7 days to post on Sex Board

[SexTopic]

I created my account sometime back in 2021 - and don’t remember exactly when I discovered the sex board (definitely not straight away) but - I’m fairly certain that the criteria for posting was already 7 days after registering, and not the 3 months that long-time users are quoting.

@MNHQ I think it would help your credibility somewhat in the ongoing discussion about MN selling out to advertisers if you clarified when that changed please?

Most users (that do not post on the sex board) have assumed the reduction in time ties in with your recent advertiser links and promotional threads. I believe your policy had changed a long time before this…?

Full disclosure here:-

I often read the sex board, and sometimes post.
I have found it very informative and helpful, and most users (m & f) to be respectful and definitely much pleasanter than users posting on AIBU.

I am also a firm believer that the sex topic should be actively searched for, and NOT show up in active!

Well I have noticed Mumsnet pop up in several threads recently to advertise products they'll get money from us buying so call me cynical...

Putting the URL of the sex topic into archive.org (which I don't think I'm allowed to link to directly) shows that there was still a 90 day waiting period on 15/12/21.

It was changed to 7 days at some point between then and 07/10/22.

We've had no explanation why.

I think it was also last October when they decided to allow the sex hookup thread after deleting the previous version.

I had to rejoin and create a new account earlier last year and my first post on this account was 5/7/22, and I only had to wait 7 days then.

I also just checked my posting history - and believe it was Feb 2022 that I first posted on sex board (ie/ not just reading).

@MNHQ - so guessing the time restriction was reduced sometime between Dec 2021 and Feb 2022?
But PLEASE can you explain why….?

3 months seems very reasonable, and surely would also save you some admin. Any hairy-handed trolls that you ban and then go on to create new accounts to hide behind would have to wait longer to be a nuisance… doesn’t that help site policing?

AND the time restriction does not affect your advertising revenue… (yes, sorry, but I am also cynical about your reasons for leaving it in Active)

This seems a very reasonable question - and presumably not difficult for MNHQ to answer

Changing the 3 months barrier is likely to change the character of the site.

Is mumsnet HQ hoping to attract more men (probably the pervy ones) and trolls?

I think we have enough of both already.

Do they really bring in so much advertising revenue as to make this worth the way it messes with things for the rest of us?

Putting the sex topic in active has highlighted to how it has deteriorated from being a space where people could talk about sex in a helpful way, to one where it has turned into a dodgy hookup place.

I forgot my main point! I strongly suspect that this transformation took place because of the change from 90 days to 7 days.