To think there are a lot of nasty people on Mumsnet?

What?!

Bonkers - and not true!

I don't think the examples you give are nasty. If you are asking for an opinion on anything, you should expect to be told the truth even if it is harsh because it's kind of the point of asking isn't it. Ask your friends if the beautician messed up your eyebrows, they will tell you maybe it could be a bit better but you look lovely and they can sort it next time. Ask a stranger on the internet and they will truthfully tell you they look terrible, ask for a refund and go somewhere reputable to sort it out.

There are nasty posts here all the time though but that's life.

What gets me are the people that criticise others for being nasty but themselves do it in the most pursed lipped, bitter and itself nasty way.

There are clearly a lot of people who come here just to troll/be contrary.

Pretending to be women? Maybe they do, maybe they don't. Anonymous people can snark away to their hearts' content on the internet. You might as well try to stop the tide coming in as try to stop internet snarkiness.

I remember one OP posting a pic of her in a bikini and was it too skimpy. There were loads of replies until a sharp eyed MNer recognised the pic from a thread years ago and it was pulled as a troll. I mean why would you even bother.

I had a similar experience... I ended up spending most of my time explaining why things were NOT as posters were insinuating, and defending myself against the weirdest of accusations. A few posters offered useful insights that did help, but I am not sure the battle scars were worth it!

I realised how difficult it is to convey the whole nature of a relationship when describing it online in words. You can unwittingly give completely the wrong impression, and once someone has read into it and projected their own shit onto it, it seems there's no going back.

I try to bear this in mind when offering advice, because it is too easy to get the wrong end of the stick in a way that would be less likely if, say, you were actually in a room with the person/couple concerned and could actually observe their interactions IRL.

People with less active social lives are perhaps more likely to find their connections and socialise online - this I agree with.

But I don’t see how that makes those people more cruel or vindictive online.

I don't find the stuff that comes up on Relationships is little. When something seems inconsequential, there's almost always a back story that eventually comes out that shows just how much abuse and fuckery the OP has normalised.

The LTB crew doesn't bother me. Most women don't leave abusive relationships and those that do generally need several attempts. I'm honestly not worried about a mass exodus of women from healthy, happy relationships because of MN. I really don't think it's happening. For all my criticism of the place, a lot of posters have said it was supportive and helpful in leaving an abusive or terrible relationship, and I can't recall anyone who blamed it for leaving their wonderful, loving partner.

As you've clearly demonstrated, people can change from one name to another to post whatever they like as long as it's within talk guidelines.

If this wasn't allowed, many people would think twice about being a dick because then no-one would bother with them.

the second part of that statement is kind of true. The first part made me want to face-palm. If it's within talk guidelines of course it's fine to post.

Sorry, @ArabellaScott. I misread and thought you were highlighting the pushback.

How long we going for auntyElle

You can't be the only person! Very frequently this point will be made.

Rude comments are called out, absolutely. However, this being the wild west (the internet), there are many different people here with different views and standards of behaviour.

Oh shush

Oh dear, @Woodenwonder. More "unfunny arsieness".

You're not wrong OP, we can't have those pesky women saying what they mean when they're supposed to be being kind all over the place, disgusting 🤦

Yep

Depends on what you define as nasty. If you are asking for an opinion then you’ll get an opinion, whether you find that opinion helpful or unsettling is a risk you take.
Any advice/opinion given on here can be misconstrued as nasty/offensive etc.
You are asking for opinions from people you don’t know, people who have different cultures, upbringings and demographics.
I see real nastiness rarely but I may be reading different threads. I do see a lot of supportive posters, they may be harsh but sometimes it’s what is needed

OP I agree. Its like some people just vent all their hurt at random people who might be asking the most innocent of questions. I dont visit mumsnet as much. It used to be so good for support and understanding, recently though its became very judgy and downright nasty at times.

Agreed.

It's the drama.

I also find that so often the majority of commenters have really abhorrent views. E.g. Having children is selfish, let alone having any more than 2.
The relationship advice on here is also the worst I've ever seen. I don't understand how any of the LTB crew manage to stay married if every little marital issue is grounds for divorce.

YANBU. Literally every day of my life on here I see one person - often multiple - being absolutely foul to an OP. AIBU is one of the most hostile forums I’ve ever been on.

There are so many kind, helpful and thoughtful posters too but the bad eggs are a significant proportion of the whole.

You have seen the rest of Reddit? Including some of the most misogynistic bile that is easily accessible online.

I think there is some rational there tbh. Lots of studies to show the negative effects of internet use. The more one uses the internet (in particular social media) the higher rates of depression, low self esteem, loneliness and other negative mental health outcomes. This can manifest in outwardly negative personality traits.

Those with rich, full, happy lives will not be spending lots of time on social media and will be less likely to fill that spare time with pointless trolling which is a lot of the nastiness on this site.

You will start to see the same user names popping up with nasty comments but there are a lot more poster's names you will see that are lovely, sensible and funny. Unfortunately it's the nasties you remember.

Oh shush.