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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to find the Mumsnet quote function incredibly tedious as it's so overused?

114 replies

LindorDoubleChoc · 11/02/2026 09:13

And I'm not even talking about quoting the opening post (which has now been sorted in a way).

But ... just so much quoting going on in the discussion! Why can't people address their comments directly to whoever they're quoting. Or manually quote the particular sentence or point they want to agree or disagree with? Or say something like "PP said [short quote or summary] and I think ...".

The threads are so long now and involve so much scrolling.

I was just looking at a thread and quite early on someone made a controversial post of 4 paragraphs long. Within the next page and a half it had been quoted 22 times! 22 times in an hour and a half. It was quoted 7 times in the first 10 minutes.

So boring.

And you can't quote this to be funny in reply because it's the OP. Lol!

OP posts:

Disturbia81 · 12/02/2026 16:35

Such a weird moan. When people tag someone, no-one knows what the hell they’re replying to. It’s a better flow now with quoting

smooththecat · 12/02/2026 15:15

It’s because there are no subthreads like on Reddit. So it’s either quote to reply to someone or have one long tedious list of individual disconnected opinions.

BertieBotts · 12/02/2026 15:12

Oh yes sorry. I misread. It does for the OP, but not for subsequent posts.

busyd4y · 12/02/2026 14:45

BertieBotts · 12/02/2026 11:29

It doesn't work like that on desktop.

Show quote history

It does for me

IngridBurger · 12/02/2026 14:44

forcedtonamechange · 11/02/2026 12:16

😂😂🥰🥰 I don’t hold it against you - I get that the emoji was misused on serious threads

Show quote history

Yeah, it's a shame to lose it on some levels but it was necessary. I was on the receiving end of laughing responses when I posted about a distressing experience (another username). I'd not have believed people were so shitty if I'd not had first hand experience. We can't have nice things if people can't behave themselves.

BringBackCatsEyes · 12/02/2026 14:29

Coffeetimes3 · 11/02/2026 09:22

I think the problem is, its the quickest and easiest way to respond to a specific poster. You're not having to copy and paste a username to @ them or copy and paste specific bits, both of which is fiddly on a phone. Quoting the whole post is one button.

you can’t cut and paste from the app (iPhone) - I asked in Site Stuff, so if I’m on my phone I’m afraid it’s the whole quote (agree….not ideal), tag the poster (vague), or just launch right in.
I mostly engage via desktop where I can cut and paste.

likelysuspect · 12/02/2026 14:11

Ive just realised I quoted yet another OP

It doesnt show up and Im on a desktop, only the first line.

BertieBotts · 12/02/2026 11:29

busyd4y · 12/02/2026 11:28

But you don't see the whole OP when it's quoted, it doesn't matter how long it is you're only going to see a couple of lines

Show quote history

It doesn't work like that on desktop.

busyd4y · 12/02/2026 11:28

TheRuffleandthePearl · 11/02/2026 22:23

Now that is annoying to me. Especially if it’s loooooooong, and especially if it’s within the first few replies!

People can easily flick to the option to read OP’s posts only if they want to remind themselves of anything in the OP.

Show quote history

But you don't see the whole OP when it's quoted, it doesn't matter how long it is you're only going to see a couple of lines

FrozenFebruary · 12/02/2026 09:00

TittyGajillions · 12/02/2026 08:27

It's lazy and tedious. I have nothing against quilting btw, it's a delightful hobby.

Show quote history

It's not lazy or tedious, there's just no point in re inventing the wheel & if people have already read the post quoted (or quilted) it makes it easy to just skim past.

TittyGajillions · 12/02/2026 08:27

FrozenFebruary · 11/02/2026 21:10

Why?

if someone has said exactly what I was going to say, what's wrong (in your opinion )about quilting & saying 'this'. It's stil showing my view on the situation.

Show quote history

It's lazy and tedious. I have nothing against quilting btw, it's a delightful hobby.

FrozenFebruary · 11/02/2026 23:15

likelysuspect · 11/02/2026 18:07

You're not making sense. If I just write a post, its not clear that Im responding to the OP necessarily given how conversations ebb and flow, twist and turn, go off tangent

I dont have a problem with quoting the OP or any other quote.

