's experience worse.
• secondly, we'd like to know to what extent Ann Summers and other advertisers have dictated the change in the sex board's visibility and the change in users being required to register three months prior to being able to post on the sex board to seven days. The 'reigniting intimacy' promotional piece seems to suggest this is a deliberate choice to bring the forum 'inline with [Ann Summers'] Pleasure Positivity Project'. Given the response to previous threads on Ann Summers in 2021 and 2022, they are not popular with many site users and their maternity/postpartum promotion might be considered to be unhelpful and unsupportive of new mothers and very much not in the spirit of MN.
• the sex board hosts a sexchat thread which invites users to contact each other via DM for explicit conversation and then move to other platforms to continue. There are no safety warnings or age verification on the sex board and this puts users at risk of predators exploiting MN's trustworthy reputation, particularly given the change in registration requirements
• finally, a lot of us wonder why MN have done such a u turn on the sex board, having argued initially that it would attract trolls. How and why did this change?

Hi all

We're happy to clarify our position here. The decision to put topics in and out of Active is always made by MNHQ and it is not influenced by anyone else. We wanted to try Sex in active and we are keeping a close eye on the results. Ultimately, we want MNers to be able to find discussions that interest them and that they may find helpful.

As with any new change, we like to give things time to settle before we make any decisions. We’re continuing to keep an eye on the situation and are listening to all feedback. In the meantime, we are advising MNers to hide the topic if they don’t want to see it. If you are having any issues hiding the topic, please let us know and we'll do our best to help.

We generally only intervene on private messages when a MNer reports it to us. The report function is there to ensure we can take action if someone is found to be breaking our guidelines - which apply to PMs in the same way they do on the boards. As ever, if you have any concerns about a poster, please report them to us. We're always happy to take a look.

I reported my own post @Rogue1001MNer .

Thanks @LilyMumsnet and could you clarify why there is no safety info on the sex chat thread? Given that its purpose is to facilitate explicit conversations between users that may move off site, how do you protect any underage users from accessing this thread? Will you put any warnings on it?

No update on why the three month minimum registration is now just 7 days?

Would really like an answer to this!

Most people just want it not in your face (so to say..) in Active? Seems pretty reasonable.

Thank you @LilyMumsnet.

However, you have studiously ignored one of the key issues, which is the sex chat thread. And the potential impact this might have on the rest of the board (never mind the safeguarding issues.)

Do you think maybe you could respond to my emails, posts and reports I've been asking about for a week?

There's no point in saying you "hear" the users, then completely ignoring them.

What's the reasoning behind allowing a hook up thread?

Thanks, @LilyMumsnet.

Does that mean that the sex board being moved to Active isn’t related to Ann Summers or Shrek’s ear?

I’m another one who’s interested in why the time limit has dropped from 90 days to 7, and what safeguarding measures you’re taking around minors accessing the sex chat thread & the sex board in general.

So it's a complete coincidence that the threads moved to active at the same time you had a collaboration with a sex toy manufacturer?

It's implausibly coincidental timing isn't it? Mumsnet must think we are stupid.

Based on how the other threads have gone, I suspect we won't get another answer from MN now - we're listening, please hide the topic is all they're prepared to say. Maybe someone else should start a Site Stuff thread solely about the sex chat to try to elicit a response that actually addresses that concern - why MN is happy to host it, what proactive safeguarding measures they can take and how it affects the brand to have a thread encouraging married men to solicit women. Good luck getting an answer to any of this if you try!

And the fact that at the same time a “glitch” caused the sex topic to become unhidden for everyone. We see what you’re doing - I don’t know why you’re pretending otherwise MN

Also, does 'we like to give change time to settle' mean 'we want to ride this out until you get bored complaining and finally shut up about it' or do they actually have a timeframe to assess the wild success and decide whether or not to keep it?

It's a very Boris johnson-esque approach isn't it? Just brazenly lie and see if you get away with it

Now you've put Boris Johnson and the sex board together, what an unholy mental image.

Also, if no safeguarding measures do get put in place on the sex chat thread, posting pictures of Boris on there might be sufficiently off-putting so as to do the job.

It wasn't entirely accidental

And yes I suspect that might throw even the most frenzied sex troll off their stride a little

Except the man himself, @SweetSakura , I imagine that's exactly what he'd like the best!

Or this. Does anyone else remember when Terry Wogan was all over the boards….

I had just about managed to forget that @EmpressaurusOfCats

Also would like an answer to this. There’s such a big difference between “here’s a relatively safe space for MN users to talk about sex issues” and effectively inviting all the trolls and pervy men on the internet in.

I completely agree. And particularly when their thread titles will default to appearing in active. I am no prude, but when I am idly browsing Mumsnet while I eat my cornflakes I don't want to see threads about rimming in active convos. (Or pictures of Terry Wogan's package for that matter - glares at @EmpressaurusOfCats )

@LilyMumsnet
Thank you for the MN reply albeit a rather mealy mouthed one.
I keep reiterating this but topics are only hidden in active threads of you are logged in and I would like to have a choice about whether I log in or not.

I presume a settling in period is in the hope that this all becomes 'normal' to us all and we stop complaining? Or forget about it? Browsing the active threads should be safe but I'm starting to feel as if this is an abusive relationship and I am being forced into accepting something that I don't want. How long is this settling period to be? I think that it's only fair to say or shall I just deregister now?