Vipers' nest? Come counter our hissy rep with your stories of Mumsnet Niceness

Juggling there is one, called exactly that

Mama! Sob sniff snooooork. That's beautiful!

Picking up on exotic's post I've wondered if there could be mileage in a WWYD (what would you do ?) topic, to kind of go alongside AIBU.

It might bring out the strengths of Mumsnet more in terms of the support and advice already so generously given throughout the site ?

journalists are not going to Google in and immediately see the worst

Do you think journalists visit MN via google? I don't, I think they browse it freely. It is a far more popular and well known site than TES and I imagine that if a journalist wants something they just come and look at MN directly.

One of the first threads I read <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.ca/imgres?um=1&hl=en&safe=active&sa=N&biw=1249&bih=615&tbm=isch&tbnid=8GnzRI-PqvEnUM:&imgrefurl=groups.roiworld.com/Club/Board/BoardView.aspx%3Fcid%3DDirectionInfection%26mid%3D203090%26article%3D1208676&imgurl=roi.ltcdn.com/data/en/groups/clubuploads/DirectionInfection/203090/201203/20120325053112467ladyloller.jpg&w=500&h=333&ei=Nc87UIGQJ-r20gGAxIHQAg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=241&vpy=319&dur=360&hovh=183&hovw=275" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here was started in 2008 by a mother, a new poster, who's baby girl had recently died in her sleep. The funeral had not taken place yet. Very sensitive and supportive posters helped her through that terrible time.
I was frankly amazed and awed that so many people came and gave of themselves to help a complete stranger on the www.
Now I have seen blanket threads and threads where people have turned up to clean houses, bereavement threads, relationship threads and mental health threads and I am no longer surprised but still awed.

I think it can be changed. I would suggest to MNHQ that they look at the teacher's talk on TES. Teachers are certainly forthright in their views and yet they have a place for help and a place for support and journalists are not going to Google in and immediately see the worst!
Rather than me explain it go to here
You can put in a key word search that helps-it also tells you the popular forums. It is then split and you can't scroll down active. It means that you stick to your interests. e.g. if you are a special needs teacher you use that forum to give and ask advice and it is enormously helpful. You might go on if you were a parent of SN child, or like me a supply teacher who came across a situation and wanted help. No one is going to stray in making unhelpful comments. I used to use the supply teacher forum, very helpful on support or just to find sympathy after a bad day. On the odd occasion you get teachers venting about 'useless supply teachers-but it is very rare-that isn't what it is for.
If you want lively debate then you go to opinion or have your say. If you have a baby and want to get back to work there is a baby and toddler one and you won't find anyone bumbling in to say it is wrong for the baby!
Everything is there-book clubs, TAs, cover supervisors, unemployed teachers, school trips, personal and you can even post in Welsh BUT you have to search the forums you don't just scroll down and see it all. A journalist can't make the instant opinion that there are a lot of angry teachers-it would take a lot of work to come to that conclusion.

It isn't good enough to say it isn't in MNHQ control. They could change AIBU for a start to 'opinion' or 'have your say' because AIBU generally means the person is being totally unreasonable and people jump in and say so-and not all do it politely! Do MNHQ really want this as the gateway to the site so that they have to then ask people to tell of the kind side? The kind side should shine out.
I have never been mauled on TES the way I have on here!

Personally I have found this site amazing. Last year I was advised to terminate my pregnancy for medical reasons through the support on here I decided not to (thanks again mrs devere you have no idea how much I thank you for your advice and support) my son was born at 24 weeks discharged two weeks ago happy and healthy. The ladies on my ante natal thread are a constant support of advice and hand holding I would be lost without them. (April ladies )
Oh and also the foodie ladies have Been great with offering recipes and vitamin advice following my emergency hysterectomy and subsequent inability to eat.
I've received universally helpful advice.

I found MN by accident when I was googling for some info 2 yrs ago. I'd heard of it but imagined it was dull and wifey . I've been a member of lots of online groups for over 20yrs (since before the Web!) and this is the most amazing resource full of the most amazing people.

I was in the middle of a divorce at that point - and found I could make so much more sense of my ex and the reasons for him leaving when I found about about NPD and in particular 'the script' used when a man exits a marriage.

