Is Mumsnet an English forum?

“I think that people from big/dominant/“default” cultures have more of a tendency to presume that what they do is some sort of global or national constant. You can see how it happens: I am exposed through media much more to English culture than most English people are to NI. And the same for the Americans - nearly all English speaking countries are exposed to US when the reverse isn’t true.
i think that that is why some posters (including me) find it annoying, self centred and ignorant - we genuinely do not presume that anything we do must be the same everywhere.”

You have just explained how it happens, yet people in the dominant culture are “self-centred and ignorant” simply for not being aware of information they are not exposed to. They are ignorant not because they are self-centred but because they haven’t been exposed to it.

It was only quite recently I realised how different some laws are in NI compared to England, we’re supposedly one country so I thought that major things like abortion would be nationally decided. I now wonder what else is different.

People can learn about others on here which is a good thing.. I think the English lawyers on here are good at pointing out on divorce and wills etc threads that Scottish law is different. Plenty of posters also know that Wales and Scotland have their own different kinds of stamp duty these days and my bug bear that there are free prescriptions I think in some places other than England - Wales and Scotland? and I think in Wales there is also a bigger university finance provided which seems very unfair on the English to me. Scotland of course we do know has a different educational system as well.

The UK is quite an outward looking country which we have always had to be because we are a very small island which even by the 1500s had loads of sailors going abroad, coming back etc perhaps more so than many places and we are interested to hear how things are done in other countries.

“My point is there are some things we all take entirely for granted, because they seem so basic and standard”

this is the crux of the issue and is the bit I don’t agree is true. I can’t think of anything where I would ever have presumed that the way we do thing here - in NI - is the same all over the world. And what some other posters are saying is that they are also from e.g Scotland but do not make the assumption, but that they feel like it is generally English posters who make this assumption.

I think that people from big/dominant/“default” cultures have more of a tendency to presume that what they do is some sort of global or national constant. You can see how it happens: I am exposed through media much more to English culture than most English people are to NI. And the same for the Americans - nearly all English speaking countries are exposed to US when the reverse isn’t true.

i think that that is why some posters (including me) find it annoying, self centred and ignorant - we genuinely do not presume that anything we do must be the same everywhere.

I always think there's loads of scots on here!

Let’s say around 10% of posts actually matter what system you are in (a LTB thread is a fairly universal leveller)

As prh said, around 70% of all posts are from England, 7% Scotland.

(England and Wales are much closer in their systems than either is to Scotland)

So there really isn’t a high proportion of posts where the “local system” matters and - as the OP seeking advice - it makes sense to give relevant information such as the background, actions taken so far and where you are based if it is relevant.

Mumsnet was started in Kentish Town in NW London, its office is still there. Of course it’s a UK website and largely based in England.
it’s also very supportive, funny and caring. Unless you head straight to AIBU

Yes exactly I'm aware! Ive been aware since my teens of the fact different countries have different 'things' and customs and laws and so on. That's why I made the jokey comment about being worried about this family potentially jumping in a hire car from the airport, i had visions of them doing a Del Boy (in the campervan in Miami!)

You’ve missed the point entirely. You check to see what plug sockets countries use before you visit because you’re aware that plugs can vary between countries.

This American family wouldn’t have known to check what plug sockets a country uses, because they weren’t aware that plug sockets are different in different countries. This was a family who had never left the US before and the majority of their social circle, if they’d travelled abroad, had only been to Mexico or Canada, which use the same sockets as the US.

My point is there are some things we all take entirely for granted, because they seem so basic and standard, that it doesn’t occur to us that other places do things differently. Until a friend of mine moved to the US and went through the house-buying process there, I had no idea that in many other countries, people buy and sell houses without forming chains. When she told me, I couldn’t even imagine how that would work. It’s not something that would ever have occurred to me would be different.

Why so serious! Anyway I don't think I've ever been abroad without checking what type of plugs they use if its my first time somewhere completely new. Pretty basic stuff.

We used to enjoy the language differences & that Americans mostly assumed I was Australian. The tone of spoken UK English is quite flat after American English

I mean - that’s the sort of major difference people know about. It comes up in conversation/jokes/news items etc. Plug differences just aren’t in the same league.

I hope they werent driving whilst over here 😳

That's why we have the report button & mn towers discretion.

Good place to hang out if you're feeling fragile then, but otherwise a bit boring. fairy nuff.

How is it ignorant to exist?

It could also be referree to as online bullying

We call it character building.

The Mum ones online are. All “you're a great Mumma bear, hun!" types. Always gushy posts about how great we all are. Not a CF or parking thread to be had.

Yeah Mumsnet is pretty much British. You get the occasional foreign poster but thats it.

What I find more interesting is how most posters are really wealthy compared to the general population. Like it's normal to earn 100k here when in the real world only 2% earn more than that. Same for other things like sending the kids to private school.

I mean I'm interested to know how it became this way, because technically there's nothing stopping a broke "trailer trash" from america posting but that'd be like a bear shitting a gold bar

Mumsnet is definitely a harsh and aggressive forum!

Im on another forum that was set up in another country, as i used to live there.

Everyone is very nice, polite and supportive on it.

There is so much abuse on mumsnet.

On mumsnet, if any op starts a thread she gets her arse handed to her. And she is always called weird, batshit, deluded, bizarre, needs mental help etc

This information about Aussie forums is the most surprising thing I've learnt from this thread!

I confront general ignorance about UK geography and politics daily: no surprise there.

Aussies are sweet and gushy? Every day's a school-day on mn. All the Aussies I've met have been brutally honest, especially about the English rugby team😄

I spent some time staying with a family in rural Minnesota once. They were absolutely fascinated by the Canadian banknotes I had with me. I had to lay them on the table so they could inspect them closely. They'd never left America. These were intelligent, educated, curious people but they hadn't travelled.

I don't think they see England as "better", no. London is its own city state, really (9 million people). Their knowledge of England outside London isn't terrific in many cases. They're just as likely to spend holidays (when funds allow) in Ghana or Nigeria or Romania or Poland or Italy or America because that's where granny and grandad live. My trips to Scotland and Norfolk, or even Kent, are interesting and exotic to them...they do not have experience of these places for the most part. To be fair, I have little knowledge of school arrangements in Lagos or Bucharest.

I love it because it's made up of predominantly UK people. I'm an Aussie and our sites are too sweet and gushy for me. Here is more humorous and honest, less nicey-nice.