Page 3 | How is outside influence of thread being handled

OnSecondThoughts · 10/01/2025 18:52

Universities use custom software to detect AI being used in coursework, don't they. So, I would imagine that as it becomes more and more important to know what or who you're speaking to online, apps etc will come along to help us.

KnightsTemplar00 · 10/01/2025 18:54

chicken2015 · 10/01/2025 18:17

So that is my reasoning for asking the question but to be honest it doesn't need a reason for the question to be asked! People seem to have pushed their toys of the pram due to my reasoning but seem to completely miss the fact it's a valid question!

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at a guess this in a roundabout way answers your question, if it was bots then it would be specifically answered if its human then they will discuss the majority of x,y,z reasoning while ignoring the main question itself

Icanthinkformyselfthanks · 10/01/2025 19:09

chicken2015 · 10/01/2025 12:15

I would like to know if mumsnet has a problem with AI coming in to threats to disrupt and influence people's opnions on particularly politics. I know it happens and mumsnet is a area of Internet that is used. There seems to be a much higher number of musk, Robinson, farage loving posts much more than I've ever seen on the years I've been here . I don't belive they all are, but is this something that is a of a concern or are you OK with the traffic?

@chicken2015 , both Conservative and Reform voters have been rather quiet about that fact especially in the company of many Left wing voters (not just here). Perhaps now that others are posting their support for Reform others are feeling emboldened. It makes sense that there would be an increase in support for Reform here given that their level of support as shown in polls is on a swiftly upward trajectory.

Icanthinkformyselfthanks · 10/01/2025 19:25

stealthsquirrelnutkin · 10/01/2025 15:22

"There seems to be a much higher number of musk, Robinson, farage loving posts much more than I've ever seen on the years I've been here ."

Have you considered that people have realised that the BBC and other "reputable" media sources have been hiding the truth? I used to trust them until they went batshit over gender identity and started to warp and misrepresent the needs and rights of ordinary old lesbians like myself.

I gradually realised that they had also been distorting the truth in other areas, keeping quiet about stories they wanted to smother, and boosting sympathetic coverage of ideologies that were at heart misogynist, and deliberately undermined all the accepted knowledge concerning child safeguarding. I came to distrust media sources that I'd previously assumed were unbiased.

I think there are is an ever growing number of people who have grown tired of being treated like mushrooms "kept in the dark and fed on manure", who have started looking elsewhere for information. I always score to the left of Jeremy Corbyn and Caroline Lucas on online political affiliation tests, but I'm now more likely to trust GB news than the BBC. That doesn't make me a bot, it just means I have adapted my behaviour patterns in response to circumstances.

So instead of convincing yourself that the change in public opinion is caused by evil right wing propaganda bots you should perhaps consider the possibility that growing numbers of people are getting very angry, because they don't like the changes they see happening in our society.

It may come as a shock, especially if you've been living in a bubble surrounded by people who have been taught not to think for themselves, but ever increasing numbers of ordinary people have had enough of being kind and bending over backwards to accommodate groups that hate and despise them.

Elon Musk buying Twitter was a game changer. Once he put a stop to the "moderation" policy that banned and silenced dissent, it turned out that the previously silent majority were sick of being silenced, when they realised they could speak out without losing their twitter accounts they started to voice their opinions, there are still people who need to remain anonymous to protect their employment, but it has become plain that an overwhelming majority are not in favour of the drastic changes that have been forced on them without their consent.

It may astound you that decent ordinary people have had enough and are fighting back against having their kindness taken advantage of, but that doesn't make them bots. It just indicates you need to expand your horizons, and stop automatically dismissing anyone who doesn't share your opinions.

@stealthsquirrelnutkin , thank you. Your answer was exactly how I see the situation but it does seem that some who’ve lived in a bit of a bubble with only people who think like they do are finding people who don’t think the same to be literally unbelievable. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Original poster

chicken2015 · 10/01/2025 19:27

Icanthinkformyselfthanks · 10/01/2025 19:09

@chicken2015 , both Conservative and Reform voters have been rather quiet about that fact especially in the company of many Left wing voters (not just here). Perhaps now that others are posting their support for Reform others are feeling emboldened. It makes sense that there would be an increase in support for Reform here given that their level of support as shown in polls is on a swiftly upward trajectory.

