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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

... to think MNers are a strange bunch?

309 replies

user1457213512 · 04/08/2017 21:13

Aibu to think that Mumsnet can't be representative of real life, can it?!

A lot of people on here just seem so, I don't know, just... odd. Bizarre. Strange. A lot of people on here just seem to have really outlandish odd opinions that I'm just not sure if I'd ever hear someone have in real life. Posters just seem to pick up on the most unusual things from posts i.e. A poster posts about how they didn't get a house they bid on, and then another poster chimes in saying how they're even lucky to have 5p in savings etc etc (I'm rubbish at examples).

So yes, aibu to think that some (not all) mumsnetters are crazy aliens who I have no idea how they function in the real world?

Ps I like mumsnet and it provides me with a lot of entertainment. The strangeness does not make me want to leave.

OP posts:
iklboo · 04/08/2017 22:37

Let's not forget 'I've lost my purse'

'People in Syria would give their eye teeth to have a purse to lose' posters

MrsPorth · 04/08/2017 22:38

Weird things:

Picking up on a minor and irrelevant point from the OP and derailing the thread with challenges about it.

Getting upset about a zombie thread being revived. Who cares.

Competitive poverty.

outabout · 04/08/2017 22:41

The range of replies from the truly insightful and caring on some 'areas' of the site to the ridiculous where people can't comprehend that putting an electric fire into a bath of water may NOT be a good idea.

NinaMarieP · 04/08/2017 22:42

The competitive cleanliness.

"I was my bedding every week"

"Grim. I wash it twice a week."

"So unhygienic, I wash mine every morning."

"Disgusting. I get up at 3am to change the bedding and put straight in the wash..."

SnickersWasAHorse · 04/08/2017 22:44

I think the reason that MN can be like this is that it is such a huge cross section of society.

You can have a 23 year old with a new born, a 50 year old grandmother, a childfree woman in her 40s, a 35 year old mother of teens and a 30 year old dad of toddlers all talking together about a neighbour parking over someone's drive, what job someone should take or make of washing powder.
We are people from different generational, social, and financial background who all have an equal say when normally some of us wouldn't be heard.

We aren't all going to agree because we are all very different and have different life experiences.

SaveMeBarry · 04/08/2017 22:44

I find MN can be as Op describes sometimes with lots of nastiness, petty nitpicking and people who seem to get enjoyment out of sticking the boot in. There have been times I've thought to myself that the site is filled with oddballs and people with personality disorders!

For that again there are often really entertaining or heartwarming threads and in a good week you'll get intelligent discussion with well informed posters or brilliant advice and support on a range of issues.

I realise it's not a hive mind and probably just my imagination but I sometimes feel like MN goes through phases where it seems there's nothing but aggressive and argumentative threads. That's when I take a break from it for a week or two!

CockacidalManiac · 04/08/2017 22:45

MN posters do tend to go a bit Four Yorkshireman sometimes.

CockacidalManiac · 04/08/2017 22:47

What I find odd is just how many people respond to ANY thread with "are you sure he doesn't have ASD?". If you look at most threads, you get a poster responding to weird behaviour in this way. It's odd.*

And the 'do you think it could be early dementia?' obsession.

Weebo · 04/08/2017 22:47

The 'I'm genuinely baffled' people piss me off.

It's usually followed by a perfectly unbaffling opinion that the supposed baffled person just disagrees with.

You are not baffled you are a pompous arse.

TriskelArts · 04/08/2017 22:48

I think it's overwhelmingly representative of a certain variety of lower-middle-class Englishness (and yes, granted that other nationalities and social classes do also use the forum, but that's what predominates for me).

UrsulaPandress · 04/08/2017 22:48

It's voluntary.

CockacidalManiac · 04/08/2017 22:48

And the posters that 'spit tea over the keyboard' at slightly amusing things.

PenguinOfDoom · 04/08/2017 22:49

I find the competitive housework threads odd. Not to mention the behaviour over answering the door and the phone.

Mostly I enjoy MN and it's given me an insight into people (mainly women) that I haven't had before. But sometimes it's unbearably PC, to the extent of ignoring a genuine problem for the sake of sniping at the OP over trivial transgressions which are blown out of all proportion.

