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Original poster

Do you feel the same as me?

87 replies

Lonelymum · 08/01/2005 14:41

Over the last few days, when I have come on Mumsnet, there has been a lot of "talk" about Wig and Robe/ Judge Flounce or Lavender etc and lots of back biting and "in" jokes. It is quite off putting for people on the periphery such as me. Do you agree that Mumsnet would be better off without this kind of talk? I don't necessarily want to talk nappies and weaning all the time, but I am far happier to give advice on that score than to find nothing but gossip and girls being bitchy.

I am not flouncing, but if I don't get much positive response to this post, I shall seriously reconsider coming to Mumsnet again.

OP posts:
CountessDracula · 08/01/2005 16:08

WATCH IT GRRRRRRR

MrsBigD · 08/01/2005 16:08

CountessDracula - well she is entitled to her opinion

{{{{quickly scuttles away after adding her bit of 'bitching') }}}}

CountessDracula · 08/01/2005 16:05

Do you really think that posts like this will calm things down Just adding fuel to the fire IMO.

MrsBigD · 08/01/2005 15:58

p.s. dh is on a few other boards (not parenting related) and you get all that there too... so not a female thing

MrsBigD · 08/01/2005 15:58

I'm sort of with suedonim...

boards are nothing but a collection of rl people so you'll get rl 'issues' like cliques and bitching.

I usually just ignore the threads I don't like as I am a firm believer in everybody has the right to their opinion, views and ardent believes . O.k. sometimes some mn'ers are a bit aggressive about it, but tbh, that happens in rl too...

However, I do object severely to hijacking a thread and turning it into a slinging match (is this the right expression? English is not my mother tongue )

Tinker · 08/01/2005 15:56

Well said suedonim

joash · 08/01/2005 15:54

suedonim - agree with your post. However, I have noticed that over the past few weeks, there doesn't seem to be much else than the bitchiness. Sometimes find it difficult to find things to contribute to and yet I love the stupid threads also (for example the '500' thread - am I a saddo or what).

Beetroot · 08/01/2005 15:36

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suedonim · 08/01/2005 15:33

To me, Mumsnet reflects real life but at the same time, it isn't real life. It's kind of like a big party with people chatting in groups. I like most of the guests with only a very, very few I don't warm to. It's simple to choose which chats I want to join in with and which I can't be doing with. Some party guests obviously know each other well and have their in-jokes and seem to be in cliques but so what? I'm not in a clique, that I know of, but if others want to be, that's up to them, it's no skin off my nose. B*tchiness and gossiping happens in real life so it's not surprising that it happens here as well, even if it's somewhat unedifying. If one day I were to decide to leave the MN 'party' then I hope I'd just slip out of the door quietly simply by no longer posting. I find it best to try to keep a sense of proportion about these things and to remember that there are more important things in life. Jm2p.

maomao · 08/01/2005 15:30

welcome back beetroot and lou!

Beetroot · 08/01/2005 15:30

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suzywong · 08/01/2005 15:28

yes how was egypt beety < she asks at the risk of being cliquey>

Beetroot · 08/01/2005 15:13

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walliamsbabysmum · 08/01/2005 15:11

uhh o her it comes im of

lowcalCOD · 08/01/2005 15:11

can i join too?

Beetroot · 08/01/2005 15:10

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lowcalCOD · 08/01/2005 15:10

is thsi anohter cliquey thread YAWN

Heathcliffscathy · 08/01/2005 15:10

i always miss everything round here...arse

lowcalCOD · 08/01/2005 15:09

god dont ask it was so contentious it got deleted!

Heathcliffscathy · 08/01/2005 15:09

what was your pisstake thread lonelymum?

Beetroot · 08/01/2005 15:09

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lou33 · 08/01/2005 15:08

hello beety, how was egypt?

lowcalCOD · 08/01/2005 15:07

buut listen the br has been going on for ages since well before oyu came so dont join t hen slag off!

anyway lonelymum think the " contecntious thread" prize of the year goes to you adn your piss take thread recently!

Heathcliffscathy · 08/01/2005 15:07

i understand how you feel, sometimes i felt like that at first, but realised you have to use mn in a way that suits you and have thick skin and not take it all too seriously. you can see it as cliquiness, or a humour diffusing a tense situation, or just that mn is a place where everyone can do their thing...it's natural for people that have 'known' each other for a while to share jokes...we all do it if you think about it, when we've had some interaction with someone on another thread we might refer to it on a different one. i'm saying this as someone that considers themselves not a newbie, but not an oldtimer either. i've met some mners i've made some good friends on this site, sometimes i get paranoid that everyone hates me, sometimes i feel a sense of belonging. hope some of this makes a bit of sense

Beetroot · 08/01/2005 15:05

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