Name changing should be limited.

[MrMurphysComeuppance]

There have been several discussions recently about the number of very formulaic and almost certainly fake dilemma/ AIBU threads, always designed to strongly polarise opinion or get people's backs up somehow, always started by brand new user names who are never seen again outside of that thread.

These posters rarely or never even bother to engage much in the thread they started, while it rumbles on for pages and pages without them. It's pissing quite a few people off and ultimately leading to the dumbing down and 'enshittification' of the forum.

It's been discussed at length who might be motivated to do this and why, but pretty simple to stop, or at least massively curtail those sorts of threads.

I appreciate the ability to name change and I do it fairly often to keep as anonymous as possible, like many people. Gone are they days where we have one user name for years, everyone knows us by it and anyone who wanted to piece together our life story and therefore our real identity could do so.

However, is it really necessary to have unlimited name changes with no restrictions on the frequency at all? Of course it isn't. As it is, I could literally start twenty fake threads a day under twenty different user names and not engage with any of them beyond my OP, or engage on anyone else's threads either. Just sit there all day long creating fake threads to wind 'em up and watch 'em go. Rinse and repeat daily for a year. It could be my job. I mean it's clearly someone's job.

Is this really the forum anyone wants?

Why not limit the number of name changes a person can have in a week? Or certainly within a day. That would be easy for tech to do and would not stop people being able to name change for their own genuine and valid reasons. But let's be honest, no real poster has ten of those reasons in one week all requiring a separate user name, do they?

It's been suggested that clicking on a user name could show the number of posts (or threads started) under THAT NAME ONLY, how many other user names they have had under that account,and the date that account was registered. Obviously you wouldn't show their other names so there could be no cross referencing, but it would highlight the people/bots who are only here to create fake content multiple times a day. If you've had 30 user names in 36 days something's not quite cricket, is it?

Of course all of this assumes MNHQ actually wants to stamp out fake content that is irritating the hell out of many of us. Does it?

There is a limit, I’ve used 28 usernames and flick between them, but I can’t choose any more.

I'm less interested in abstract concepts of fairness and more in what you think it would achieve.

People who want to can still create multiple email addresses daily, so it wouldn't prevent pissing about. Only letting people have a set number in a set period inevitably means some users are going to avoid posting an otherwise good thread because they feel the need to namechange, and forget or the moment passes. Obviously HQ want to avoid that. 15 or 20 isn't much over the course of a few years either, and some people are 20+ years in at this point, so again they're just going to create new.

I've just counted mine, I've got 187 of them and it still lets me make new ones (been here best part of 20 years). I possibly ought to re-use them a bit more.

I’m not counting! But I imagine I’m similar. Not sure how long I’ve been here but I know I was in 2012 so a fair while

@MrMurphysComeuppance I’m not sure why you’re targeting name changes in particular

Bot farms etc can create thousands of accounts in minutes, can’t they?

I don’t see why individuals name changing worries you.

I NC lots as I’m worried about being spotted by someone I know.

I spotted someone I know once and wish I hadn’t.

i would stop posting if I couldn’t NC whenever I wanted.

I don’t know how you use MN or if you don’t post.

The way I use it is I create a new username for every post. I don’t want my history being dug up and influencing the thread.

I also have usernames for commenting and I just change it randomly on a whim if I feel like it, if it’s been too long, if I have encountered a troll or am being targeted thread to thread.

I also change username if I am commenting on something with identifying info and then immediately change back. So I must have so many usernames. 10 a year is ridiculously low. I could use 3 in a week if I do one post, and one name change for a sensitive comment. That’s hardly a lot.

IMO rather than limit the number of name changes, put a limiter in the thread which turns off commenting if the OP doesn’t post after either a certain number of posts or a certain amount of time. And then only the OP commenting can re-open the thread. That way it won’t drop into trending, and won’t become one of those threads where an OP posts once and doesn’t come back even though the thread goes on for days and days with hundreds of posts.

And let’s face it, there don’t need to be hundreds anand hundreds of posts, the OP can come back and drive the conversation if they want to. If they disappear then it’s obvious they didn’t actually want a conversation anyway so there’s no need for the thread to continue.

And let’s face it, there don’t need to be hundreds anand hundreds of posts

Lacking any further information from the op, after the first couple of pages there's probably nothing new to say anyway; they're all repeating what's already been said.