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See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Any chance MN HQ could ban posters who consistently speculate regarding trolls...

115 replies

hmc · 12/06/2010 23:38

It's getting really boring when a number of posters repeatedly keep dissecting threads and questioning how genuine the OP is, often leaving a lot of ill feeling in their wake. Seen a lot of it around lately - it is becoming an epidemic!

The MN policy on trolls says:
"we would rather Mumsnet erred on the side of giving folks the benefit of the doubt and risked being made to look a bit foolish than pounce on someone who turns out to be genuinely in need of help. We hope you agree"

So perhaps MN HQ would consider banishing the repeat offenders to some poisonous cesspit of malice? They wouldn't be missed.

OP posts:
2shoes · 15/06/2010 22:17

thing is some trolls(and sir boobs is not a troll)
play the long game.
remember globetrotter?
I couldn't figure what she was up to,she even went as far as to buy dd a pc.....
then it became clear she wanted info on dd's school.

DeFluffy · 15/06/2010 22:46

Can I just say that that thread re bf kicked off because several posters swore and were rather ott to someone who had expressed surprise at the thread. That poster didn't, i believe, say the op was a troll, just said it was strange they'd had it happen to them 3 times. They surely are allowed to express their opinion?

It all got a bit hysterical after that.

edam · 15/06/2010 22:57

I like Custy's idea.

And I do wish the trollhunters would listen to the MN guidelines. People who rush to yell 'troll' at anyone who has a different life to their own are rather tiresome. FFS, the real trolls have had far more involved, detailed, bizarre threads than 'I met a nutter on the bus...'. Maybe MN should resurrect the JF threads just so would-be troll hunters can go and see what a REAL troll is like?

wukter · 15/06/2010 23:03

Love the idea of Tales of the Unexpected topic.

tortoiseonthehalfshell · 16/06/2010 03:05

WannaBe, that's precisely why I (and the OP, given the thread title) are talking about repeated trollhunting.

And I do think that when MNHQ is confident enough to ban/warn off a suspected troll, there should be some sort of indication on the site so that people know. I'd also really like a 'sticky' thread of deleted thread titles so that I knew what the hell had happened to them, but that's just me.

Really, though, I'm not making a judgement on whether MNHQ's troll policy is correct. I'm saying that it's their policy and their site, and so yes, people who repeatedly and deliberately flout those rules should be banned. I don't see why it's okay to just decide you don't agree with site rules and therefore ignore them. It's not a democracy.

mumoverseas · 16/06/2010 07:34

custy the x files theme

thesecondcoming · 16/06/2010 09:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ItsAllaBitNoisy · 16/06/2010 09:35

It's not "tough".

IG-bloody-NORE.

thesecondcoming · 16/06/2010 12:47

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

catinthehat2 · 16/06/2010 14:12

Also, not sure why it's acceptable to say "I believe", but NOK to say "I don't believe" or even to ask a simple question to check an oddity and get it answered.

People who want their story taken seriously can usually come up with a sensible answer, attention seekers just fly off the handle and make a huge fuss until lots of posters pacify them and give lots of cuddles.

So, yes, I ask questions, I always ask questions, who doesn't? Do we have to suspend normality because we are communicating in writing rather than face to face?

wannaBe · 16/06/2010 15:08

oh yes my good friend globetrotter and her numerous aliases.

Itsallabit yes it is tough if you've been through a traumatic experience and you think that you can help someone going through the same thing.

Dizzymare sucked in two posters, both of whom had lost a twin and who could identify with what she was going through.

I sincerely doubt that it's that easy to ignore someone who is apparently going through something like that when you've been there.

StealthPolarBear · 16/06/2010 15:41

2shoes why did she want to buy your dd a computer??

PortiaNovmerriment · 16/06/2010 15:44

Who was globetrotter?

wannaBe · 16/06/2010 17:33

globetrotter was actually a bit more sinister than your average troll, even more so than the ones like dm/cvq.

