The old days of Mumsnet when…

[Anon778833]

Back in 2003, there was a section entitled ‘introductions’ and people would post identifying photos of themselves and their dc. And a post about themselves.

How times change!

i remember that. hours wasted.

There was no shortage of anti MMR shiling here in the early 2000s. There were plenty of other SM groups in the 90s which carried anti MMR propaganda.

Its possible @MissLucyEyelesbarrow (whose first post to this thread was absolutely spot on) is thinking of multiple sources of anti MMR propaganda of which MN threads were just one source.

There is a pattern to every general discussion group wherever and whoever its for:

• starts small, often started by a group already connected, seems friendly (or cliquey to new joiners) everyone congratulates themselves on finding the new cool place
• gets bigger, still cliquey but less "intimate" and some of the first wave start whining that the plebs are taking over
• gets bigger, inhabitants declare how much better it used to be loudly and regularly. Stomp off noisily to a new place (but always manage to be "just passing by" to drop in when this subject comes up in discussion)
• gets very big, much more diverse as a result, some people don't like it and move on, others stay and it evolves

Nothing is permanent.

MN now is probably far more representative of Josephine Public than it was 20 years ago. It is also trolled to death by groups who would like to see it shut down.

Do you think the groups who want it shut down, use bots for their trolling? It all seems like a lot of effort otherwise. Imagine being so annoyed that women have one place on the internet that you dedicate any time at all to trolling it. Rather than just, ignoring it. People are weird.

Which groups want it shut down? For real?

Posters of my vintage will also remember the 'Who is your favourite Mumsnetter?' threads that cropped up from time to time. They always started nicely enough with 'XX posted some great advice recently' and 'YY is such a hilarious poster', then degenerated when some posters came on to say 'Well, XX may be lovely, but ZZ is just HORRIBLE!', and finally the threads were deleted for nastiness.

I remember those threads started off as a suck-up cringe fest then rapidly degenerated. I never understood the purpose of them it was like being back at school a very childish exercise on a site which claims to have a high intelligence quota.

The Great New Year's Eve Debacle - the lone mod asked repeatedly for those who were doing the spoof, silly, wind-up threads to stop otherwise she would lock the site, they ignored her, put two fingers up to her (It's their site don't you know) and carried on so the mod did what she said she would do. Many toys were thrown out of prams, much nastiness directed at the mod the next day, much indignation that the posters where not allowed to get away with it and ignore the request of the mod - it would not have happened if the posters doing it had just done what was asked of them.

I also remember all the accusations of MN 'Royalty' and how they were apparently not held to the standards of other posters don't see those accusations anymore no doubt due to the increase in the size of the site.

🤣

@SadOrWickedFairy yes I think that's a very good summary. And I also thought that the NYE fallout was very unfair on the mod.

One of the very positive things that has come out of a bigger audience and pool of participants is the disappearance of MN Royalty (so to speak).

@Laiste

www.mumsnet.com/talk/dadsnet/549019-sexual-technics

@ShowOfHands

😃
Thank you!!!

Oh wow! That thread is 14 years old but was still being bumped this August

I notice FuckYouChrisAndThatHorse was on there. V witty poster.

@ShowOfHands I may have got totally the wrong person but were you the poster with the "loud" neighbour? I remember it being a very funny thread

Oh aye. Screaming sweet nothings at 11am on a Wednesday.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/mumsnet_classics/1393118-I-CANNOT-listen-to-next-door-having-sex-any-longer?reply=29830995

Links were either the bat or TWC. You never knew what you were risking.

OK, early 2000s, then. My point is that there was fuckwittedness right from the start.

What I'm about to ask now, I wasn't a member but I was a long time lurker.

SurreyTimes was a con artist wasn't he? He was the one with the terminally ill wife Caroline and he uploaded a voice clip of her thanking everyone on Mumsnet for their wonderful support and looking out for her boys.

Does anybody know what happened to him? Was the situation with Caroline all fake?

<whispers>
i think the fact that cod can slide into a thread without the whole thing descending into an adoring pile on shows how much less cliquey it is now!
(I miss the old days. She laughed at one of my jokes once)

She was piled on in the style and beauty board as they didn't recognise her or like her humour. It was pointed out that she was cod 'y' know' but I don't think people had heard of her.

That makes me feel old

Yes.

Well, Caroline might have been real, but he was a scammer and a sleazeball.

That was it. I remember quoting your Ross Geller rant a couple of times (agree with you BTW, he's bloody awful).

Bloody hell just thing how much more effective and productive I would be if I could remember useful stuff. Can't remember what I'd promised to sort out in the house yesterday, but can recall random MN threads from a decade ago.

I remember all sorts of peculiar stuff and then moments which will stay with me like the words ggglimpopo used to talk about what happened with beautiful Maude, a phone call she made, a trip to the shop while grieving. I remember OJ's words and Expat's and Misdee's. Then I remember shite about Sharon and a dead fly and the disgusting sexual technics of EvansMr. But no idea what I had for breakfast. MN has provided many way points to my career of Mother.

By the way, Mona next door's beau Roger the Rogerer? Went to prison for murder.

I seem to remember talk of a Mumsnet scarf when I first joined. So people could recognise each other at these fabled meet-ups?
Never knew if it was real or mythical!

I am so intrigued by the idea of a meet-up.

Were they a bit hit or a bit cringe? Any body here who went to one?

Meet ups were a thing till covid weren’t they. I was tempted to go to the Liverpool ones and think a few did happen. And sounded fun.