Has this forum jumped the shark?

[Havalina]

I feel quite sad thinking this, it used to be so busy and enlightening. It just feels so crap and irrelevant now.

A mix of completely banal questions, troll fodder and behind the curve discourse 😬

Obviously not Flounders corner!!

OP I totally agree with you AIBU has indeed jumped the shark. Incidentally I heard that phrase for the first time when “2 Pints of Lager and A Packet of Crisps” did their episode on it. It was brilliant.

@Havalina Dunno what you mean so your are being very unreasonable using urban slang (?) which no one gets

If you mean people use AIBU unreasonably then yes, they do.

I sit with a constant eye roll reading the AIBUs posts because most are not about being reasonable or not. They are usually very trivial whinges where people want to offload and get some attention.

People have understood what the OP meant and those that didn’t do now!

I think its changed, def nastier and I think more trolls. I dip in and out now as I no longer recognise user names so it seems much less of a community.

@Nosauce- the only way to understand was to read a lot of posts and then gauge what the OP meant.

I think AIBU is the natural home- present company excepted of course- for people who love an online argument and are generally quite aggressive.

I sometimes come across them on other parts of the site and a quick check of their history shows they simply love AIBU where they hang out all the time. They are usually quite aggressive and opinionated.

Except me. And you,

Jumped the Shark is a generational and cultural thing.
It's a very American phrase (so at home in the States, we say it a lot) and also, it's used by people in their 40s and 50s mostly because Happy Days was our childhood show.
I'm almost 50, so it could explain why I'm a bit, "How could you guys not know this???" I forget that most people on MN are way younger than me!

behind the curve discourse

Its about two years ahead of Westminster for politics. And generally ahead of the BBC by 18 months.

You aren't paying enough attention OP.

I’m 38 and I didn’t know it was from Happy Days although I did know what it meant.

Four years ago I’d probably have reacted in the same way as blackchina

Now I agree with the OP.

I dunno red - on some matters yes. But on others I do think that we don’t really discuss as much any more.

The feminist boards are one of the better areas

The exponential rise in frankly ludicrously obvious fiction and troll fodder has fundamentally lessened the utility of MN.

What does 'jumped the shark' mean?

It's not black and white, as these things never are.

There are some really positive things about mn - the feminism and politics discussions for example, which I just don't think you can find anywhere else.

The alcohol support threads, and early days parenting threads, for example, are also clearly a lifesaver for many.

However, a vast majority of the rest of the content is either repetitive, apparently made-up, or just pure bitchery and moaning.

And this brings the overall feel, usability, and trustworthiness of the whole site down.

@NoSauce Had a good list back at the top of the thread of the constantly rehashed threads, my list would go something like - my husband is abusive but I love him and won't leave - I hate my MiL/SiL/boss/neighbour - I think my DH is having an affair (LTB!) - man I met on OLD seems odd after 3 dates - line eyes- etc, etc, etc.

(Worst ones for me are the pointless negativity breed: I hate this DJ / food / music / book / site. Well, don't fucking listen / eat / play it / visit it then!).

I think the level of boredom with these threads is clearly shown in the way the majority of them end up missing the point, and descending into in-fighting and bickering over semantics.

Has it had its day? No, it has huge value in certain areas.

Could some aspects of the site be improved? Almost certainly.

If we want to use it to find interesting discussions, and to give good advice and help to others when they need it, do we have to put up with probably a majority of threads being utter crap? It seems like the answer to this is yes, at least for the time being.

What does 'jumped the shark' mean?

It’s been explained what it means if you’d read the thread and there’s always google

FWR is where it's at nowadays.

For the record, I first heard the phrase 'jumped the shark' about 18 years ago, talking about a book series.

Curiosity query: I've seen MN referred to as a 'Viper's Nest' or 'nest of vipers'. When did this start and why?

I have also been here forever under various names.
I don't believe there to be more trolls, there were always trolls, some of 'the clique' were long running, slavishly fangirled trolls- Making stuff up to make others feel bad on the internet and becoming more daring with their lies until they were rumbled.

There were the 'crowdfunding' trolls encouraged by a gang of gullible numbskulls cheering on their every terrible decision and reporting anyone who dissented to Mumsnet and getting those who were genuinely witty / funny banned.
That's when it went wrong IMO. MNHQ went after a sanitised board and the ad revenue- Fair play to them for standing up for the feminists though,I genuinely didn't see them doing that.

I’m 38 and I didn’t know it was from Happy Days although I did know what it meant

Snap, i thought it was a business term like blue sky thinking and that sort of abstract thinking. I did used to watch happy days as a kid though. Every day is a school day.

I do spend most of my time looking at threads going hummmm is this poster "on the level" as MN. Put it

But as its one of the few actual forums that still get mass traffic every day. I can't say its doing to badly.

In answer to the question about the OP’s phrase “Jump the shark” is a phrase that has been around for nearly 40 years. It mostly refers to TV programmes but can be used more widely. Because I’m quite old now I actually remember watching the episode of Happy Days what gave rise to the phrase!

And the amount of people who don't RTFT even when it's only 6 pages is depressing

What does 'jumped the shark' mean?

If only there was a way to find out 🤔🤔🤔

I know it’s easy to find out what the phrase means. I just posted because I actually remember the exact bit of TV that gave rise to the phrase. And it’s not used all that often and every time I hear or read it that memory comes back to me. I loved Happy Days. Till it jumped the shark! Sorry to de-rail.

Curiosity query: I've seen MN referred to as a 'Viper's Nest' or 'nest of vipers'. When did this start and why?
@scruffious
It comes from an interview from around 2008/9 with amanda holden or denise van outen can't remember which, who said that she used mumsnet but the AIBU section was like a nest of vipers. In that if you asked something in AIBU you would very likely get fairly sharp unsympathetic bitey replies

Ever since we've called ourselves a nest of vipers.