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 ..

Yep agree with all of the above.

I joined in 2008, and it definitely felt like a special little club. I barely posted, except on the due date threads when I was on those, but read avidly.

Was lots of humour, but also lots of really helpful and thoughtful content. Now, almost every thread descends into a bunfight, with someone inevitably derailing the thread by nitpicking over a minute detail, which does get tiresome.

But I still am on here regularly, despite all of the above, and even now if I see a shopping list in a supermarket trolley, I wonder if it will have naice ham written on it...

It was more like a village way back when. Meet Ups, Secret Santa, the dreaded FB groups. I know so many people in RL from the MN of yore - I can't imagine doing that any more. It was cliquey - in a good and a bad way.

and

Very London-centric, middle-class, high income
Also it seemed more intelligent back then, I don't mean that in a snotty way, just that posters appeared well informed and well educated.

From the first two answers have a lot of truth in them.

I think the key think is that it has grown enormously, and there are so many people on here, and the issue with people constantly name changing means it does feel less of a community, and I presume it is much more difficult for MN to keep an eye on everything. Add in Trolls, bots, AI posts and there is a lot that is worse.

There do seem to be fewer real debates, with people making thoughtful contributions and people able to discuss in an adult manner, to me. Too often people lack the ability to discuss and things become polarised too quickly.

There is no SUCH a disproportional number of posters on the highest incomes and who want to talk about Private schools, considering both things belong to such a small part of the population.

I too, am addicted, and I agree there do seem to be far fewer funny threads.
But overall, it is such a great place to be, and there are still so many people who offer help and support - yes, even by disagreeing with the OP in AIBU, sometimes.

I think it's a lot nastier in here. Posters are trying to catch op's out and are very sharp with their responses. Some posters don't appear to realise that not all peoples accommodation/lifestyle is the same as theirs.

I agree it used to be funnier on here.

In honesty I think there are too many sections and that means excluding people. I get posters want a 'safe space' to discuss issues but a) you have actually no idea if responders are who they say they are and b) surely it's good to get different perspectives. Nasty posters will still comment anyway so it's not actually 'safe'. For example I feel I can't comment if someone has used the overseas section as it feels they don't want others opinions but they might be discussing something generic (topic used is just an example)

I also think people are fooled into thinking it's so safe to post on here that they can show pictures of their genitalia. We never used to get fanjo pictures and I worry about the vulnerability of the poster.

Saying all this though there are some fantastic conversations and I remain addicted (for now) There are some very wise and funny women on here.

The content is less focused on parenting. I quite often scroll all the way down active threads and don’t find anything to click on. I feel like I’ve seen everything now, but just have a look out of habit. I think there was always a nasty streak, if you didn’t share commonly held views here you could be shouted down by the clique. Now it generally feels that most people disagree with each other. There seem to be fewer threads where someone needs support, or maybe it’s just less forthcoming now. The internet is so full of the answers already, there probably aren’t any more questions that need to be asked on MN, rather than googling.

I've been here since 2007 when my DC were 9 and 11 and I was 48.
It was very different.
The main thing I remember was the wit. It was full of very clever, funny threads. Look back at some very old threads in Classics for an idea.
I don't remember much nastiness, or much politics.
Just to add name changing makes a big difference. You used to know people. People used to know me. Now I NC every few weeks as I assume most old timers do.

Like so many others I think that back in the day MN more intelligent and funny. I don't miss the cliques at all.

I don't agree that AIBU is horrible, just more posters putting up stuff that shouldn't be there and then getting all huffy when it goes sideways for them, i.e YABU.

Some threads have held their own, Gardening and The Archers.

Absolutely this. There used to be far more funny and witty posters, and far fewer mean girls. I think people are generally unhappier with life and it shows.

It's on crack lately. People get insanely vicious over the most trivial of things - hair bows, Pizza Hut buffets, all sorts.

There's a very strong sense of being mean to seem superior and the word chavvy is bandied about a lot.

It's really unpleasant but I stay because the advice generally is good and it makes me feel less lonely. I just wish there weren't so many twats.

People would ignore you and talk around you.

There was always some drama happening which I always missed and then had to try to figure out what had happened.

In the old days a poster issued an open invitation for a mumsnet camp out in her field one weekend. There were quite a number of MN meet ups in London and elsewhere. It’s too big now, too anonymous.

it used to be funnier and more irreverent, been here 20 years...

Exactly this.

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

If you've only been here 8 years, you wouldn't know how funny it used to be.

The good thing about MN now is there aren't any cliques (and thank god the Royalty flounced). But it is a nastier place now.

This - there were some incredibly knowledgable and experienced breastfeeding experts. Lots of great advice about newborns. Less faddy and more factual.

And rude in a really funny way. But so many in jokes i could never fathom.

Also on here for many years c. 2006. I started with the other site and couldnt bear the huns and lols, so turned up here where I could use proper language, swear, have a good debate and get great advice all on the same thread. Also some of the threads were hysterical. So funny. This place kept me sane during a horrid divorce, tough parenting, horrid jobs so I have an affection.

But yes it has changed. I used to love AIBU not so much anymore. Spend most of my time on FWR. I no longer need the parenting and schools stuff as things move on.

It used to be really funny. Can't remember the last time there was a thread that really made me laugh. Shame because sometimes you just want to get away from it all and get a bit of light relief!

I wonder what the change is due to? Covid/Brexit/Ukraine/cost of living or something else? Twitter and social media perhaps?

Yesss reading threads out loud or simply crying actual tears of laughter. I miss that. And meet-ups. Getting on for two decades ago. Christ on a bike.

Penis beaker.

It was downhill from there.

I miss how funny it was. It was my routine to read out the really funny posts to DH over a glass of wine or on long car journeys. It sounds really silly but after growing up in a world where men just considered women not to be funny, I really enjoyed sharing the proof that they were.

It's definitely less silly and funny here now. And so much instant dismissal

I've been on here for over 20 years. It was a godsend in the early days. It still is if you need information but I laughed so hard at threads sometimes I would choke. The Friday night 'bar' was great when you couldn't go out which was most nights for me and you knew who people were. I went to some meetups in the early days. Great times

It was much funnier, but mainly it's just a victim of its own success. A tiny site with lots of recognisable posters is always loads more fun than what we have now - a huge site with regular name changes (so you don't recognise people easily) and a lot of trolls. In those days it felt like a community, in common with a number of other boards I used. Most don't exist any more because you can't run them in the same way once there are too many users.

It's dumbed down a lot over the years.

Back in 2008 when i first started loitering, it was full of entertaining, funny and incredibly intelligent women. It was also very cliquey and if you posted an opinion on a thread with regulars, you'd be completely ignored. The disdain for anyone who had 'mummy' in their username was made very obvious.

I miss it as Mumsnet now feels more like Netmums.

Agree with most of the above - it was funnier and more intelligent. It was good company - now I just scroll to pass the time when there’s nothing else🤷🏼‍♀️