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Regardless of who the polical views are I want to know if I'm speaking to computer generated ai , that isn't the answer to my question. Yes there could be more reform voters on mumsnet it doesn't matter. Again my reasoning isn't a reason to dismiss this question.

OP posts:

Original poster

chicken2015 · 10/01/2025 19:29

Icanthinkformyselfthanks · 10/01/2025 19:25

@stealthsquirrelnutkin , thank you. Your answer was exactly how I see the situation but it does seem that some who’ve lived in a bit of a bubble with only people who think like they do are finding people who don’t think the same to be literally unbelievable. 🤷🏼‍♀️

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I literally say that I have friends who is a reform voter! I personally find it more fascinating that people are so quick to dismiss a very valid question. So r people genuinely fine with speaking to ai ??

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MNHQ

BeckyAMumsnet · 11/01/2025 11:37

Hi everyone. We’ve noticed a growing trend of users accusing others of being bots, shills, or otherwise insincere simply because of differences in political opinion. In the majority of cases, when we look into the person being accused, they've been on the site for a fair while and have posted about a range of topics.
We’d like to remind everyone that this behaviour is considered troll hunting and is against our Talk Guidelines. Please report any concerns rather than accuse posters of not being genuine. It's generally pretty apparent to us if someone is here solely to push an agenda. Thanks, all.

Mumsnet's Talk Guidelines | Mumsnet

A guide to using Mumsnet's discussion boards (Talk), including netiquette, rules of use and how to stay on the right side of the moderating team!

https://www.mumsnet.com/i/netiquette

Original poster

chicken2015 · 11/01/2025 12:30

BeckyAMumsnet · 11/01/2025 11:37

Hi everyone. We’ve noticed a growing trend of users accusing others of being bots, shills, or otherwise insincere simply because of differences in political opinion. In the majority of cases, when we look into the person being accused, they've been on the site for a fair while and have posted about a range of topics.
We’d like to remind everyone that this behaviour is considered troll hunting and is against our Talk Guidelines. Please report any concerns rather than accuse posters of not being genuine. It's generally pretty apparent to us if someone is here solely to push an agenda. Thanks, all.

Can my follow up question be asked please I sent it yesterday straight after u replied to my original comment

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Original poster

chicken2015 · 11/01/2025 12:32

BeckyAMumsnet · 11/01/2025 11:37

Hi everyone. We’ve noticed a growing trend of users accusing others of being bots, shills, or otherwise insincere simply because of differences in political opinion. In the majority of cases, when we look into the person being accused, they've been on the site for a fair while and have posted about a range of topics.
We’d like to remind everyone that this behaviour is considered troll hunting and is against our Talk Guidelines. Please report any concerns rather than accuse posters of not being genuine. It's generally pretty apparent to us if someone is here solely to push an agenda. Thanks, all.

Is there a whole network strategy that can detect when ai or bots are using mumsnet I mean like a technical thing that goes on behind the scenes?
Does mumsnet have policy on how to combat influtration of outside entries ? Is it something that they even care or think about?
Or is it just a case of traffic is traffic regardless of if its real people or not. ?

Where there is a company that rely on humans to interact with each other , I wanted to know if computer AI or bots are here with us? Like is the place I'm spending my time on is it all human? Or has ai or bots among us. Do u have the technology to even know this? I dont want to know what ur doing I wanted to know if u know .

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BooberFraggle · 11/01/2025 12:58

OP I know what you mean about the sudden increase in anti Labour, pro Trump and pro Musk posts. Sadly I don’t think they’re bots. I don’t even think Elon is paying people to post on MN.

I think as the cost of living crisis continues, people struggle to access the nhs then people get angry and want someone to blame and become more right wing, more racist. Scares me where this will end.

mumsnet used to be really quite “lefty”. If things have changed here I imagine it’s even worse elsewhere.

MNHQ

BeckyAMumsnet · 11/01/2025 13:19

chicken2015 · 11/01/2025 12:32

Is there a whole network strategy that can detect when ai or bots are using mumsnet I mean like a technical thing that goes on behind the scenes?
Does mumsnet have policy on how to combat influtration of outside entries ? Is it something that they even care or think about?
Or is it just a case of traffic is traffic regardless of if its real people or not. ?