3luckystars · 04/08/2017 22:52

It's the dog thing too. Don't get s dog ever. Don't even speak of getting a dog, NEVER GET A DOG.

Also the way people are so isolated and stranded on so many threads.

So in summary, yes it does seem different alright, but we are all together here.

LaurieFairyCake · 04/08/2017 22:53

The competitive towel washing

Someone on here uses the towel that dries them ONCE ShockShockShock

And then WASHES IT ShockShockShock

So that's one dry on their CLEAN body and then they wash the towel ShockShockShock

It makes me actually want to scream 'the ENVIRONMENT' and I don't usually even think about it. Total insanity. Bonkers.

dustarr73 · 04/08/2017 22:56

I do love MB, the thing that gets my goat.Is they're certain posters that pop up on certain threads and their word is law.

God forbid you disagree with them.My favourite threads are usually how much is your shopping for a week.They do be real eye opener.

PenguinOfDoom · 04/08/2017 22:57

Oh gosh yes. The armchair diagnosing of everyone who is just basically a shit as ASD or NPD. And LTB if your DH failed to do the washing up one night.

Strokethefurrywall · 04/08/2017 22:59

Hahahah, yes the "don't get a dog unless you can spend every single waking moment of your life with it" madness.

I have 2 dogs. Both of them big. They're both left in the house from 8am-5pm. They don't bark, they don't mess, they don't cry, they don't have separation anxiety. You know what they do? Sleep.

If people made life decisions based on what mumsnetters thought, nobody would get anything done!

Ohyesiam · 04/08/2017 23:02

I'm amazed at the level of fear and neurosis I see on here. I didn't know there is a section of the population for whom the most important consideration is what other people think. Well I suppose I thought that stopped after adolescence.
And the other thing that surprises me is the fear of communication. For so many threads the obvious answer is " talk to them about it ".
The whole disinfecting everything and fear of germs is quite an eye opener too.

SaveMeBarry · 04/08/2017 23:04

My favourite threads are usually how much is your shopping for a week.They do be real eye opener.

Yup Grin Well populated by posters who are baffled by anyone managing to spend more than 50 quid a week feeding mum, dad, wheelchair bound granny, two 6 ft 3 rugby playing teens, two primary school dc and a toddler. As well as providing meals on wheels to three elderly villagers. Plus the menagerie... Those ones are my fave too Smile

HighAlert · 04/08/2017 23:05

The germ phobia on here is weird. I never ever thought about germs so much until I joined MN.

PacificDogwod · 04/08/2017 23:11

IMO weird alienness and strangeness is very underrated Grin

I love all the huge differences and MN has been quite eye opening for me at times - the rich tapestry of life, innit.

Motoko · 04/08/2017 23:12

The threads when the OP is talking about a problem with their DH, and you get people trying to persuade the OP that he's having an affair, even if he spends all his spare time with the OP.

I've only been here a few months and I've already noticed that there are some posters who post contrary replies to the OP. They're never supportive, they either troll hunt, or pick apart every last detail to try and trip the OP up, or tell the OP they're being ridiculous, or it couldn't possibly have happened because nobody would do/say that etc.

But I've also seen some incredibly supportive threads too, and then there are the completely hilarious ones.

Strokethefurrywall · 04/08/2017 23:13

My favorite chuckle of this week was on the "what does your 3 year old eat?" thread.

Everyone lists out what they'd fed their kids, ranging from Pom Bears, Fruit shoot, toast, weetabix, pasta pesto etc. so far so normal, but there's always, always someone who has to make sure they write "organic farm fed chicken"
"blackberries/strawberries/pomegranite"
home made hummus and pita...

As if food being organic or home made somehow makes it that much better or to save themselves from judgement Grin

n0ne · 04/08/2017 23:14

I kind of find the opposite, actually. While there are definitely people on here who are very different to me, I've found many who are just as odd as I am, and in the same direction, which I wasn't expecting at all. It's really opened my eyes to what real women are like, rather than what I thought they were like, and that I'm not doing such a bad job of it as I thought.