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Original poster

my life on mumsnet

40 replies

stitch · 05/09/2008 21:06

i am becoming increasingly concerned about just how much of my life is laid bare here on mumsnet. am i alone in thinking this?
mumsnet keeps threads for thirty thousand years, which is a bit needless surely? in real terms, it means that random comments i made four years ago, are still there, not quite carved in stone, but nevertheless there in writing for anyone to access. old threads can be dredged up, and given a very new, possibly negative spin.....in a society that is changing so fast, that can be a recipe for disaster.
perhaps mn hq could think about changing their policy of keeping chat threads forever.

OP posts:
southeastastra · 05/09/2008 21:10

they're all on google too stich do a search for your name there hahaha

CatIsSleepy · 05/09/2008 21:11

i thought Chat threads were only kept for 90 days

S1ur · 05/09/2008 21:13

Chat only for 90days.

I like ability to search further back on other threads.

Post in chat about dodgy stuff I think

Original poster
stitch · 05/09/2008 21:15

southeast, that only strenthens my point. my entire life is her on the internet for anyone to access. whether mnetters or not. but unlike speech, where sound waves eventually dissipate, unless actively recorded, all of the random comments we make here every evening are there for future generations. i'm not very comfortable with this. i realise that the simple solution would be to just not post, but i love mumsnet. and wouldnt know what to do without it. i'd be lost.
which is why i am asking if it is possible to have a policy where for example, any threads that havent had active posts for say, three years, are deleted..

OP posts:
Original poster
stitch · 05/09/2008 21:19

slur, what about theological philosophical debates? they never happen on chat, and they are the ones most likely to cause us problems in a couple of decades...

or other innocent stuff, that seems innocent at the time or writing but may nolonger be innocent in a few decades. for example, in the fifties it was ok to discriminate on the basis of race. but do that now, and you will be lynched. what opinions do we have righ tnow that we are comfortable with, but may make us ready to be lynched by a mob in two decades time?

OP posts:
southeastastra · 05/09/2008 21:21

we live in a free world don't worry about that stuff stitch

K999 · 05/09/2008 21:23

if you dont want you life to be laid bare then dont post on PUBLIC forums!

KerryMum · 05/09/2008 21:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
stitch · 05/09/2008 22:05

yes, i know k9, [exasperated sigh] not posting on mumsnet is unfortunately rather like asking me to stop eating chocolate. possible, but highly improbable.

not yet km, but if sarah palin can do it....... and i 'm getting rather fed up of our local mp. he never actually seems to actually do anything. just appears in places where he can get a free meal, and have his phot taken.

but, i have recntly read a book called queen camilla, and it has got me thinking just how orwellian, as in 1984 orwell, our society has become. anyone expressing any view ever so slightly diferent to the current accepted norm is criminalised, or lynched at the very least

and i really dont seee what benefit threads from 2002 or 2004 are to anyone any more. people wont search them to find answers. they will google them. or ask the question again.

OP posts:
Original poster
stitch · 07/09/2008 10:24

so no one else is bothered abotut he fact that our every nonsensical thought is recorded for all eternity?

OP posts:
ShinyPinkShoes · 07/09/2008 10:34

Not bothered no.

If you don't want it there to be read either don't post it at all or namechange

Original poster
stitch · 07/09/2008 10:42

namechanging isn tmuch use as it is all linked to your email address anyways.
i am thinking long term issues here. not tomorrow, or next year.

OP posts:
Hassled · 07/09/2008 10:45

I think in a couple of hundred years reading the day to day mundane posts about life in Noughties UK (and beyond) for parents will be fascinating for historians - they will have the sort of insight to what happened that we just don't have to the same extent for say, parents in 1808. These records will be the historical equivalent of Pepys' Diary. Does that make you feel better ?

Original poster
stitch · 07/09/2008 10:54

no, i'm not to bothered about what people think about me in a few centuries time.
i'm thinking , for example, of the queen mother. apparently she supported apartheid. something that to us, now, appears completely horrendous. however, at that time, in that social class, that was quite a normal opinion. the queen mother did a lot of good things in her life, but, if she had written about it on mn, then its quite probable that it would be all she is remembered for.
what about religious opinions. say someone is catholic, and expresses mildly catholic views righ tnow. but in two decades time, when the mob had been attacking catholics and burning them at the stake, then these innocent remarks could lead to..... well, nasty things happening.
i dont think it is benefical to us, current mumsnetters, to have our random thoughts online forever more. which is why i think the three years rule may be acceptable.

OP posts:
Bronze · 07/09/2008 10:58

I did a search on my name the other day and found posts from just after when my first was born in 03. I cringed reading them. I would prefer they weren't there so I can pretend they didnt exist.

frumpygrumpy · 07/09/2008 11:04

My life on here is a diary. One I keep meaning to print off. I would hate to lose some of it.

VictorianSqualor · 07/09/2008 11:15

It doesn't bother me in the least.
I name change or post in chat for anything I don't want people to know it's me.
As for theological debates etc, If I'm going to be persecuted for my beliefs then I'm going to be persecuted. I wouldn't hide them.

SoupDragon · 07/09/2008 11:18

Doesn't bother me at all. If it did I wouldn't post it or I would post it under another name (of which I have several under more than one email address)

VictorianSqualor · 07/09/2008 11:20

Bloody 'ell Soupy, you are organised

SoupDragon · 07/09/2008 11:22

Some would say organised, some would say sad.

TheDuchessOfNork · 07/09/2008 11:25

I'm with VS in that I'm happy to stand by, or explain, any views I've posted. I rarely name change for delicate matters.

If I'm pilloried in 2032 for bootcamping, keeping chickens or thinking that God created Morph from clay, then anyone smart will recognise it for what it was and the airheads can enjoy reading having it read to them from the DM.

Soapbox · 07/09/2008 11:25

No - I wouldn't want my posts deleted at all

I am really looking forward to sitting down with my DCs when they have children pouring over my (by then) hilarious views on child rearing.

I do however, tend to be careful about what I write here in light of that. I am careful never to write negatively about the children or about my DH.

As to my views on societal issues, I tend to the tolerant spectrum on these topics, except for smacking, and if in the future someone decrees that smacking children is a necessary part of child rearing, I would still be out there (and on here) telling everyone that that is a ridiculous idea!

So no, I definitely don't support deleting threads from the past - those threads will be of such hisoric interest in years to come. It will be an almost unprecedented view inside the day to day lives of families in the early 2000's, something that social historians would love to have available to them for other eras

katierocket · 07/09/2008 11:27

I think about this sometimes. Particularly as I stupidly forgetfully used by chat name on another (business related) social network.

katierocket · 07/09/2008 11:28

'my' chat name not 'by' chatname

Carmenere · 07/09/2008 11:28

I do try not to post anything that I could be embarrassed by. I am not ashamed of my opinions, if I make a mistake or feel I have been rude/hurtful, I apologise.
Personal stuff, I rarely post and I am not ashamed of having personal problems any way. And as it is highly unlikely that I am ever going to be famous, i don't think that anyone would be bothered to search any information on me anyhow.