Where there is a company that rely on humans to interact with each other , I wanted to know if computer AI or bots are here with us? Like is the place I'm spending my time on is it all human? Or has ai or bots among us. Do u have the technology to even know this? I dont want to know what ur doing I wanted to know if u know .

Edited

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We have various measures in place, but for obvious reasons, we don't go into detail about this. As we said, we can quickly tell if a poster is here to push a particular narrative. As far as bots, etc, go, it's not something we've experienced. The bigger concern for us is genuine posters being accused of being bots, which does tend to derail discussions and cause bad feeling.

Original poster

chicken2015 · 11/01/2025 14:04

BeckyAMumsnet · 11/01/2025 13:19

We have various measures in place, but for obvious reasons, we don't go into detail about this. As we said, we can quickly tell if a poster is here to push a particular narrative. As far as bots, etc, go, it's not something we've experienced. The bigger concern for us is genuine posters being accused of being bots, which does tend to derail discussions and cause bad feeling.

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Are you saying then that there is 'People' on your platform with particular agendas and who are not just the general public having different opnions? I'm not talking about regular people who use mumsnet in spare time as hobby, I'm talking about an organised effort to push a particular narrative and possibly be funded. And Any agenda not just one particular political party to influence people?

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HappyPanda613 · 11/01/2025 14:11

Dreamingofgoldfinchlane · 10/01/2025 18:29

There were daily threads about how awful the Tories were. It's completely understandable that this will be the same for Labour.

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Well that makes sense because the Tories were awful. Labour haven’t even been in power long enough for anybody to have any legitimate concerns.

myplace · 11/01/2025 14:23

HappyPanda613 · 11/01/2025 14:11

Well that makes sense because the Tories were awful. Labour haven’t even been in power long enough for anybody to have any legitimate concerns.

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Really? I’ve seen plenty that concerns me! I mean, they aren’t Boris (however did that happen?) but they aren’t Mary Poppins either! Plenty to complain about.

EasternStandard · 11/01/2025 14:27

HappyPanda613 · 11/01/2025 14:11

Well that makes sense because the Tories were awful. Labour haven’t even been in power long enough for anybody to have any legitimate concerns.

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Of course they can and going by polling many do.

MNHQ

BeckyAMumsnet · 11/01/2025 14:55

chicken2015 · 11/01/2025 14:04

Are you saying then that there is 'People' on your platform with particular agendas and who are not just the general public having different opnions? I'm not talking about regular people who use mumsnet in spare time as hobby, I'm talking about an organised effort to push a particular narrative and possibly be funded. And Any agenda not just one particular political party to influence people?

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We've seen no evidence of any organised effort to influence discussions on Mumsnet. While there are occasionally instances where posters focus heavily on a particular issue, these cases are quite rare, and we handle them on a case-by-case basis.

We’re not sure how many more assurances we can give at this stage, but it’s worth noting that Mumsnet users have always been deeply engaged in political issues. This is entirely understandable, especially given that many of us are parents who are affected by these matters daily. In the current climate, with the ongoing cost of living challenges, these topics are even more relevant and important to our users.

Differences of opinion are not only welcome on the boards, we firmly believe it's essential to meaningful and productive discussions where posters can exchange views openly, even if those views are challenging to others.

Original poster

chicken2015 · 11/01/2025 15:34

BeckyAMumsnet · 11/01/2025 14:55

We've seen no evidence of any organised effort to influence discussions on Mumsnet. While there are occasionally instances where posters focus heavily on a particular issue, these cases are quite rare, and we handle them on a case-by-case basis.

We’re not sure how many more assurances we can give at this stage, but it’s worth noting that Mumsnet users have always been deeply engaged in political issues. This is entirely understandable, especially given that many of us are parents who are affected by these matters daily. In the current climate, with the ongoing cost of living challenges, these topics are even more relevant and important to our users.

Differences of opinion are not only welcome on the boards, we firmly believe it's essential to meaningful and productive discussions where posters can exchange views openly, even if those views are challenging to others.

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Thank you for response.

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GrimDarkButNiceHair · 11/01/2025 18:46

I'm sure this is a case of "TSSDNCOP". But yes, I don't want to be part of a system that trains Ai to be more "life-like". The more individual Ai posts that are reported for being "too obviously ai generated" the more information the ai gets about what feels wrong to human readers....