When did mn get so unpleasant?

[NoEffingWay]

Not exactly reinventing the wheel with this thread? Asked a related question on a thread to be told off and told to 'get a life' and get 'my own thread'.

I have been here for years, 13 to be precise, and I'm starting be nervous about asking questions like this one on mn. It used to be humour and kindness, and now it's become attacking and unpleasantness.

This is not a flounce but a sadness that women are using this forum to attack each other for innocuous and innocent comments.

AIBU has always been a bear pit. Other sections are gentler though.
Personally I stick to asking questions with factual answers, then I find people are very helpful.

But you used to be able to post anything not just something looking for facts

You can't now . It has changed .

Yes to this.

It grew from a village, with a green where people met and gossiped, a local shop and lots of little clubs frequented by small groups of (sometimes slightly aloof) friends and acquaintances, into a whole city.

Now it has blaring car horns, crowds of anonymous and harrassed looking people (shouting “I’m walking’ here, I’m walkin’” at the traffic), each block has a slightly scary person either talking intently to a fire hydrant or glaring angrily at passers by), the pavements have trip hazards and the scattered remains of takeaways, the public transportation is hard to fathom, and it often feels like there is so much going on at once that it might just be safer to stay inside and draw the curtains.

This .

I was here in 2007 and while "punchy " it was never deliberately cruel .

Now every thread where someone is broken over something has people wading in for a well aimed kick .