Has mumsnet changed over the years

[YouFoundMe]

I have seen a thread on which a lot of people have said mumsnet has changed from what it used to be 15/20 years ago. I've only been on here for 3/4 months so I'd love to know what has changed .. is it better or worse?(my guess from what people say is that it's now not as good as it was before).. why? What was it like before ..

I’ve noticed that even in the time I have been here. There used to be a lot more genuinely well informed, witty, bright people. Now it’s just bitter angry people sniping at each other.

Sums it it beautifully. It used to be really funny.

Agreed - less cliquey and less funny.

I agree that it’s less cliquey, less funny and that there is a huge amount of gotcha and requests for peer-reviewed studies to prove a point in what should be light-hearted chats. People have been “pulling up chairs”, “fetching popcorn” saying “this won’t end well” for years and I agree it’s childish but it’s not new. I do miss a lot of the “big personality” posters from years ago (but there are some I am glad are no longer around).

However it is still full of long-running threads, friendship groups, endless support for those that need it and find the right place to post. There are some threads I’ve been on for over 10 years and I do still find MN friends gradually becoming RL ones via PMs and FB.

Yep, that sums it up perfectly!

From a fellow addict🤪🤣

I was thinking about this the other day. I was thinking both the early threads that ended up in classics and whether any of those would have gone the same way if they were started now.

It's things like the cube of poo, the fat ball...etc - about 5 posts in some smart arse would say 'well that never happened' and there would be several pages of snarking and people saying 'well I don't see why that's funny' and 'grow up'.

Then we just all laughed and went along with it.

I do think that's partly to do with how we all used to know each other, so a well known poster would be taken at face value.

It's just a much harder, less tolerant place now. Which isn't to say it's less supportive when necessary. Just that some people seem to be here purely to put others down. It's sad.

I agree with much of the above, it used to be funnier and much much more clever.

Earlier I saw ‘fucking bitch’ as response to a post complaining about a friend.

Mumsnet simply wasn’t that base in the past, the friend may have been called all sorts but not with the use of basic misogynistic language.

There’s much more racism too (though I’m sure any responses will tell me I’m too sensitive, freedom of speech or whatever 🙄).

I miss how hilarious some of the threads could be. They could leave me barely able to breathe, I was laughing so much.

I've been here for 15ish years. I made a lot of friends when I was TTC. We're not in touch now but one did go onto be a very famous person... it was a very random selection of people thrown together by virtue of our conception timing. It's been a place I've posted a lot over the years and even got a very popular Talk subject set up as a request. But I do think that the world has changed a lot and there are many more vulnerable individuals as a result. And the disparities are therefore greater. And perhaps what once united us in humour is now eclipsed by mental health, economic inequality and relationships that are more likely than ever to breakdown. I don't know, I feel like some of the people that have weighed in on things I've said in recent times have really put me off Mumsnet as a safe supportive place in general because there is so much unnecessary cruelty to posters who really are going through it. No one has to comment, if you're not interested or you think someone is being pathetic what help is it to say that?

fewer funny posters and far more snarly posters.

people get so aggro out of the gate on even the mildest threads.

It’s changed a lot since the red tops & lazy journalists have used it as fodder. Who on earth in their right mind would post anything of interest for fear of being outed in the daily Mail. In the old days it was like a secret club, not any more.

It was a lot funnier, a lot sillier, and more witty.

I think it was because 20 years ago not that many people had computer access or the time, or the inclination, to be in an online chat room. Or just didn't know how to get into an online chat room.

On the other hand with a greater number of users comes greater diversity, and more people with relevant information and advice because they have been through the same thing as the OP.

I just wish the humour standard was a bit better than 'I farted in the supermarket' followed by 25 posts of 'LOL'. 10 years ago it was rare I logged into Mumsnet and wasn't crying with laughter after four or five threads.

I came on here on and off over the years since about 2005. I lurked for years because it always seemed a bit of a clique. I started posting maybe only 6 years ago. I never was a member and it is a bit addictive. I've noticed more men that's about it. It did seem funnier years ago and warmer.