She claimed to be blind, and claimed to have set up a NGO in vietnam helping (I can't remember whether it was just blind or varying disabilities) children (they were orphans iirc.

She spent time posting on the sn boards, asking posters about their children, and remembering and bringing up several months later, sensitive details that certain posters had posted about their (vulnerable) children with sn.

Someone emailed me about her because some of the details she posted seemed a bit inconsistent with the disability she appeared to have, and I challenged her on a thread. I didn't accuse her of trolling, but basically introduced myself as a blind person too and related my own experiences.

After that she changed tack and began posting as her mother, and posted a thread A saying that people had no idea what her beloved daughter was going through and how wonderful she was, and B saying how dare I challenge her daughter yada yada.

A long thread insued, during which people challenged her on how genuine she was, she claimed to have a website (which didn't exist) and defended herself, both in her own name and that of her mother and received quite a harsh response.

Later on she started a thread in another name giving details of organizations in vietnam that could help "globetrotter" with the wonderful work she was doing. Lots of other posts followed, from other first-time posters, saying how they were friends of hers and how wonderful she was and how we were all bitches for ever doubting her etc etc.

And then she disappeared.

And then she came back under another name, claiming to live abroad but this time having lots of experience of autism. she was outed again afaik.

She returned again as globetrotter because, as it was later revealed by mn hq, they had taken away her ability to namechange due to her misuse of the function.

It since transpired that she had based her persona on that of a blind german woman who has in fact set up a NGO in the far east somewhere, I can't recall the exact details but she posted wanting people to know of this woman and wanting to know how she could spread the word...

Since then she came back under the name topBitch and iirc it was at that time that she got in touch with 2shoes based on a post she wrote about her dd's need for a computer.

I don't know how that all panned out, I know that the computer was purchased, and subsequent to that she started to try and gain information from 2shoes about her dd's school, but none of her personas have been back since.

TopBitch was banned after I voiced my concerns to mn hq based on the fact she had obtained 2shoes' name and address and the initial delivery of the computer had not materialized.

am sure there's more but this did actually play out over at least a year.

StealthPolarBear · 16/06/2010 17:36

oh yes i rememebr her, veyry odd

PortiaNovmerriment · 16/06/2010 17:37

Wow

2shoes · 16/06/2010 17:39

i do have to say that DD did get the pc9I am on it now) and she did seem real, We emailed for a while(as you do when someone has helped your child) but then the school bit came up.
so i have had no more contact.
so although she was "real" she was still a troll.

SanctiMoanyArse · 16/06/2010 17:40

Wannabe I remember her of yes- she started a thread about me becuase I (peachy) didn't have enough aspirations for all disabled kids and that all could work or something. Except the kid she was referring to that I had meant was my own child who has severe ASD.

She nearly got me to leave Mumsnet in a fit of tears.

wannaBe · 16/06/2010 17:43

that's right I remember that.

Afaik that was the thread where I voiced my opinions.

2shoes · 16/06/2010 17:46

I once started a thread in chat
it was a no event thread, about 10 replies, one person disagreed, so no biggie, the subject was me needing advice on shaving dd's armpits!

months later, long after the thread would have disapeared she brought it up on another thread, even remembering it was my thread!!! that was odd

SanctiMoanyArse · 16/06/2010 17:48

Think it was Wannabe though think I might have blanked specific info from my memory!

2shoes yes I recall that as well- was very concerning.

GeekOfTheWeek · 16/06/2010 17:51

I firmly believe that knowing someone in rl does not make them incapable of trolling or exagerrating.

Agree with catinthehat, why is it deemed not okay to question a post you are sceptical about? Especially when it is a regular.

wannaBe · 16/06/2010 21:48

oh absolutely geek. People met cvq in rl, and the child modelling one.

2shoes · 16/06/2010 22:15

of course it is ok to question a post, but to then carry on making trouble for the op, well that is plain nasty

edam · 17/06/2010 13:06

2shoes is right, questioning posts is fine, but calling people trolls because they've met a nutter on the bus is just daft. globetrotter and JF and all the rest were far more complicated than that!

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