To ask what the point of AIBU is any more?

[PatTesting]

Can someone at @MNHQ explain what the purpose of AIBU is now?

Obviously, the purpose of it originally was for posters to ask an actual question, Am I being unreasonable… to not want to visit Mexico at Christmas, to think teabags should only be used once, to want my friend to visit me for once.

It’s quite obviously now mainly used for traffic and I’d guess that around 60-70% of the threads posted on it are not an AIBU. Reporting threads which clearly belong in other topics such as Relationships, Work, Legal etc is pointless because MNHQ don’t move them which makes me wonder what the point of AIBU is now.

As a kind of secondary point to this, why have so many topics and not use them? People end up posting asking for advice in AIBU on sensitive topics because they get no response in the correct topic. They then get roasted by the twats and no one is happy.

And yet MNHQ continue to create new topics based on demands from posters who think they’ve identified a gap or want a niche single topic area.

I agree. “Posting here for traffic” all the time.

Hi OP

Thanks for getting in touch about this. We do move threads around when needed, but we often find people have posted in AIBU for a poll. If we move the thread, the poll will be lost. We're happy to have a wider chat about topics and threads so bear with us, but in the meantime, please do report any of these you see.

YABU. Where are us unreasonable twats supposed to get our pleasure from if not AIBU.

@LilyMumsnet That's fair enough, but some people don't enable the poll, or they enable the poll but don't say what the AIBU is so it's impossible to vote.

@LilyMumsnet If polls are the sticking point, why not have the option of a yes/no sort of poll in all topics so people can get opinions e.g. recently in Property I started a thread with "which house would you pick?" More people vote than write out posts so people might get more traffic in their actual correct topic that way.

That’s a really good idea.

I do think the fact posters are deliberately using AIBU to get traffic does a disservice to the topics and creates a self-fulfilling prophecy - that topics never appear in Active so people don’t get replies.

AIBU has become so diluted with ‘for traffic’ posts that it’s more or less doing the same thing as Chat, except because it’s AIBU and that topic has become known for being ‘robust’, people are ruder than they would be in Chat.

I think it should be compulsory that AIBU has a poll. And if you don’t want a poll you should post in another topic

I have AIBU hidden from Active and I therefore see a wider range of threads

Please can you tell me how to hide AIBU from active. I would love to do this but haven't found a way so far.

Settings
more settings
talk settings

scroll to the bottom

manage hidden topics

When people put things like AIBU to ask you for holiday suggestions? it’s really tempting to just put Yes & leave it at that.

@SheilaFentiman
Thank you!

This is a good idea.

I agree, though that wouldn't stop people posting things that aren't really an AIBU, or using wording that doesn't make it clear what the 2 options mean.

Good idea to have yes/no options on other topics @monpetitlapin .

Yep, far too many “posting for traffic” in AIBU 🙄

This is a really clear example of a thread which doesn’t belong in AIBU but the OP has left voting enabled despite there not being an AIBU.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4858214-woman-stripped-and-left-topless-in-a-cell

I actually reported this at the time to suggest it might be better in News but it’s still in AIBU.

@LilyMumsnet You suggest reporting threads for moving, but I do exactly that when a thread clearly would get better responses in another topic but 9 times out of 10, it stays in AIBU and I’ve been told that you don’t generally move threads so which is it?

Agreed. Sick of people misusing AIBU. Half the time it's not only people too dim to find the right forum here on MN but too dim even to use Google (eg" AIBU to ask you how to get from Euston to South Kensington"). Move the threads out! Too bad if they lose their poll, shouldn't have posted here in the first place Why can't we have A/B polls on other boards, anyway?

It should just be renamed

WTAF FFS CF'er or what PARKING 😱

It would be highly sought after!

My main objection to AIBU is that it’s not so much ‘Am I Being Unreasonable?’ as the online version of the Monty Python Argument Shop. People post there just for a scrap.

Agree that it should just be removed now. I remember when it started - people did actually title threads "Am I being unreasonable to..." so it was deemed there was a demand for it. But if you got rid of it, Chat threads would all just be called "AIBU...".

I've put things on AIBU just to get a response, because I know my thread is otherwise too dull to attract attention 😀

I never post on AIBU because I can't handle the crap you get on there. I do agree though. It should be strictly that not 'posting for traffic'

Something I find even more annoying than people using AIBU for non AIBU posts, is people using "to ask xyz" as their thread title anywhere other than AIBU.

Use Chat for traffic. Plenty of things in Chat could go in other topics but “ should
i get a green or blue carpet?” is fine in chat rather than properly/diy

But AIBU has always been controversial and at the same time what MN is known for. It’s not going anywhere. I encourage everyone to customise r their MN experience by hiding topics from active ( for me, AIBU. Royal family and Sex