Usernames

[invisiblecat]

I see what you've done there. I wonder whether anyone else has noticed yet.

Lol there is that, too @Thisismynewname2024 .

Oh maybe I'm thinking something slightly different. A good few months or so back . I would change name to make a new thread called thread Z. And then change name again to make thread Y... but if I went back to thread Z my name would automatically go back to the name I used for thread Z.

Yes, that would be the default, but you had the option to manually change it.

Tbf most people didnt realise you could do this. I didn't know you could write over the "your username" box until I saw someone mention it.

I thought this happened ages ago. The @ thingy isn't working now though oops

The @ thingy seems to be working fine in the desktop mode. Where is it not working for you, @JaneJeffer ?

We get that you're a wee bit disappointed about this change.

But to be fair, it's not just to prevent the trolls from having a field day. Genuine Mumsnetters are often caught out when they start a thread with a specific username and then post again using the wrong name. We get a huge number of reports from people mortified that their posting history will be uncovered and asking us to remove posts or change their name on the posts in question. So this will prevent those kind of genuine errors, as well as thwarting the trolls.

But that isn't the same.

The recent excellent update you had solved this issue.

The thread would remember your username and only change it you actively clicked on username and overwrote it with a NC. This was a great improvement.

Not being able to change names is a real shame, firstly for the laughs but I've just been on a post and not replied as I wanted to NC mid thread as was going to post something identifying but helpful to the OP. And now I can't.

Just feels like the trolls win.

@ColinTheDachshund

Can you let the pub know me and Kevin the Seagull have been barred from the pub until the next thread! (Unless you're also barred!)

Goes off to throw up fur balls in MNHQ!!!

@sockpuppet are you with us?

Like others I name change frequently (I'm sure many people I know are also on MN) and I've always thought it was good practice to name change.

I thought its always been this way. Any thread that I revisit has the original username I posted with. I didn't realise it could be overwritten again. I'm surprised this was ever allowed.

I think, but haven't checked, that if you are on a thread you have never posted on, you could still NC before posting.

i agree with Nobby though - I'm not sure how the previous situation wouldn't have been ideal? If people are actively overwriting the default username they're not doing it by accident, surely?

We are

@InfradeadToUltraviolent

yeah agree with both those points.

I also agree with this.

@JoMumsnet it was the app but I reinstalled it last night because of another problem with it and it's fine now

@AndNobbyDancing no more swapping tennis players mid thread for you

Yes, the first post you make on a thread can be your current name, any other username you have previously used, or you can go and namechange and get a new one. Whichever name you choose is the one that all your posts on that thread will have.

It saves name changing though. If I am logged on as 'invisiblecat' and I often post under 'invisibleweeds' on all the threads in the gardening topic, I can type the name I want to use on a gardening thread without having to go into settings and namechange first.

@JaneJeffer and whilst I love him I don't think even I can stand a whole thread as 'AndDjokovicDancing'

@invisiblecat but all that changed in the last update, and for the better. But changing mid thread, and not for sock puppeting purposes was still allowed.

The trolling on this site is often out of hand, sockpupetting has been a lower concern than general antagonist posting. I'd rather the trolls dealt with than a perk of Mumsnet removed.

There must be a way around it, but I doubt there is the appetite.

The trolling on this site is often out of hand, sockpupetting has been a lower concern than general antagonist posting. I'd rather the trolls dealt with than a perk of Mumsnet removed.
Yes I'm surprised if there's so much sockpuppeting to warrant this plus it's always fun when there's a name change fail

Testing

Ask me how I got this username.......

Steven the Seagull is missing in action too.

<wag wag wag smirk>

I am in a very long running, very slow moving thread with an old and new user name. TBH I wish I had a different username altogether for it as I would then put more ‘outing’ things there. Now I have to go back to my original username. It was annoying having to type the new one in each time tbh. Oh well, one day we will get to 1000 posts and then I can have a clean slate.