can the MN philosophy include a reminder that it is a PUBLIC forum?

Because we are human and 'there for the grace of God go I ' , MN are parenst mainly ( I assume) with young children, we/they can be affected by the news and this is a way of dealing with it and discssuing it amongst a 'community' to try and make sense of it all.

It will be talkied about at the school agte tomorrow, it will be talked aboout when pople go back to work tomorrow , human nature , Hopefully all the inital offensive & nasty commenst have now gone. But wnating to ' pick ' over the news helps some people try to undestand what the hell is going on and makes you really feel for the family concerned.

Some pople may have a differnt angel on ti , some mayt be involved in Law enforcement in thsi country and are curious or wnat to help people understand what the investigation may be like esoecailly if they ahve been involved in one in this couuntry.

Well, bugger me. Is this out-of-date speculation, but wasn't it just this sort of irresponsible "private conversation" view that landed MN in a pile of poo?? Or am I missing the point here, possibly?

It isn't a private conversation. It is in public, and one doesn't have to have an over-inflated ego to be careful and respectful, moondog.

Well actually I think that the M25 thread is also a little ghoulish, but at least some of the people posting on there actually use that section of the M25, and are saying that they have always found it to be dangerous.

I'm not trying to imply that people are being deliberately offenseive, I just really don't understand how it helps anybody to be constantly picking over scraps of news.

Rowan - I suggest you have a look at the topic ' IN the news' and scroll down the thread titles - is the crash on the M25 last night anything to do with us ? No but there is a thread on it.

MN has a topic ' In the news' this is unfortunately news and some people wish to discuss it and believe it or not are capable of not being offensive or hurtful to the family concerned.

I agree, moondog, I'm sure the furthest thing from their mind at the moment is what is being said here on mnet.

Yes, Underpants (if I may call you that), but most news stories have some direct bearing on our day-to-day lives - interest rate rises, public spending, health, who's going to take over from Blair, local elections, French presidency, blah blah - all of these things are our business in quite a direct sense. But what has happened in Portugal is an isolated event that really has no bearing on the lives of most people on MN.

The other issue is that if people actually feel they are going to be held accountable for what they say, they change their username which means you get people using this facility to be IMHO very mean (pointing no fingers).

And they assume this means they can't be identified.

I haven't read any of the threads mentioned - quite honestly it was a no brainer what they'd say so I just didn't bother.

My last post in response to Rowan.

You could say the same thing about any thread ' In the news' section.

I don't participate in the threads you refer to but i don't think any of us have a right to censor/control what others say.

Furthermore,I think people on MN flatter themselves if they assume that what they post is of any weight or bearing.

This probably isn't the place to start yet another strand in this argument, but.. I just don't understand why some people (a lot of those on the 'developments' thread) seem to feel that this story is so personal to them, or that they are somehow 'entitled' to the most recent information. It's a news story - a very frightening one, of course, but really not the business of anyone but the girl's family and the authorities involved. It really does seem that some people are absolutely wallowing in it. Why? What possible purpose does it serve? It's not your family. You're not helping. Why not butt out?

If you google Madeleine McCann mumsnet isn't in the first 10 pages.

There is a 'development ' thread , although no dvelopmenst in the statement tonight some things were mentioned that some posters wanted a better understanding of, questions answered with fact , no speculation and we're told to STOP IT !

Some people wnat a better understanding of what is going on , they are not speculating they just want their questions answered, nothing nasty in it , nothing offesnive , nothing that the family wont know already .

I really dont see what is wrong with that tyep of posting. I think this whole thing has gone too far and making thread after thread about this issue is making the matter worse.

As in RL, all you can do is let someone know if they are saying something you find offensive or insensitive and ask them to stop it. Make your feelings known,- as you are doing here.

also, it might well be a public forum, but that therefore means that anything in the public domain is up for discussion...it is a double edged sword, but i think one of the best things about mumsnet is that it is not moderated, but actually moderates itself, from the inside, IFYSWIM....you have to accept a certain amount of negativity aswell as the positives...

don;t think anything will stop insensitive comments, as it can often be very subjective

No harm in adding it - but as lulu says, I doubt it would stop people posting stupid stuff. I think one of the problems with some of the people on the Portugal threads is that they really don't realise, or believe, that what they're saying it particularly off-colour - they think they're just showing concern. It's a matter of perspective (and taste).

i see what you mean

but however many reminders, there will always be posters who post stuff that is not neccesarily sensitive or well thought out

and if they do , it might be because , yes, they would say it in RL too

Hatwoman

I have just been popping in over the weekend to catch up with Pantly Liner gossip and I don't know what has been going on

I'm very sorry you have been upset

Hatwoman, you have to remember that MN contains the same cross section of society as in RL. People will say the same things in discussions with their friends and families. I have heard the same upsetting things today from people close to me that I have been angry with on MN.
In general people should think before they speak/post.

Don't leave, hatwoman. We need the sane people to stay.

I've always treated online posts as a bit like chatting in a pub. I'd think less of someone who used it outside, but don't realistically expect masonic secrecy.