Show quote history

It is clear, because it's the default unless you say otherwise.

you might not find it annoying when you quote the OP, the vast majority DO, which is why MN changed it.

TheRuffleandthePearl · 11/02/2026 22:23

likelysuspect · 11/02/2026 12:36

I also re quote the OP as well, I dont find that annoying when people do it.

Now that is annoying to me. Especially if it’s loooooooong, and especially if it’s within the first few replies!

People can easily flick to the option to read OP’s posts only if they want to remind themselves of anything in the OP.

Reddmonde · 11/02/2026 21:56

I find it much more annoying when people just tag a poster to reply to them, OP.
I won’t remember who said what and won’t know which comment is being responding to. Unless the two posts are consecutive ones I’ll be lost.

Funnywonder · 11/02/2026 21:54

I like the quote system. Yes, it’s annoying when the same post is quoted multiple times, but not THAT annoying. You glance at it, think ‘oh there’s that post again’, then read the reply. It’s a few extra seconds of clocking that it’s the same post. I sometimes copy and paste a couple of sentences and highlight them, but it’s a bit of a faff and you can’t do it on the app, only in the browser.

treeowl · 11/02/2026 21:49

I quote more now than before because when I try & copy part of a post the page often skips. never used to happen

tigger1001 · 11/02/2026 21:38

TheRuffleandthePearl · 11/02/2026 18:10

Yep. I’m not going to scroll back to fund what the @ poster originally said. Quoting is fine!

Show quote history

Agree.

i hate seeing @ poster - as it means nothing to me and stops the flow of the thread.

quoting a post makes much more sense as you can see exactly what was said.

FrozenFebruary · 11/02/2026 21:15

MidnightPatrol · 11/02/2026 09:44

It’s very difficult to follow multiple conversations and points on this forum due to the way it’s styled.

The Reddit approach where you can have multiple replies to comments appearing below is much better

I disagree. It's like 50 different conversations going on at once & I feel like you miss half of the conversation

likelysuspect · 11/02/2026 21:13

LindorDoubleChoc · 11/02/2026 19:47

@likelysuspect you do realise that if you quote the OP's OP, everyone else only sees the first line of the OP's OP?

Why are you bothered by it then, what difference does it make to you?

FrozenFebruary · 11/02/2026 21:10

TittyGajillions · 11/02/2026 09:40

The only time I find it annoying is when someone quotes a post and just writes ' This' underneath it.

Why?

if someone has said exactly what I was going to say, what's wrong (in your opinion )about quilting & saying 'this'. It's stil showing my view on the situation.

thoseboxessmellbob · 11/02/2026 20:04

Madarch · 11/02/2026 12:35

Sorry, what are you agreeing to?!

(Herein lies the problem!)

Show quote history

Exactly. This is what it was like on MN all the time till the quote function came along.

thoseboxessmellbob · 11/02/2026 19:59

LindorDoubleChoc · 11/02/2026 19:34

No, it isn't. You can tag the person you're responding to, or you can just post their name in your response, or you can quote a line from their post that you want to address.

You don't have to quote all 163 words of it, especially not if you're the 20+ person to do so.

On a separate note for the OP quoters - if you are worried someone reading the thread doesn't understand you are agreeing with the OP, instead of quoting their entire post, you can just type "Agree OP" or "I agree with you OP" or even "OP, I agree".

The quote function is relatively new on Mumsnet. If trundled along ok for about 20 years without it.

Show quote history

It was sooo much better when the quote function came along! . When people quoted the name of the poster, everyone else had no idea what that person had said! You had to trawl bank through the thread if you wanted to find out.

Quote function is way better.

thoseboxessmellbob · 11/02/2026 19:56

I think the opposite. Since the emoji ‘react’ function came along people quote a lot less. I preferred when people quoted snd said ‘This’. It really helped to show the views people supported. Now that support is hidden behind the emoji react function that only the person who wrote the quote can see.

wanderingstarz · 11/02/2026 19:47

I like the quote function too and I'm not bothered about people quoting the OP.

Original poster

LindorDoubleChoc · 11/02/2026 19:47

@likelysuspect you do realise that if you quote the OP's OP, everyone else only sees the first line of the OP's OP?

OP posts:

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