Some people on here are ridiculously gullible

I don't see any digs at working mums. I see the digs at MILs.

The stock responses get me. You know - overbearing MIL, horrible holiday companion, bad husband/partner, etc.

Just say no
LTB
Go to GP
That's NOT for A+E, die first
Get your ducks in a row
Get your paperwork
And so on....

At this stage most of us could write the responses to certain scenarios by now.

Its not always self soothing though- some of us just like arguing 🤭🤣

I couldn't agree more. There's a particularly ridiculous one trending at the moment.
It isn't entertaining or helpful.
I find it overall embarrassing and it downgrades the MN experience. OK, people need to 'self sooth' but surely there are better ways of doing that.

I've been here since my dc were little - some 20 years ago. MN has definitely changed from the informative and helpful forum it used to be.

Some threads these days are down right ridiculous but I suppose that's simply a reflection on modern life, many other platforms seem to attract the worst kind of people who must have so much time on their hands - I truly wish I had that much time to play at being silly buggers.

I agree with this.
I doubt many people who respond give it much thought outside of their time on MN. People are responding for their own entertainment. They aren't going above and beyond to help people or worrying about them. It's just online chat to pass some time. It doesn't matter if it is true or not.

Lol. This thread reminds me of one on Next Door when someone did a big strop and said they were leaving because it was all fake. First response was something like " Wait what are all those cats not lost? And what about the ones that are found?" Made me spit my tea out laughing.
I used to love Nextdoor, this fella posted about his cat being lazy and asked people, on the Internet, to condemn the cat! The responses were hilarious, fella also made the mistake of posting a picture of the cat.
Ive no idea if any or all of the posts on social media are made up but many are highly enjoyable.

some threads are obviously goady (98% of the time a dig at working mums). I think its worth calling those out for what they are, for the benefit of new mums, showing them that this is not what most people think.

Yes, I agree.

Ive responded to people I largely suspect were trolls because I was bored at the time, laid up from an operation, and fancied participating in a lively discussion.

I am not going to be losing any sleep at night because the scenario might be fake and I dont need your pity OP 🤣

Ive also been sometimes accused of being "angry" or "dramatic" about things ive posted in a completely calm manner so I suspect people arent actually that good at reading intentions online either!

Duplicate post deleted

Agree. It always amazes me to see genuinely empathetic replies to a clearly invented OP.

Softzilla is a prime example here. IYKYK.

Also a thread ages ago where an OP had discovered an affair, kicked her husband out, changed the locks, consulted a lawyer AND given birth. All in around 48 hours and all whilst being able to update multiple threads.

Yes, I have been told I'm upset or angry over things I was mildly curious about. When I've made my own OPs, I get told I'm too invested or making a mountain out of a molehill when really I'm just passing the time of day.

The one that always makes me laugh is "you bothered to make a post over this". Well yes, I had some time to kill and was mildly curious, thought it might make someone think or smile, but you've bothered to reply!

I’m disabled and I have found it hard to access support and find services.

i often post on relevant threads.

Google searches often pick up Mumsnet threads and (for example) I got lots of useful advice on braces for my teens.

so if the person posting doesn’t find it useful others might.

I've been on MN for about 18 years and it has definitely changed, I think I can spot some troll threads but many are more than believable.

I don't mean to be snarky but sometimes people are a bit superior about their amazing troll spotting abilities - so what if I get taken in by a perfectly believable story told by an OP. The trick is not to get over invested. Write a response, maybe engage a bit more then move on. I have no doubt replied to many a fabricated tale but it hasn't really done me any harm.

And as @CardboardScott has said, just because a situation is unrecognisable to you, doesn't mean it hasn't happened.

I think of most posts as a hypothetical scenario that sparks a debate. PPs get to give their opinion and you can see the range of different views and approaches. It keeps me in touch with views of women from different backgrounds and of different ages. So it doesn’t matter that much if it’s not real.

You actually don’t know for sure what’s true and what isn’t either. You aren’t the oracle.
I have worked in mental health for 30 years and every time I think I have heard everything, patients surprise me. Human beings are pretty strange and unpredictable and illogical.

The point is that you have no idea what they believe, you only know what they write.

Also tone is subjective and is often misread.

I’ve been on MN for about 20 years. I’ve been accused of being “furious” when I wasn’t even mildly irked.

There are often threads suggesting that lots of posters are lying about their lives/incomes/houses/children. They point to posts which to me seem entirely believable.

If a situation is completely different to your own life it might seem unbelievable- that does not mean it’s necessarily made up.

This. It’s still nice to reply and it might help someone else who is reading. Which is why I don’t feel they all need to be deleted.

God yes, this is so true. I particularly like "self-soothing". It feels right and I'm going to have to think about it.

One of the other self-soothing things I do is biting my nails, and at least I can't bite them while my fingers are busy chatting passionate nonsense on MN, so there's that.

I’m finding the incessant flow of threads about immigration, benefit claimants and disability very tedious. I also find it depressing how inhumane a significant element of the human race is.

I agree with this.

There was one thread that did end up being made up but I'd been through something incredibly similar so I did keep on replying to the OP but if someone else on that thread read it and was also going through similar then hopefully it was helpful to them.

Really didn't bother me that it turned out to be a troll, I wasn't emotionally invested. There are plenty of threads that people don't believe but others have been through themselves.

As a childfree man, mumsnet is endlessly entertaining.
"mumsnet classics" is where its at.