Has MN changed?

[Hichic]

Do you think MN had changed since you joined? How did it used to be?

I have been here several years. A few years back it seemed quite nasty In places .but it seems better now. Does not seem to be so many attacks on posters or bun fights . Seems to be better debates without it getting overly nasty.

I was 23 when I joined, I'm 40 now. I used to feel young and a bit in awe of the Boden wearing grown-ups. Now I just feel old and disillusioned and ridiculously pleased to see an old face/name. We had member profiles fgs. And a bat mascot.

In all seriousness, I do miss the community. The Friday nights when everybody came together (maybe at Center Parcs right?) and just chatted or the long nights when people you'd come to know and love faced the unimaginable and we sat alongside them. It had a different, more human identity.

It's trolltastic now and the fecking batshittery and hatred spewed on Aibu is a disgrace.

It is more boring and more miserable. You can still get helpful info about almost anything, and I keep coming back for that, but some bits of the board that could and should help people really don't. Worst is the Covid board - I was on there when I was sick in March/April 2020 and people really helped each other, but now it's a fucking dumpster fire: aggressive, full of misinformation, badly moderated.

Give me Reddit any day: the young dudes talk sense and the moderators don't tolerate any fucking about. Come to think of it, 4Chan would probably be better than the MN Coronavirus forum!

I think I joined in early 2006, and was on a pregnancy thread with at least one person on this thread

It was all about Cod when I joined, and felt spiky and hilarious.

There were definitely arseholes on here then, but they were REAL arseholes. Sigh.

The Covid board is weird. I avoid venturing in there. The air is fetid and could do with a good airing.

@Classica

The Covid board is weird. I avoid venturing in there. The air is fetid and could do with a good airing.

I agree, and I think a lot of people joined MN purely to spread their weird agendas around Covid.

I've been posting since 2007. For many years under the same name, I felt I knew lots of regulars. I met up with a few and made real friends, even thoughwe lived at opposite ends of the country and in different worlds.
I still see a few old names but most of the really funny ones have gone. I name change frequently, must have about 50 user names in my history.
There are more people now. Much nastier.

@Galassia

There was a self appointed queen bee a few years ago who has a possession hanging on to her every world.

Thankfully she has gone and so have her hangers on.

Anyfucker?

AF is still here

@EarringsandLipstick

I'm not here that long, 5 years maybe now.

I get over-invested at times too much

I waste time on MN instead of facing to Important Stuff

I feel troll threads are massively increased, but also feel that I still get suckered.

I will forever be grateful for finding MN at a particular juncture, and the Relationships board. I learnt about emotional abuse and gaslighting. A 💡 moment.

I also like reading about women who really get their shit together & move on after horrible relationships. Gives me hope.

I agree that moderating is patchy; and a recent thread was eye-opening about thread deletions, with posters explaining they'd had threads deleted that were genuine. I really thought that MN knew 100%!

The lack of nuance, on some boards in particular, really bothers me.

Sometimes it's very funny. Some posters are hilarious.

Although my life is extremely busy, I'm quite lonely. I do find MN helps with that, there are people I can relate to.

You and I joined at about the same time @EarringsandLipstick. I name change a lot but often find you agreeing with me or vice-versa, you do start noticing the same names coming up again and again. It’d be funny if we knew each other in real life as I do have a little group of friends on here from DS’ bus.

@JayAlfredPrufrock, Warrington was awful. It was a piss poor decision to moved there.
OTOH, when DH couldn’t get a job, we ,made another pisspoor decision to move to Kuala Lumpur for a year
8 years on from that we are happily living in Norfolk. DD is at university and I have the most delicious Bedlington terrier.
Plans to retire to Spain in about 5 years time

I used to enjoy posts by anyfucker or cod. They might be the same person for all I know.

@FlibbertyGiblets

It was not pleasant to witness at the time, trust me

Anyone know whether SGB (SolidGoldBrass) is still around?

@Mydogisagentleman

Norfolk sounds much nicer.

I don’t remember AF being horrid.

It’s changed from when I first used it, in that it has become much bigger with a wider demographic.

When I joined, it was very liberal, artsy, lefty London leaning, which suited me but was probably too cliquey, Cod and gang ruled the roost. I think the Mouldies split properly hurt many posters and was handled poorly.

Also, what you need changes - my days of fretting about potty training have long gone - and that affects how you see and digest the site content.

I agree, @Sparklingbrook, re. loads of people joining purely with the aim of spreading shite on the Covid board.

I've been here since 2009 I think. The main difference is that it used to be seriously fucking funny. Bobble plate was in progress, and I knew it was a nice place I'd enjoy.

I recognise names on this thread and a certain poster I would still fight to the death for the love of John Taylor.

Things went weird with Brexit, MM and Covid. You can't have either a serious debate or a laugh about either subject and they leach into everything else with their batshittery.

Anything will change over time.

It's bigger and more anonymous now. Harder to develop relationships and get to know people.

I've hidden AIBU as it became unbearable. The site is much nicer to use without it.

I don't feel the overall standard of response is quite the same. Occasionally you'll get some really interesting threads which are just like the old days but often not really. However in some ways I think it's become more mellow and balanced which is quite nice.

I don't waste quite as much time here as I once did :o

Yes I think brexit and covid have both had a really odd effect on the site as a whole. Plus the whole trans thing that completely took over the feminism topic. It's like some kind of weird divisive triangle or three way Venn diagram that you have to stand one way or another on the sides of these issues.

However I do feel mumsnet is one place I've actually come across balanced discussion on these issues which you tend not to find anywhere else. So although they have been divisive, I think that might be the Internet at large and MN is maybe actually one of the better places for this kind of thing.

@bananafish

It’s changed from when I first used it, in that it has become much bigger with a wider demographic.

When I joined, it was very liberal, artsy, lefty London leaning, which suited me but was probably too cliquey, Cod and gang ruled the roost. I think the Mouldies split properly hurt many posters and was handled poorly.

Also, what you need changes - my days of fretting about potty training have long gone - and that affects how you see and digest the site content.

Who is cod?

You can't blame AF for having 'adoring minions'.

It was cringey as fuck at times but totally beyond her control, and I never once saw her encourage/acknowledge the arse licking. If anything she probably cringed with embarrassment along with everyone else.

Nobody seems to find litters of kittens in their back gardens any more.

I think people used to be more likely to play along with threads years ago. I saw the Christmas reverse thread (AIBU to think DH shouldn't force me to travel to his parents' town when I'm heavily pregnant? I don't think he's booked anywhere to stay, and it's going to be incredibly busy.) and lots of people were just posting "Yawn" which I thought was a bit sad. Years ago you'd get people making jokes about isofix points on a donkey.

I used to love MorningPaper's Talk Round-Up e-Mail.

2006 for me, different name. It has changed. I used to look forward to spending time here, now I’m here regularly but reply to far fewer threads than I used to.
I remember Chaos living up to her name with her phone and other incidents!