Why does the site accuse me of posting "too much" after two measly posts?

[MsAmerica]

And, additionally annoying, why does it only do this after I've already spent the time assembling the post?

2 posts or 2 threads? And over what time period?

So you mean your posts were too long? Or did you start two threads at the same time? Earlier today I posted ten or so comments to different threads within about 20 minutes and the site didn’t have a problem with that.

Could it be the subject matter. Too many other threads with the same subject at the moment.

I think the trigger was two top-posts starting threads, probably within the space of five minutes. Neither was long. Neither was offensive. I usually have limited internet time, so I try to go as fast as I can. It's not the first time it's happened.

That happened to me recently and it was just a glitch. It sorted itself out eventually.

Hi MsAmerica,

We have filters in place to prevent multiple threads from being posted from the same account in a short space of time - it's usually spammers who tend to post in this way so it largely doesn't affect most Mumsnetters, and it helps us to keep the site as spam-free as we can!

We're sorry if occasionally it catches out genuine members of the site but we think it's a useful tool in the fight against spam.

Just to be clear - you're saying that the system might stop someone from posting quick brief items ("Can you recommend a hotel in Cannes?" "How long do eggs stay fresh?") regardless of content or past history?

The filter picks up on the number of new threads from one account in a short space of time

It doesn’t read the content of the threads. It’s just automatic recognition

Overzealous threading maybe. Were they different topics @MsAmerica ?

Maybe there needs to be some recognition that some people type faster than others.

Yes, different topics in different forums. And what's really annoying is that it doesn't reject you until after you've done the work of assembling the post.

To be fair the filtering system could hardly reject the post before it is posted.

If they were so close together as to trigger the filter, I doubt there was significant work done to assemble the thread.

Im happy for the filter to stop ‘how long do eggs stay fresh’ posts

Well it couldn’t reject the post before you write it, as how would it know?

Is it really that big of a deal? I can’t imagine getting worked up by something like this unless I had nothing else going on in my life and relied on mumsnet as a form of socialising/ entertainment. Just start a thread wait a while then start another one. Failing that use google or chat gpt if you’re looking for a factual answer.

It could give an error message when you click to begin writing a post if you‘ve just posted one, since the content is irrelevant

How is it a problem, now that you know not to post multiple threads in a short period?

It is hard to imagine anyone needing to be able to do this -- unless they were posting in some sort of weird monetised way.

Surely if you type quickly and are posting in quick succession you can't be taking that long to assemble the posts? There are plenty of criticisms you can level at Mumsnet but this doesn't sound like a huge issue really. Now you know so you can take a minute in between starting threads.

How much work did you put in “assembling” a post on how long eggs stay fresh?

Of course it can! If I'm not going to be allowed to top-post, it should block me when I click on "Start thread."

It didn’t know how long you were going to take to write the post!

You object to simple homelife questions? Isn't that one of the main functions of forums like these?

I invented that, as an example of something that could have taken just seconds to type. It could just as easily been "Do you tend to more often wear skirts or pants?" or "Apart from Rome, what's the best Italian city to visit?"

Main function? No, as far as I’m aware it’s not a forum aimed mainly at asking mundane housekeeping questions. I wouldn’t bother using it if it was.