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 a UK site, just deal with it (I don't live in the UK either, but I realise I'm not in the majority).

@CuriousaboutSamphire

I'm not a mum! I also assume that most posters are or have been. That being the immediate nature of the site.

I'm also on a sewing forum and assume that everyone is form all the place but have sewing in common. Except for the non sewing sub fora, where anything and everything is discussed.

If people haven't got used to the ways that various internet spaces take on a character of their own then I would assume that they will be doomed to take offence daily!

Not what I want from posting but if it pleases you to be displeased...

It’s not the same thing. A lot of the topics have absolutely nothing to do with being a mother at all and could have been found through googling something and a MN just happened to show up!

A chance to bash Americans! Huzzah! It's so tedious.

@YeaOrNay

To be fair, an American insisting that Brits refer to black British people as 'African Americans' is pretty hilarious. Why is that bashing?

Wikipedia describes mumsnet as a London based Internet forum for parents to discuss children and teenagers.
I’d assume poster uk unless flagged. It’s irritating when there’s a drip later they are not in uk - there was a separation/divorce one that turned out to be Irish several pages in, law very different there.
I do think it’s London or SE centric, I know on threads about school fees and grammar schools posters have been incredulous at northern prices/systems - yes that’s per year not term!, grammar in my town has less that pass than places nothing like super selective down south.

OhCaptain having found it via Google doesn't change the inherent nature of the site!

I came when TES imploded. Started on a specific forum and slowly explored other spaces.

But I still knew it was a site mainly used by women in the UK.

Conversely I find it quite annoying that people in other countries post without clarifying they are in another country, making apparent 'non-compliance', look normal.

I'm also pretty horrified at somebody abroad referring to people being compliant with lockdown rules in the UK as the 'Covid police'. It's not you who will have to suffer the consequences of your sneering at people trying to deal as best they can with a challenging situation and it is incredibly selfish and self-centred behaviour.

Can’t get worked up about it. When people allude to doing things that aren’t in the rules in the U.K. I generally assume they’re not in the U.K.

There will always be those who will jump on others for not following the rules but that’s just a mumsnet thing, not a xenophobic thing.

I imagine that 80% are British and live in the UK, 90-95% are either British or live in the UK.
So sorry if you are in the tiny minority of neither British nor living in the UK but I would say the onus is on you to say so in your OP. Otherwise it is fair enough that people will assume you are part of the 95%.

Well, to be fair for those of us especially who have been on here for quite a while (even if under umpteenth name version, as keep forgetting Password and MN reset never seems to work) this started as UK site and still is for the majority. The manufactured outrage seems a bit unreasonable. Be a bit like signing up for some Florida Gator Watch site and complaining that it wasn't catering to Londoners like me

I assume people on here are British, yes. I am happy to be informed otherwise when it is relevant of course...but it’s a British site with predominantly British posters so it’s hardly surprising that the assumption is made.
What a weird thing to complain about.

@Somerford

Why are you lecturing people about something so insignificant? It's a UK based site with mostly UK based users. People are going to get into the habit of assuming that most threads are started by someone from the UK, it harms absolutely no one and nobody cares.

This!!!

@pictish

I assume people on here are British, yes. I am happy to be informed otherwise when it is relevant of course...but it’s a British site with predominantly British posters so it’s hardly surprising that the assumption is made. What a weird thing to complain about.

Most insular post ever. Vintage small world view

What?

The insanity is quite definitely not confined to covid. I can only assume, or hope, that all the world's judgmental b convene here to rip shreds out of strangers lives based purely on their own assumptions about their circumstances, with zero regard for the fact that most people on here are posting about real and often difficult issues.

It's interesting to see that during the time that most UK based people are asleep (say 12am - 6am), there are very few new threads in AIBU and Chat and much fewer comments on other threads.

Which must mean something about where most people post from?

@chomalungma

It's interesting to see that during the time that most UK based people are asleep (say 12am - 6am), there are very few new threads in AIBU and Chat and much fewer comments on other threads.

Which must mean something about where most people post from?

I post from Ireland. Same time zone doesn't mean same country does it?

If I went on a chat site based in France and talked about going for a nighttime walk I would expect responses about breaking curfew unless I explained that I was not in France. That's normal isn't it?

@42goingon90

Americans are definitely the worst for not realising they are not the only country.

I kind of agree with this but I would word it - Americans are among the worst.

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.

The US has just evicted a bloke kicking and screaming and hanging on by his finger nails, he was elected on a platform shouting ‘America First’ which seemed to resonate with an awful lot of Americans. To my mind this slogan couldn’t be much more insular. But I have enough awareness to know that not all Americans think this way.

A lot of MN poster’s make assumptions that people are based in the UK and even then they often assume the person is living in England forgetting the rest of the UK. But in my experience on American forums a vast majority of poster’s assume everyone on there is American. So what is the difference? If an assumption is wrong it’s wrong isn’t it no matter where the person lives?

There are pedantic people all over this site who love nothing more than trying to catch a poster out and acting like an amateur detective. The Covid police are a law unto themselves and seem to thrive on taking pot shots at people, half the time they don’t even bother to RTFT.

BTW YABU OP.

I feel I must clarify, I have never derided anyone on Mumsnet (or in person) regarding Covid rules. I’m simply saying my assumption is that the person I am posting alongside, whatever the topic, probably lives in Britain. I don’t mind if they don’t.
Why am I being rudely picked at?

I don't think the forum being UK based is a bad thing at all. The Internet would be less useful if every forum were international, not more.

If I have a quandary, it's more useful for me to have answers based on the cultural and legal context of the UK than it is to have a global one.

Take weddings as an example. Weddings in America have rehearsal dinners, bridesmaids pay for their dresses, bridal showers plus bachelorette etc.

Asking if it's reasonable for me to ask my bridesmaids to buy their own shoes would be meaningless addressed to a global audience. I'm betting most of the international posters who use the smart enough to know that they won't get helpful answers on local cultural issues, even if they find it a good place to discuss universal ones.

(side note - it always makes me laugh in Ross's wedding to Emily in Friends that they stage a traditional American wedding rehearsal dinner in London as if that wouldn't be very weird in the UK!)

The site is called MUMSNET.

It is a UK based company.

It is not outrageous to assume that most users are both British and mothers.

If an OP doesn’t clarify this before they start, then certain assumptions are made because this is an online facility and no one knows you.

@pictish

I assume people on here are British, yes. I am happy to be informed otherwise when it is relevant of course...but it’s a British site with predominantly British posters so it’s hardly surprising that the assumption is made. What a weird thing to complain about.

Yep, accurate post.

Now if it were called Momsnet you might be on to something OP.

I post from Ireland. Same time zone doesn't mean same country does it?

But Ireland isn’t in the UK, as we keep getting told on the other running thread right now about breaking up of the UK.