to understand why newbies feel unwelcome when there's a certain group of people on here that think mumsnet is all about them?

[truthful]

I really do understand why there is a 'flouncers corner' on this site and I understand why people feel the need to go to it!
Six months ago I joined this site and on my first ever thread there was about 10 people who all clearly knew eachother and started their own conversation and completely ignored me! I felt really unwelcome but just thought it was a one off. Ever since then I've begun to realise that its like school on here and theres the 'popular' group who seem to think that everyone should know who they are and so they just hijack everyone elses thread and talk amongst themselves ignoring other people in the process! I was even in a thread yesterday and there was a discussion and one of the popular ones said something along the lines of ' oh its jack, havent seen you for a while, hows your dad?'
To me that was rude and if you know eachother that well then shouldn't you be emailing or private messaging instead of being so rude? I can honestly say I have said something regarding to what the OP was asking and been completely ignored by what send like the usual lot talking about scones or something
Another thing which I hate is all the private jokes flying around which is between the usual lot and no one else. Fanjo??? Grow up!
The only time people seem to get noticed is when they have changed their name to something like one of the popular peoples names! Remember the whole 'whos impersonating sue's thing yesterday??? seems like thats all people cared about as yiu are sooo popular so

sm

brilliant

do you do aw the wee faces as well?

waits for explosion

Ahhhh

This one is scary though

you could have a lucky dip at your party Maryz?

Feak.....you're on !

Although, that would make the bag even heavier.

Note on party invitations : Please bring a fork lift with you when you attend. Will be needed going home.

Disclaimer - cake for decorative/symbolic purposes only. Will taste of feet. If you have a one year old they will more than likely throw it at your head in disgust.

It is not the end of the world to not be able to cook a sponge cake.

What do feet taste like ?

My cakes

I make a cracking shortbread when I can be arsed

Feak, that's the Hannibal Lector of party puppies. Hide the Chianti.

Well, there you go then. I commit the sin of being able to cook most things well, but not being arsed to. Don't worry about it. Life's too short.

And why make things when you can just buy them ? Don't have to wait for them to cool, or to be iced/decorated/sugared...

OP- you just ignore it if you don't understand it- I just scan down if I haven't a clue. Half the time when people are talking about 'royalty' I have never heard of them. I wouldn't worry.

tethers - nice baby! Well done! xxx

I made a wonderful birthday cake for ds1, when he was 4. I bought swiss rolls and sponge cakes, and biscuits, and used lots of butter icing and some slightly cack-handed carving to make a steam train with two wagons. I even mounted it on Duplo railway, surrounded by duplo men. It was amazing, despite the awful number of swearwords that dh and I used whilst trying to get the sodding buttercream to sodding well stick to the sodding sponge. I am still very slightly traumatised.

On the other hand, the pizza cakes I made were utterly non-traumatic. One disc of sponge cake, red buttercream (to be the tomato sauce), dessicated coconut dyed green for herbs, grated yellow icing (the cheese), candied pineapple; and mushrooms, ham, salami and peppers made out of modelling icing. Very effective.

Or there was the cake I made when all three had a joint party - with a space rocket on the front. No problems with making or icing it - but all the blue food colouring in the icing turned everyone's poo green.

Maryz - Hullypuppy has big ears like that, they are very soft and stroky see?

I am not stroking them now, she is asleep in her basket

I have a fluffy puppy asleep on my foot.

She has a strange attraction to my slippers. At bedtime I put them near her bed, and she sleeps with her nose in one of them.

Honeydragon, I don't want a puppy, but those pics make me want a puppy.

Having made some quite fabby birthday cakes previously, I made ds a dalek cake one year. I used a Blue Peter (I think) recipe, which employed a big swiss roll, and some mini swiss rolls, artfully cut and positioned, then iced. Suffice to say I haven't made a decorative cake since.

I would link to a picture, but it's been sent to so many people over the years, it would out me for definite.

...And puppies and scones. Yes.

Oh and rocks.

I do get what you're saying (and part of me agrees) but, by the same token, I think it's inevitable and human nature that cliques and friendships will develop online just as they do in RL. Where it does differ from RL is that most people (if they are honest) probably wouldn't 'speak' to others quite as rudely/bluntly as they do online (myself included) as it's easy to hide behind a laptop/phone/iPod etc. What I do like a about MN and keeps me lurking/browsing is the humour and wit - I've almost wet myself at times with some of the threads (especially the one in classics about poo stories).