To wonder if MNers average IQ has dropped by at least 10 (if not 20) points since Penis Beaker, Jeffrey etc.

[AVirtuousLife]

It used to be a good place.

Now it's full of posters with long drawn out, multiple threads about boring banal shit.

Cheeky Neighbour thread Number 20.

My Boring Life Thread Number 100.

My Blossoming Heart Throb (who happens to be a gardener) Thread Number 90.

My Awful Life In General Thread Number 200.

And if anyone dares to challenge the OP of a multiple thread they must be a harpy or troll.

The fact that the multiple-thread-starters might be trolls themselves seems to escape the attention of the fans.

op i agree with you

Most people's lives are boring and THEIR PROBLEMS are their own 🙄

There have always been some threads that pass me by, because I'm not interested in them. My 'saturation point' for partking threads is zero, for example.

And I don't mind repetitive threads - it's a quirk of MN (that took a bit of getting used to when I arrived here) that the norm here to start a new thread rather than add to one recently running.

I do mind the dumbing-down that OP has identified.

And I do think it's worth thinking about. Has the drive to be welcoming to newbies had unintententional consequences, and are those consequences good or bad?

I'm nit prepared to be Candide.

I agree with you OP. But I mind the begging threads and the wank fodder threads more than the banal ones tbh.

Penis beaker was very definitely the end of MN as it used to be. Downhill since.

'Ive just gone to the last page of AIBU and looked at threads from 2006, and they look bloody boring too'

Exactly, the same shit was been discussed for years, that's why people get bored with it.

It's now much bigger with more trolls obviously but I also think it's improved in some ways, getting shot of the arseholes who thought they could say what the fuck they wanted. The ganging up on people isn't tolerated anymore.

The rose coloured spectacled 'It's all changed!!' threads are as tedious as the daily bf/ff and parking ones.

There are also far more 'do all your dh's housework for him, you lazy cow' threads.

I've been here since posting about a home birth for DD2, who is now 14. I came to scoff and was hooked by the clever, funny posters here - many of whom have become friends since then. Very few of them are still on MN and I fear if I came to it now I'd wander away again.

I've been on MN for about 12 years ... I came here for parenting advice. As far as I can see, that still exists, people still ask for and offer help (I'm now able to contribute rather than ask). Same with health issues. Thats all still there, some good solid stuff.

There are still good discussions around (eg recent one on whether Jesus was a historical person, which required IQ and education- you'd be a bit lost if you'd never heard of Ehrman). Some of the ones on feminism too.

There are some good serial threads -I've dropped out of most of those at the moment because they can be too time consuming (I think I was spending more time reading the Archers threads than listening to it!).

Sure, maybe there's more dross but it's usually obvious enough to ignore. Maybe my perception is different because my focus is more on the higher ed/uni topics at the moment?

And there still are fun threads around from time to time, e.g. Mortificado springing into unlikely existence.
(It does occur to me that I've not noticed any started by HoneyDragon for a while though - they were usually guaranteed to add to the gaiety of nations)

It's the sheer number of threads revelling in ignorance that are astounding to me.

And I don't know if I've changed my settings or if there are just tedious amounts of 'guess if it's a boy or a girl from this scan pic!'

Quite apart from the pervy wank-fodder stuff and general trollery

HoneyDragon's gone Errol

A big yep to all of that. Also the AIBU mean girls culture combined with pervy trolls now makes it practically impossible to actually ask for any support with parenting.

I don't think all the 'clever, funny' posters were ever that funny or clever though.

If you click on old threads there's lots of cheerleading and fawning going on, but tbh if they were that clever they'd have managed to take this site for what it is and not get so wrapped up in it they they got banned.

Yes the trolls are dull but they're everywhere it isn't just a mn thing.

Yes I agree, yanbu. I've been here since 2007, barely ever even lurk now let alone post.

I don't think it is just because we've seen it all before. The best threads in the past (or even just the general everyday ones) weren't generally banal, nor so negative, nor so gripey, nor so bloody obsessed with a parking/neighbour dispute. (I can't understand why people "love a parking thread"). Def agree it's a lot to do with most people typing on phones, also using emojis and acronyms to replace actual speech.

The multiple fan-girls on the 1000-post threads, all the "MN at its best", "you are awesome op", "ooh I need an update" stuff when someone's asked someone out etc. Really?

Demographic def changed. Not much wit around. I remember one of the earliest threads I read was about Jon Ronson - it wasn't meaningful, it wasn't about a mil/neighbour/bloke they fancy/friend on Facebook, it didn't have a single "you ROCK OP", there was no nastiness, it was just very very funny and very very witty. Those kinds of threads are very few and far between now.

HoneyDragon's gone Errol

Nooo ... well, that'll explain it. Not banned surely?

Agreed. When I see a zombie thread pulled up by accident from .... say 2005, 2006, it then reminds me how different it was then.

But it was really cliquey. I remember that much.

The obvious bodily fluid/sex discussion trolls should just be deleted if obviously trolly and a long term poster , or moved to the sex topic if the poster has been registered for long enough and it's not obviously trolly. Or if the poster hasn't been registered for long enough they shouldn't be allowed to start bodily fluid/sex discussion threads at all ANYWHERE on the site. and they should go "poof". MNHQ should really be prepared to police that or at least act on it if it's reported.

Surely the whole point of the sex topic is is to prevent the constant outbreaks of dubious threads that have infested the site recently.

Gammon
Pavlova

I know I'll probably regret it, but I'm going to search on MN for penis beaker.
I can probably spare a few IQ points...

Oh I can't search for penis beaker, or even for penis so it seems! 🤣🤣🤣

It's the sheer number of threads revelling in ignorance that are astounding to me.

^
This & 'oh giggle look at me I didn't know how to say that big important word, aren't I just the cutest ' & fuckme if there isn't yet another "how much housework do you do while your man goes off to do Serious Manly Work" thread this morning.

Secondary, HE, feminism can be useful & interesting ... avoiding trolls, pervs, the terminally ignorant, surrendered wife wannabes & the deeply unfunny.

I agree. The days of the Jon Ronson thread are over.

There's still the odd post that I find that is educational/genuinely funny, but there is a lot more clickbaity OPs and some who are determined to find their way into some rag.

Stop looking for solutions.

You're mean to post all your problems, ignore all advice, and just update us regularly on how crap it is and how hard done by you are. Take any advice as direct criticism.

Remember to rev up the begging bus in October, anything later looks suspect. You should have about 10 threads by then. Put the work in OP.

Every thread of minuscule interest or fun, gets deleted. Insanely annoying.

Another 'State Of Mumsnet' thread. I guess it's been a couple weeks.

I can only speak as someone who has dipped in and out of mumsnet since about 2007 without really ever fully engaging with it. It seems about the same to me as it always has - a diverting enough waste of time, sometimes fun and interesting, sometimes infuriating.