Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be shocked at how cliquey men are on Internet forums

58 replies

Andtheythinkwearecliquey · 15/04/2013 12:31

Name changed as I have been talking about this IRL today.

My husband has an old car that he potters around with and he has been having trouble with something he can't fix so I suggested he ask on a specialist forum if anyone could help.

I was completely shocked that all he got back was people saying you can't just waltz in and ask a question without introducing yourself then a load of weird references to the Lord of the Rings saying stuff like you can't just walk into Mordor, all in bizarre Ali-G speak. WTAF?

OP posts:
TheBigJessie · 15/04/2013 14:16

Click on this. Look at the left hand side.

maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=208480491014969769560.0004cfba116f9ce600296

ScarlettInSpace · 15/04/2013 14:16

MY OH posts regularly on a car forum btw, his response to your OP is:

Tis true, my forum is the same, the odd normo like me but probably 90% bell ends

bless that he thinks he is normal Grin

TheBigJessie · 15/04/2013 14:18

Oh bugger doesn't work when you link to it.

Go to google maps, put Rivendell in, then Mordor, and click walking directions.

Original poster
Andtheythinkwearecliquey · 15/04/2013 14:21

ozma I haven't asked on here cos I haven't got a clue what the fault is- I can barely manage to fuel my car!

mrsmacf it's a similar situation with my husband, he had a look through the techie questions but didn't find anything that helped so asked his own specific question. How unkind is it that it is common place for these peolpe to be 'eaten alive'? As jessie said, all it does is drives a lot away and probably proves the cliques right.

OP posts:
MrsMacFarlane · 15/04/2013 14:24

OP Scarlett's OH has got in nailed "90% bellends indeed" :)

Original poster
Andtheythinkwearecliquey · 15/04/2013 14:24

PMSL scarlett I haven't heard people being called 'bell end' for ages Grin

OP posts:
TiggyD · 15/04/2013 16:07

I bet they're wazzocks too.

StuntGirl · 15/04/2013 16:11

What? Have you been on the internet before?

Original poster
Andtheythinkwearecliquey · 15/04/2013 16:31

Not sure what you mean stuntgirl but if this is common place, I've obviously led a very sheltered life!

OP posts:
elfycat · 15/04/2013 16:32

The thing is that they did just walk into Mordor (well Sam and Frodo did - nipped round the back) so their reference is incorrect anyway.

Trillz · 15/04/2013 16:45

The reference is correct - Boromir did say it.

And I wouldn't say it was "simple".

andubelievedthat · 15/04/2013 16:47

your fella nearly ! became a victim of those who live on site ,think its theirs and wish to set their rules to the site, it is sooooo typical, my fella seen the same happening on a very popular VW site, it really is pitifull.

Original poster
Andtheythinkwearecliquey · 15/04/2013 17:00

I think you might have hit the nail on the head there andubelievedthat these posters had more than 15,000 posts each! How much time spent on that forum must that equate to............? I think it might have taken over from reality!

OP posts:
LagomOchLyckaSwede · 15/04/2013 17:06

The Internet is crazy.

elfycat · 15/04/2013 18:25

I know Boromir said it but it wasn't correct. You can simply walk into Mordor as demonstrated later on. OK there were some difficulties (giant spider, a guide with some past issues to work through, joining the enemy army for a while, and deciding that a volcano is a good place for a male-bonding holiday) but the one foot after another thing was easy enough.

Perhaps that's the problem with those men on that site. They looked at the journey into Mordor as a problem filled one, and they now need to cause the problems for everyone else to fit their metaphor.

So OP did you ask the car problem on here yet?

thenightsky · 15/04/2013 18:36

I am the lone female moderator of a specialist car forum.

The blokes are lovely, but there definitely is more cliquishness than MN (and far less swearing).

Trillz · 15/04/2013 18:36

Actually I think it was "One does not simply..." rather than "You can't simply..." and I still maintain that it was not simple.

Original poster
Andtheythinkwearecliquey · 15/04/2013 18:58

trillz my point is that neither my husband or I give a toss how hard it is to walk into Mordor! He has never even seen any of the films or read any of the books!

He just wanted advice on a specialist subject and got all this weird shit back!

He apologised for breaking forum etiquette and not following the (unwriiten) rules but still they continued with this crap.

I had a look and there is an 'introduce yourself' section which, in hindsight he should have used but on there virtually no one replies and there were some even more offensive and completely unprovoked comments made in reply to those posts.

I also noticed that those who pounced on him for his thread never acknowledge anyone in the 'introduce yourself' thread.

OP posts:
Trillz · 15/04/2013 21:16

It's elfycat who brought up that Boromir was wrong.

CatchTheFox · 15/04/2013 22:48

yabu, and a little naive. internet forums are communities of people, often largely populated by 'regulars' with their rubbish hilarious in-jokes and mannerisms.

it pays to spend a few days, if not longer, lurking in such places to get a feel for what kind of reception a newcomer can expect.

in summary, yabu for not having seen lord of the rings.

StuntGirl · 16/04/2013 00:43

Yes that's exactly what I meant cliquey

Heaven forbid if you'd discovered some of the darker corners of the web!

MammaTJ · 16/04/2013 01:36

He should email the link to the DM and give MN a break for five minutes.

PigletJohn · 16/04/2013 01:55

I have never heard of such a thing but he can change his username and try again

or find a more sensible site.

SideshoBob · 16/04/2013 04:37

Can you not provide a link so we can see this ourselves?

But obviously different forums are of different quality levels, often depends on the moderation of the forum. I've had plenty of excellent help for things off forums when I've had no previous posts so to write them off on the basis of this is wrong. They serve a useful purpose.

As it is i'm guessing in the forum rules it says something about not asking questions straight away or something so people actually contribute to the site, hence the whole one does not walk into mordor thing:

knowyourmeme.com/memes/one-does-not-simply-walk-into-mordor

Obviously doesn't excuse rudeness, but some people are just idiots. I'm guessing its probably a small forum that has little influx of new members.

Original poster
Andtheythinkwearecliquey · 16/04/2013 09:35

TBH catch if he had lurked around a bit more he'd never have posted, even those people who did introduce themselves got some pretty obnoxious replies.

BTW I have seen Lord of the Rings but didn't like it, it's DH that hasn't!

Intrigued by the 'darker corners of the web' stuntgirl! I had no idea I was so sheltered! Grin

OP posts: