Well, I'm the one who reported the threads, and I had responded a couple of times in a couple of them.

I come here looking for advice, and I also try to offer advice that is helpful.

I don't like feeling like I have been trying to be genuinely helpful, only to discover that I was responding to fake posts. Especially when there are multiple threads started by the same person, with slightly different perspectives or questions on the same topic.

It makes me feel like I am wasting my time, and makes me less likely to be open minded about the next question someone might post? Is it worth my time? Is this person for real or are they just pretending and wasting my time? Is this a serious question? Etc...

Likewise, if I post a question and look for advice I want other people to assume I'm for real, and give me honest helpful feedback.

I do my part to try to keep this a useful place - not a waste of time.

That's why it matters to me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why they were deleted. They weren't far fetched, and a lot of people took the time to post and had worthwhile discussions. A lot of MBs on here are very much the "Lean In" type, but there's this idea that a nanny who behaves in the same manner is pushy and doesn't know her place.

They were deleted because they were fake - all of them. A lot of people wasted time thinking they were helping others, when really they were just being had.

But people come to this site often looking for advice, and reading that thread may have helped. I don't see why it matters if they were fake, they weren't inflammatory.

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why they were deleted. They weren't far fetched, and a lot of people took the time to post and had worthwhile discussions. A lot of MBs on here are very much the "Lean In" type, but there's this idea that a nanny who behaves in the same manner is pushy and doesn't know her place.

They were deleted because they were fake - all of them. A lot of people wasted time thinking they were helping others, when really they were just being had.

I don't understand why they were deleted. They weren't far fetched, and a lot of people took the time to post and had worthwhile discussions. A lot of MBs on here are very much the "Lean In" type, but there's this idea that a nanny who behaves in the same manner is pushy and doesn't know her place.

Cool, thanks! They reminded me a bit of that other series of troll posts that seemed to be research for hiring practices or something.

Weird.

I don't think I'll ever understand the mentality behind doing this kind of thing. Or how you can stand it!

Good catch. All of those threads were started by the same poster who was appears to have been playing for both teams, so to speak. I deleted all of those threads as well as one other she started and then sock puppeted. Thanks for pointing out the threads.

Hi Jeff,

I am wondering if there is trolling at work here. There are several posts in quick succession that seem suspiciously similar.

They're also not particularly bad posts, so I don't want to make work for you. But just in case, here are a few of the ones I question:

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/nanny-forum/posts/list/318432.page
http://www.dcurbanmom.com/nanny-forum/posts/list/318438.page
http://www.dcurbanmom.com/nanny-forum/posts/list/318399.page
http://www.dcurbanmom.com/nanny-forum/posts/list/318369.page

Feel free to ignore this if you have bigger, nastier fish to fry.