I've watched MNs support each other through births, deaths, marriages, divorces, breakdowns - I've had my own views seriously challenged (in particular in FWR) and am much clearer now about where I stand and why. Most recently I've been on the thread supporting L after her H left and turned out to have a pregnant mistress, we watched L while she coped with that and dealt with her own pregnancy and now birth.

There are people who I will never meet who are forever stuck in my mind, what happened to the lovely mum leaving the abusive "pillar of the community" dh who went home to Northern Ireland? I hope she and her children are happy and healthy. I've cried at the death of children I never met but whose names will stay with me, Beatrice, Mia, Ailidh.

We've got something very special here, long may it continue.

Knotty has a "do you need...?" thread running in Chat, they come up every so often and people are always very generous

"The answer with journalists is not to have AIBU the prominent thing that pops up if you Google mumsnet."

Not in MNHQ's control, Google indexes by hit counts. AIBU has lots of hits. It's going to come up first on Google.

Agree with your second pont exotic

The answer is to make people search for topics rather than to have them all instantly accessible.
The answer with journalists is not to have AIBU the prominent thing that pops up if you Google mumsnet.

On a personal note, this place is the reason I lost loads of weight (was obese before). I've been 'on a diet' my whole adult life, but it was only when I started my first thread on here and got actual, real, support and advice that I did it.

Can I also mention an mner, not sure if we're allowed to mention names? She offered to send me a tablecloth and refused any money for it or postage. I told her that the postage I'd saved would be going to the fund of a sick little girl I know locally. When the tablecloth arrived and I opened the parcel, money dropped out!

In general I can always count on mn. No question too big - as you see in te relationships topic - or too small, like when I start my "i'm bored, chat to me" threads. There's almost always someone who can relate to what you're going to. And I've met some fantastic people locally,and also had some very enjoyable evenings out where I've had to stay in another city for work purposes and not known anyone. There are always mners willing to come and have , and within minutes it feels like you've known them for years.

Me either, and yes HQ are aware.
It's a thorny issue that's for sure.
For far too long MN point blank refused to remove dreadful disablist posts as "they educate" (!!)
They don't do that much anymore, thankfully.
I think it's great that people can go on MNSN and see the other side of the fence so to speak, just a cursory glance would show you what awful things parents of children with sn/sen have to deal with every day.
MNSN has been a lifeline for me and my ds.
MNHQ have a very difficult job wrt MNSN IMHO.

I don't think anyone is saying MN is perfect. But it certainly isn't the horrid place the press are portraying it to be lately.

What are they all so afraid of? A bunch of women having opinions?

Sorry to hear about the difficulties on the SN boards. I hope MNHQ can find an answer.

I don't want to derail the thread Badvoc, but I'm really sorry to hear that the support on SN is affected in this way. Presumably HQ are aware of it? What can we do?

Wrt sn/sen...It is a huge problem vertgently.

Oops I see exotic has already made a good point- must type faster....

If you click the Customise option and then go to "ignore topics" there is a SN opt -in there (ie it's not easy to stumble across). The default is set to not show them.
I wonder if it was properly updated to include all the SNs topics when they were added.

I've posted already saying why Mumsnet is an incredibly special place.

I've been reading the thread though and am saddened to see that several posters have experienced problems on SN threads. It sounds as though this area is singled out more than some others by trolls and vicious posters. I'm really concerned to read this, and I think most MN would agree that it's appalling. I don't have the expertise to know how to address this, and I think MNHQ are probably doing what they can- but is there anything else that can be done?

I am simply too lazy to hide things- I scroll quickly past ante natal, conception and others but I do stop off at others if something attracts my interest - it is not necessarily a good thing.

I never look in active, I look in last 15 mins and they are always there. I haven't opted out or in to anything. I have told MNHQ that I don't think you should see every subject as you scroll down. I don't know what others get but I get everything- I can't be the only one.

And to answer lisad123 you don't have to search for it, you merely go to last 15 mins, or last hour, or active etc.

The SNs topics don't show up in Active unless you have opted into them. If they show up in the others, this is probably an oversight.

The lovely Vicar did indeed send me a gift and it made my day. She very thoughtfully went to the place I go to have my hair done and bought me a voucher so I could treat myself.

In fact I missed something else out too the fab LizzyLou sent me a bouquet of flowers a couple of years back.

God, I have a shite memory .