To be irritated by the UK-centric assumptions on here

[saraclara]

Many posters here seem blissfully ignorant of the fact that the internet is a worldwide thing. Yes, this site is based in the UK, but that should be as far as it goes. Clearly there's somewhat of a UK focus which is fine up to a point. But...

Every second thread seems to end up with someone in the covid police trying to threadjack it because a hapless poster from a country that's not in lockdown, posts about being on holiday/vacation or visiting relatives, or doing something else that's not allowed here at the moment. Why do the threadjackers assume that everyone on here is British?

Seriously, the insularity here is really weird. I've not seen it on any other forum. I belong to two based in the US, but no-one assumes that posters on them must all be American.

It's English-centric. Not UK-centric.

"I start with the assumption that every poster on here is a mother based in the U.K."

I genuinely don't understand why you would assume this. Why do you?

I am assuming this issue is based on some data including as many posters have already suggested the fact that this is an English based website forum and the UK is mostly in terms of population 80%+ from or in the English part of the UK. And therefore many assume this is a website with mostly English and British contributors. In addition it’s mostly mums as per the label. Although I understand there is a gransnet too?

I am multilingual and in terms of international English online websites I also occasionally read and participate in North American and Australian/New Zealand online communities. I always retain English despite many writing using international Australian, Canadian, New Zealand or USA English with a few various local terms I don’t normally understand etc. For me it does not matter what others think so much globally as I am not that sensitive or unapproachable. Many North American websites tend to in my humble opinion and experience - be massively more insular which I gathered having previously been located there is because most USA citizens rarely travel internationally and do not even hold a passport. Canadians are usually more globally aware in comparison but also sometimes compare everything back to their country as all Americans do. Even a few overseas Americans always compare local stuff to their home state etc etc. Australian and New Zealanders as with British South Africans tend to be more globally oriented.

One thing I have noticed is how many former multilingual British commonwealth nations use spoken North American English instead of English. However I believe places like Hong Kong and Singapore still speak with a local English accent and use written English and not North American.

It wouldn’t be a problem if people weren’t twats on threads.

“We were with my sister”

Some twat: oh my gawd what about Covid?

“Took the kids to the swimming pool today.”

Some twat: Er - what about school?

the amount of threads that say things like “that’s not the rules” - well it is in Scotland or “why are your DC not in school, they don’t break up until mid July?” - not here they don’t

I think most of the posts seem to be from Londoners or Scots. I wonder if Scottish MNers over-index on use of MN (when comparing population of England v Scotland).

I think the issue isn't assuming that the majority of posters are based in the UK - it is a UK based website. The problem is jumping to the automatic assumption and accusations that a poster is lying and/or trolling when their experience doesn't meet the expectation of the average [English] poster.

Not just unaware, they accuse posters of trolling if the story mismatches their narrative.

Very insular, I notice this all the time...

Those people would perhaps be less twatish if an OP started with " I'm not in the UK"

@Chicchicchicchiclana

"I start with the assumption that every poster on here is a mother based in the U.K."

I genuinely don't understand why you would assume this. Why do you?

Classic.

Assumptions are the work of the foolish.

This thread is wacko.

Why is it on the majority to ascertain where a poster is rather than the poster just quickly mentioning it in their post

@Kettledodger

Those people would perhaps be less twatish if an OP started with " I'm not in the UK"

But why should they? Maybe the reader should take the information at face value instead of assuming the role of thread police.

Mums...net... I wonder why the gist of this site is? Mums....hmm...what are they? On the...net... well, that’s something interwebby. Could it possibly be a website largely made up of adult human females who’ve birthed children? And it appears to written in English. I’m going to take a stab here....

@Kettledodger

Those people would perhaps be less twatish if an OP started with " I'm not in the UK"

Why should they? Is it really so difficult for most posters to comprehend that someone could be posting from a different country?

There can't be that many thick-as-shit people on one website.

Mainly because that's how most people communicate. With all relevant information!

@Kettledodger

Why is it on the majority to ascertain where a poster is rather than the poster just quickly mentioning it in their post

Why do you assume it is the majority? Loads of posters are international.

Very insular viewpoint.

To be fair, other forums I visit, which are usually US-based (and some Nigerian-based), do the same thing. It's not that unusual to have even an unconscious/subconscious assumption based on where you are and/or what you're familiar with. That often feeds initial expectations, at least.

On a British-based site that says 'for parents by parents', it's not a huge leap to initially assume posters are parents in the UK until they say otherwise or give you a reason to think they may not be.

The rest of the internet is full of forums which do assume that either everyone is American, or, if they are not American, nonetheless still adhere to American mores.

YABU.

@Kettledodger

Those people would perhaps be less twatish if an OP started with " I'm not in the UK"

I bet they wouldn't.

"It's pretty active when UKers are asleep"

Ummm missing the point, much? It's a parenting site! We're all up half the night!

As a reader I do take a post at face value and it is only human nature to relate to your own situation. It should be the writer who should make sure I have all the facts

In my experience most forums have a majority of members from the country where the site is based and it is entirely to be expected.
I've used quite a few American sites over the years and despite having "Location: UK" under my username it's been obvious that most other members are American and assume that I am also US based.
Sites have "nationalities" because people are seeking advice and support from others in a similar position. If you've got a health or education question, you generally want replies from people who undertake the system in your country. I ended up leaving a forum specific to my child's rare medical condition for that very reason. The other members were kind and lovely but as most of them were American they couldn't really help with the problems I was having as the healthcare systems are so different. But I didn't feel annoyed with them - it was a US site and people can only talk from their own experiences as a rule. I couldn't offer much help to anyone else either of course!

OhCaptain

My thoughts entirely. But it does seem that the general level of intelligence is fairly low

@Motherdare

Mums...net... I wonder why the gist of this site is? Mums....hmm...what are they? On the...net... well, that’s something interwebby. Could it possibly be a website largely made up of adult human females who’ve birthed children? And it appears to written in English. I’m going to take a stab here....

MNHQ have reiterated countless times that this website is very much not just for mothers so what point are you trying to take a stab at?

@Chicchicchicchiclana

"I start with the assumption that every poster on here is a mother based in the U.K."

I genuinely don't understand why you would assume this. Why do you?

Because it’s a uk site for mothers.

If it was a Belgian based site for dog owners I’d assume everyone was a Belgian dog owner unless they said otherwise.