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MNHQ have commented on this thread

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MNHQ have commented on this thread

Site stuff

I see you have taken on board all our misgivings about the social share buttons, and made them even BIGGER!!!!

26 replies

QuintessentialOldDear · 13/08/2013 10:12

So many mn-etters have complained about the social share buttons.
And now you have made them even bigger, brighter and more noticeable.

I understand you want to grow your business.

I interpret these new buttons to be admission that not enough people share threads on Facebook, etc now, so you make them big and bright hoping people will notice them and click.

I honestly think that most posters dont WANT to announce their membership and possibly reveal their name on Facebook or connect their Twitter with MN.

So why not just forget these buttons, eh?

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AnneUulmelmahay · 13/08/2013 10:22

Quint you can hide the fb etc buttons. This horse bolted.

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HelenMumsnet · 13/08/2013 10:42

Quint, as AnneUulmelhay says, you can go to Customise and hide all the Social media buttons.

We do realise that some folks don't like them/want to use them, so that's what the Customise option is there to help with.

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QuintessentialOldDear · 13/08/2013 12:03

Can you also customize it so that your own threads dont display the buttons, if you dont want anybody else to share your dilemma for their entertainment on Facebook or Twitter?

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SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 13/08/2013 12:48

Maybe making the buttons bigger and brighter makes them easier to avoid, Quint?

I have to say that making the buttons bigger and brighter has made me even less likely to share things on FB or Twitter, because I don't like being manipulated in this way.

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AnneUulmelmahay · 13/08/2013 13:07

Ah now Quint you KNOW you are being disingenuous now. If folk don't want their dilemmas shared.then they should not put them on the internet.

Blah blah (insert here a long lecture) bloody blah.

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HelenMumsnet · 13/08/2013 13:09

@QuintessentialOldDear

Can you also customize it so that your own threads dont display the buttons, if you dont want anybody else to share your dilemma for their entertainment on Facebook or Twitter?

No, we're afraid not. But, Quint, anyone could have shared your threads on Facebook or Twitter before we had the buttons.

Mumsnet is a publicly accessible, Google-indexed forum: anyone can read and share any thread any time.

We're sorry you don't think the buttons (we can see that they're not everyone's cup of tea) but perhaps they're a useful reminder that anything you post on here is, potentially, share-able by many.

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Treaguez · 13/08/2013 13:10

A reminder to never share anecdotes that make one identifiable.

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QuintessentialOldDear · 13/08/2013 13:29

I know anybody can share, anytime, but the buttons are giving people ideas.

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QuintessentialOldDear · 13/08/2013 13:30

Treaguez, I know, which is why these days I mostly post inane drivel.

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LadyMilfordHaven · 13/08/2013 13:34

tweets thread

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MmeLindor · 13/08/2013 14:35

These threads always make we want to use the buttons.

MNHQ are tweaking lots of stuff atm. I have noticed a few changes.

I do hope that Tech is buying extra gin for the Community Team.

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SpottyDottie · 14/08/2013 08:10

I no longer want to post anything because of the buttons. It is unclear if just your comment gets posted (which would probably look odd/out of context). So I'm assuming its the whole thread. Whether I hide the buttons or not is irrelevant. If someone else does and a comment I have made is there then it gets linked to another social networking site.

I appreciate that MN is in the public domain but I have chosen to come to MN to air an opinion or share a problem, not Facebook or google+ etc.

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SpottyDottie · 14/08/2013 08:16

I've started a thread in AIBU regarding this as up until a day ago, I'd never bothered to look at site stuff. As much as I enjoy MN I'm wondering if anyone else feels the same and whether they would hesitate to post too.

I belong to other forums and have not seen the share buttons there.

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LadyMilfordHaven · 14/08/2013 08:19

Whole thread

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ShowOfHands · 14/08/2013 08:20

That is a good point made by SpottyDottie. Of course you can share bits all over the web if you like. Somebody somewhere might be taking everything I personally post and splashing it across wewankforshowy.com, good luck to 'em frankly. But MN is a community and I come here for MN. It's like me taking a bunch of leaflets for Stitch n Bitch along to my local WI and chirping incessantly about how I've told Audrey from SnB all about what Marge from WI was up to last week. I am a crashing, crass twat in this case.

Marge, btw, was flashing her pants and calling it the can can. Durty mare.

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Stropzilla · 14/08/2013 08:23

I've just posted in the other thread too. I don't like the buttons. I think the only person who should be able to share a thread is the op. Wasn't there a situation where someone tweeted something it was generally agreed shouldn't have been and really upset the op? Certainly makes me think twice about posting anything.

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AnneUulmelmahay · 14/08/2013 09:39

But you don't need the button to share. If the button went folk would still cut n paste to FB just like the olden days. And ofc, some folk bypass the buttons, cut n paste anyway.

Always be aware what you are posting, can info be harvested, date of birth, childrens names, your job, car make/mode, etc. Don't be fooled. Ofc one should think twice before posting.

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OnTheNingNangNong · 14/08/2013 09:45

C&P is more convoluted and most people couldn't probably be bothered to do it, hence the buttons. There was one thread that I recall that was picked up on that was basically mocked on Twatter. It wasn't nice at all.

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SpottyDottie · 14/08/2013 21:54

Stropzilla that's a good point, if only the Op could share their thread then that is their choice.

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SpottyDottie · 14/08/2013 21:57

ShowofHands that is my point exactly.

filthy Marge

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Trills · 14/08/2013 21:59

If you don't ant to post things because there are buttons, you probably didn't really want to post it at all.

Copying and pasting is NOT DIFFICULT even on a tablet or phone.

If someone wanted to mock you they could do it already, very easily.

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QuintessentialOldDear · 15/08/2013 12:58

I wonder if the buttons have made a big change in posters posting habits and if the quality of the threads have gone down?

Before I was quite happy to take part in discussions, share my experience in different matters, now I think "is this the type of thread that somebody would tweet or not" before I post.

For me, Mumsnet is now pure entertainment to fill a gap when I am bored, nothing else. Before it was thought provoking and I felt I "learnt" something new. Now, not so much.

I wonder if there are other posters like me, who just post lighthearted shite, because of the buttons.

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HelenMumsnet · 15/08/2013 13:04

@QuintessentialOldDear

Aw, we're sorry, Quint

We do understand that it's changed your view of MN.

But - and we do have to be honest here - all the posters who are saying anyone could have shared bits of any thread on social media even before we put the buttons on are quite right.

So the situation you see/problem you have was already there. You just weren't aware of it.

We would like (some) threads to be shared on Twitter/Facebook a bit (we share some ourselves on our own Twitter/Facebook pages every day) but we also think it's important that's everyone's aware this can happen.

So the buttons do help us, yes. But we hope they also help you - by reminding you that, though it may feel like it at times, MN isn't a private space. If there's stuff you'd rather not risk being spotted by strangers/relatives, it's probably wiser not to post.

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QuintessentialOldDear · 15/08/2013 13:10

True (and I am going to miss your wisdom)

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Pachacuti · 15/08/2013 13:11

Actually, the number of posters saying "Oh, no, in the old days it was very unlikely that anyone would ever be arsed to share a thread on Facebook or Twitter" has made me change my mind on the buttons and think they are a good idea -- not because they make it easier to share, but because they focus posters' attention on the fact that threads can be shared.

MN threads have always been shared on social media (well, since social media really kicked off). Sometimes they've been picked up by The Wright Stuff or the Daily Mail . If you aren't happy to take the chance that that could happen to your thread, then you probably shouldn't post it.