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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Bunbury's guide to community disruptors part 5

983 replies

ItsLateHumpty · 20/06/2020 15:04

The useful Bunbury Guide to Spotting Community Disruptors is constantly evolving.

The best research and advice is not to engage with community disruptors and trolls. As ever, if you suspect troll activity, report it to MNHQ.

Remember our monitors would like to silence us by fair means or foul.

This is a continuation of the Public Service Announcement thread:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3691023-Bunburys-guide-to-community-disruptors-part-4

If and when you see threads plopped into FWR, especially a curious repeat of well worn topics, maybe check for poster history before engaging. AS is your friend.

There are a number of posts/posters/threads that are reproduced on Twitter or Facebook to foment controversy using screen shots & flagging to either MNHQ to have threads or posters deleted.. Sometimes, it’s used to approach commissioning editors with ideas for articles. It’s a tiresome tactic that we always have community disruptor posters who themselves post the comments that they then highlight elsewhere as purported evidence of racism, religious intolerance, anti-men sentiments, or transphobia.

Some helpful links can be found in the ‘Break it Down for me’ and ‘It never happens’ threads but in essence FermatsTheorem recommended “that in the absence of a block/hide poster button, I suggest the following strategy (given that you're talking to the lurkers).

Do not name check the sealion. Instead, respond to a depersonalised paraphrase:

"It is sometimes erroneously suggested that blah. Blah is wrong for the following reasons (short and pithy). If you need more information re. debunking blah, here's a link."

Then (this next step is important to combat derailment) go back up thread to the last useful contribution to the discussion, make sure you do name check that contributor, and pick up the discussion from that point.”

Go well Witches Gin

OP posts:
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Ereshkigalangcleg · 14/07/2020 14:35

I think people can feign to be hard of thinking, because it benefits their aims.

EmbarrassingAdmissions · 14/07/2020 14:38

feign to be hard of thinking

^^It allows a rapid pivot into JAQing.

PurpleCrowbarWhereIsLangCleg · 14/07/2020 14:43

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Ereshkigalangcleg · 14/07/2020 14:51

I could name 5.

Ereshkigalangcleg · 14/07/2020 14:51

But yes, bang on.

dolorsit · 14/07/2020 16:16

It's the constant 'wait for someone else to post something TRAish & bob along in their wake going "yeah what THEY said"'tactic.

It's actually something I've noticed amongst TRAs on FB and twitter - the inability to voice an argument. They mostly talk about how distressing something is but need to to wait for someone else to post a rebuttal. At which point they link with a "this". It was quite noticeable after the JK blog.

bishopgiggles · 14/07/2020 16:34

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

FannyCann · 18/07/2020 01:47

Please explain. Please discuss. Why is it always on a Friday night? I'd like to know what it is about Fridays.

Anyway it's late. If recipes are being shared in the morning I promise to post my lemon meringue pie recipe. It's a winner.

madwoman1ntheattic · 18/07/2020 03:54

I burned my lemon meringue pie. Home economics o level 1986. Completely black meringue. 😂
I did get a cse grade 1 though.
Domestic goddessery nil points.

boatyardblues · 18/07/2020 12:38

God, there are some crashing bores around at the mo, the kind that make Gene Hunt look like a renaissance man.

boatyardblues · 18/07/2020 12:40

I am a decent cook. I burned most things I made in cookery exams at school. It turns out that cooking under exam conditions is not my thing.

FannyCann · 18/07/2020 13:12

LOL - I put my recipe book on the top of the grill and it caught fire!

BaronessBollyKnickers · 18/07/2020 13:33

God, there are some crashing bores around at the mo, the kind that make Gene Hunt look like a renaissance man.

I agree but do you have to be so mean to Gene?

bishopgiggles · 18/07/2020 19:19

@FannyCann

LOL - I put my recipe book on the top of the grill and it caught fire!
GrinGrin That's exactly the sort of thing I would do!
bishopgiggles · 18/07/2020 19:21

Anyway, you all better be quiet or I'll sack you while simultaneously assuring you that you'll be legally protected from said sacking!

madwoman1ntheattic · 18/07/2020 19:39

In terms of disruption, it’s an effective tactic though. If you bore everyone to the point of ennui and we all list on our fainting couches with dramatically upswept forearm sheltering our furrowed brows, we won’t be doing much activating.
Or alternately, the activating will be transferred from the keyboard to the sunlight Grin
I’m trying to decide if I can make one tangible RL action (letter of support, question to MP, government body, charity, company that is dismantling women’s rights. Or a donation to an entity activately engaged in a legal challenge (Maya, Allison, Katie, or the Tavi one) for every obvious TRA or MRA thread opener in FWR.
A sort of ‘every action has an equal and opposite reaction’. That way, I think I can trick my brain into believing their campaign against women’s spaces is a positive, instead of causing my blood pressure to rise and my brain to leak out of my ears.
I might even get to the point where I go ‘oh goody! (!!) Another one!’ instead of instant transformation into sweary trucker with anger management ishoos.
Instead of posting vitriol (or recipes) I could just post ‘thank you for your letter to x re y’, or ‘thank you for your donation to Maya Forstater’.
I’m a pretty simple soul and I think I could pull off the reverse bait and switch in my head? Grin

bishopgiggles · 18/07/2020 20:49

That's a good idea!

TinselAngel · 21/07/2020 10:33

Beware of making light hearted comments on threads about a certain type of male familiar to the trans widows, for that way lies the ban hammer.

Kantastic · 21/07/2020 12:04

athens.indymedia.org/media/old/cointelpro_techniques_for_dilution....pdf

This document is interesting - see the Techniques for Dilution, Misdirection and Control of an Internet Forum section which is the reason I'm posting it on this thread. I don't think anyone here is deliberately using it as an instruction manual but obviously some of the same techniques have been stumbled upon. You can also see how on other forums e.g. most of Reddit, the techniques have been taken to their final conclusion with TRAs installed in moderator positions deleting any dissent against them.

The 25 Techniques of Disinformation are also interesting and relevant.

But I think the "How to Spot a Spy" section is the most interesting section - because it describes TRA behaviour in especially feminist movements and also other leftist movements. Obviously these people aren't consciously counteragents. But they're acting exactly like it! It's uncanny. Maybe this document needs its own discussion thread, but I'll leave it here for now.

boatyardblues · 21/07/2020 17:43

Definitely give that document its own thread, Kantastic. I reckon it would generate some lively debate.

TinselAngel · 22/07/2020 08:38

Just copying this over in case people aren't aware:
Hi all. Just dropping by to give some clarity on some of the deletions on this thread. We think the 'stunning and brave' phrase tips too far towards being a transphobic trope and we're minded to delete it when it's reported. Thanks
Shock

FloresTorres · 22/07/2020 10:17

Gosh Tinsel. That's...erm.....very enthusiastic.
Thanks for all you do, you are an inspiration.

DianasLasso · 22/07/2020 10:22

Just in case it's not obvious the bit of quoted text Tinsel refers to was from MNHQ.

I'd comment but I don't think I can find the words to frame it without a deletion. But I'm strongly reminded of a certain phrase about pissing on someone's leg and telling them it's raining.

Kit19 · 22/07/2020 10:39

I got a comment deleted for suggesting that ignoring a certain poster who was consistently merailing a thread was the way forward

It was quite obvious the poster who had accused us of being snowflakes had reported the comment which was particularly amusing 😆

bishopgiggles · 22/07/2020 12:37

I do agree that the 'stunning and brave' phrase is used as a pisstake more often than not. Whether or not one feels one should be allowed to piss-take, however lightheartedly, is another matter...

Which thread was that from, Tinsel?

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