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Troll hunting and thread deletions

(720 Posts)
LaraGransnet (GNHQ) Tue 18-Aug-20 22:29:37

Hello
We wanted to clear a few things up:
1) We don't allow troll hunting on the forums. If you are worried someone may not be genuine, please email us directly or report any concerning posts to us. We will deal with it. Making accusations on the forums is not helpful and could, if incorrect, lead to possibly vulnerable people feeling victimised. We will have to delete threads that accuse other users of being trolls.
2) PMs. We take a very dim view of this being abused. If you receive an unwanted or unkind PM please report it to us. We can take a look and deal with it. You are also able to block other users so that they are no longer able to PM you. Please use this. And apologies in advance if this does happen to you. It's not nice and not what Gransnet is about at all.
3) Despite what it feels like tonight hmm we do not enjoy deleting threads. We have a handful of guidelines, all there with the purpose of making the threads better, and more welcoming for users. We are doing our best and rely on you to report things to us that seem concerning, so thank you for caring so much about the site and reporting anything that looks suspicious.

Thank you
GNHQ

phoenix Tue 18-Aug-20 23:00:30

LaraGransnet

Thank you for your post. However it would seem that your speed at deleting threads is quicker than your response to dealing with abusive pms.

Your point 2)

With regard to suspect posters, as far as I'm aware quite a few members have expressed concerns regarding people having multiple user names, which as far as I'm aware is contrary to GN rules, yet no response to these messages has as yet been forthcoming. Forgive me if I'm wrong.

LaraGransnet (GNHQ) Tue 18-Aug-20 23:09:36

Hi Phoenix
We can't comment on specific users but whenever we receive a report to contactus from someone who is concerned about whether another poster is genuine or not (or sock-puppeting), we do look into it and take action when needed. It's always useful to get the heads up from users though. As you know we aren't able to read every post so regular users are often able to alert us to early warning signs. We only ask that this is done directly to us and not on the forums, just in case the suspicions are unfounded. smile

phoenix Tue 18-Aug-20 23:14:53

"sock-puppeting" confused?? Not a phrase I'm familiar with!

welbeck Tue 18-Aug-20 23:16:48

i guess if people have multiple email addresses, it is easy to join GN under different names.
don't see what GN can do about that.
but i do admire the textual analysis skills that some posters seem to have to identify same/similar writing styles.

merlotgran Tue 18-Aug-20 23:17:17

Sooty and Sweep are trolls? shock

Who knew?

phoenix Tue 18-Aug-20 23:27:06

welback a lot of people have more than one email address, I do myself, it helps to filter the stuff from companies that you have done business with, and emails from friends.

However I would never use them to create different identities on a forum such as this. I believe that there are other ways to identify multiple memberships, something to do with the registration number associated with the ISP number, which could be different when using a work computer or a home one. (Dancing in the dark a bit here, not very tech minded, sure others more able than I will be able to confirm or deny!)

Doodle Tue 18-Aug-20 23:27:49

Well I always had my suspicions about Soo merlotgran ?

phoenix Tue 18-Aug-20 23:30:50

Agree, Doodle far too sugary sweet! But Sweep was a bit of a rascal, wasn't he!

phoenix Tue 18-Aug-20 23:33:55

Sorry, flippant reponse, suppose we should reply in the serious tone that this issue deserves.

Marydoll Tue 18-Aug-20 23:35:19

A sockpuppet is an online identity used for purposes of deception. The term, a reference to the manipulation of a simple hand puppet made from a sock, originally referred to a false identity assumed by a member of an Internet community who spoke to, or about, themselves while pretending to be another person

Lara I did as you suggested and contacted HQ last week about this very issue, giving reasons for my suspicions, including having received some very bizarre PMs, which led me to believe there was a poster with multiple user names.
The reply I received, said that there was no issue and if I received any more disingenuous PMs to let HQ know.

The events of today have made me wonder if my suspicions were not unfounded after all.

I hate to see vulnerable posters being taken in and spun a yarn.

POGS Tue 18-Aug-20 23:41:39

What thread has been deleted?

I can't stand all this indirect feeding of information as though we all know what the hell is going on.

Thank you. Signed Pinocchios Granny.

phoenix Tue 18-Aug-20 23:53:15

Sorry POGS but too complicated to explain at this time of night!

Marydoll good to know that I wasn't the only one contacting GNHQ with concerns, of course we don't know if they were about the same poster.

MaizieD Tue 18-Aug-20 23:55:34

POGS

What thread has been deleted?

I can't stand all this indirect feeding of information as though we all know what the hell is going on.

Thank you. Signed Pinocchios Granny.

It's all a mystery to me, too, POGS, but I don't think anyone is allowed to tell us because then this would become a thread about a thread and against the guidelines. And the mods won't tell.

So unless someone PMs you and me to explain we'll never know...

Marydoll Tue 18-Aug-20 23:58:46

Phoenix, GDPR regulations forbid the naming on a public forum.?

Glad to know I'm not delusional after all. However, I won't bother in future, I'm pretty annoyed by the whole business.☹️

Goodbyetoallthat Wed 19-Aug-20 03:00:41

Another one here rather confused by all this.
Would we be contacted to tell us if we were part of the problem? (By the way i sincerely hope I am not!).

Bathsheba Wed 19-Aug-20 07:13:58

Goodness I thought I’d been keeping abreast of everything on GN lately, but I have no idea what this is about!
Must try harder...

Calendargirl Wed 19-Aug-20 07:20:36

Have just looked back. The deleted threads are the ones I thought they would be, surprise, surprise.

Not very interesting ones.

NanKate Wed 19-Aug-20 07:27:49

Thumbs up ??to Sooty, Sweep and Soo, who make my grandsons fall about laughing. And of course Richard too, who took over looking after those rascals when Harry Corbett and the his son, retired.

sodapop Wed 19-Aug-20 07:34:23

Think we are still in our parallel universe Bathsheba just back from dog walking and no idea what this is all about.

kittylester Wed 19-Aug-20 07:40:15

Apparently, they are not all they seem to be kate!!

More seriously - I dont really know what happened last night but, on the face of it, surely anyone should have the right to call out another poster who sends nasty PMS?

Can Lara or someone from GNHQ tell me if this is specifically against the rules.

My concern is that someone who is at a vulnerable point could be really affected by getting such a PM and we all know that bullies have an innate sense for attacking weakness.

Obviously, they picked the wrong person when they picked on phoenix.

If that's what happened.confused

kircubbin2000 Wed 19-Aug-20 07:46:45

Typical! As usual I've missed all the excitement.No idea what happened or how you knew.

kittylester Wed 19-Aug-20 07:47:37

And, the threads have gone completely from Active - does that usually happen?

I serious thought I had lost the plot when I went back to look for it.

Grandad1943 Wed 19-Aug-20 08:06:32

The thing that has struck me over the last few months would be that some forum members undoubtedly change their user name more often than they change their underwear. ?

downtoearth Wed 19-Aug-20 08:15:11

Morning all
I had been watching from the sidelines and wondered,the two threads have dissapeared am I right in thinking that those where the ones removed.