I agree with many of these comments, especially about things feeling less lighthearted and there being less humour.

My question is: is this specific to MN, or maybe a reflection of a wider societal shift? Perhaps, as life in the UK at least, feels like it's got harder in the last decade, that's resulted in everyone - including MN posters - feeling crosser, less fun and generally less inclined to light-heartedness?

I’ve been her for about 13 years, in a ninja-like way, with a billionty different usernames.

It did used to be funnier, but now, as PPs have mentioned, people can’t wait to trip each other up, criticise or be a smartarse in some other way.

I hated the cliques and MN royalty though: someone would have a thread asking advice, and a poster would come on, say hi to another poster who was already there and they’d have a chat right there on someone’s thread! So selfish and smug.

A lot of the old MN memes have faded away now too, some of which is good.

I've been on here, under different names for perhaps 8 years. I think people who think it "was better when" are looking at it with rose tinted glasses.

There's definitely more people looking to drag a poster down for the sake of some imaginary superiority in their own mind, but threads waxing lyrical about the past tend to turn into embarrassing cliquefests

There's always been a problem for example with disability based prejudice, it's never been perfect.

There are about 3 posters I would block for tediousness if I could but a lot of the name recognition posters from when I started have either namechanged or left, it's less personal than it was definitely.

I’ve been here 15 years. Millions of name changes.
It used to be so funny and supportive. Yeah it had cliques (I wasn’t in one) but the boards were funny and everyone did not constantly take offence, or do as they do now which is pick a tiny detail of a thread and start derailing a thread about something someone has been troubled enough to ask by pointing out that 6 pages ago it said “DS” but now they’ve said “DD” and why is that? Why? Why? Oh and I’ve done a search of you and it’s an interesting first post op etc.

That I find really disappointing. I don’t like AIBU as a board, it’s unkind to people, it’s a chance to put the boot in.

I still lurk under many different names, but I don’t laugh anywhere like I used to on here anymore.

It was very different. Much smaller, more supportive, more of a community, very funny. It was a lifeline when I had my first child twenty years ago.

I’ve done a search of you

The Advanced Search thing is sometimes cruelly used for sure, but sometimes it exposes a teller of tall tales. 🍿

I joined in 2008 and I couldn't get over how witty it was. I loved it, even though I never was particularly funny myself and didn't post much.

You really recognised posters, lots of whom had a personal profile! With a photo! This seems so strange now I am wondering if i remember correctly.

There were very intense debates about ABA, breastfeeding and the teaching of phonics that I found extremely informative.

It's totally different now. It used to feel like a self-sufficient little community. Now it is more like a nasty high-tide mark where all the flotsam and jetsam of social media storms on various platforms gets thrown up and kicked about.

All the ridiculous passion that used to focus on daftly parochial things like Moldies now vents itself in horribly polarised and conspiratorial dumbed-down politics imported from Twitter. And of course there is the vile proliferation of spam threads and agitprop, courtesy of bots and hacks.

Other horrible things: The sheer number of threads about the bloody royal family, and threads that just feel like influencer-driven advertising for weightloss injections from semi-legit online pharmacies.

There are lovely threads here and there, but far far fewer than before. Mostly I am just drawn to it because I am addicted to mindless soulless scrolling.

There used to a a thread for people who were awake late at night/ early hours. What happened to that? I can't find it...

I've been here nearly 20 years and it used to be uproariously funny. People were witty and audacious and you'd never dream of including 'Lighthearted' in any thread title, ever. There seemed to be an endless stream of colourful characters with every opinion under the rainbow.

People were much more articulate and even if they were being bitches you still admired their use of language.

Mumsnet used to be Waitrose. Now it's Tesco.

It used to be hilariously funny with threads running for days over the stupidest of topics. There was collective outrage if a troll was spotted! I have made some great friends. On the other hand there were plenty of complete bitches, thread derailers, people disparaging the "beige" or working class posters. Posters used to report to MNHQ if someone disagreed with them and it was small enough that you could have a laugh with MNHQ about it "Oh it's HER again - maybe avoid her threads as you know what she is like".

And some people held grudges for years....nay, decades.