To think mumsnet has become a lot less popular?

[Duckypoohs]

Is it just me who thinks the volume of threads and replies has lessened? It used to be so busy and good, now you can reread a thread and hardly any more replies have been posted.

I'm sad about this, the Internet is becoming more and more condensed. It also seems like the demographic has shrank. Bah, sad times.

@Travelledtheworld It is entertaining and very supportive when people really need it. But there is the odd glitch in the matrix so to speak - palaver is the evidence. Nobody uses the word on here and when they do they can spell it. Reasonable literacy would be required if hired but look at the journalism about these days. There is a second poster who consistently writes in short bullet like sentences with a sentence space in-between.

The number of sub forums doesn't help. I know they tried to merge some of the more quiet ones but they asked people their opinions if they should close it instead of making an executive decision and of course the 3 people who used it winged and wanted their corner all to themselves. The less frequently used ones just get ignored and could well be covered by topics like Chat or AiBU etc so threads would then be fast moving creating that sense of activity which would keep people coming back just like the way facebooks news feed does.

No one’s eating fat balls or using a penis beaker in this economy.

But HoneyDragon has reappeared to ask about flashing shoes so that must be a sign of recovery?

I can't remember when I last saw a thread removed because of a bun-fight.

I always feel a freak after spending time on here . Though I am a bit addicted so waste far too much time here. I live in a poor area with a terrible reputation and my goodness it doesn't help my self esteem reading lots of the threads. It seems to be slanted towards people who earn huge salaries and own mega expensive houses and it doesn't really reflect normal life for many people I know.

Also the nastiness towards anyone who doesn't share the MN value system is shocking and v off putting. I would guess many leave after being bruised by their experiences on here.

@ErrolTheDragon

No one’s eating fat balls or using a penis beaker in this economy.

But HoneyDragon has reappeared to ask about flashing shoes so that must be a sign of recovery?

Sadly, I doubt anyone ever was.

[quote Travelledtheworld]@puddlebubble do you have any evidence that people are hired to post on Mumsnet ? Surely if they were, they would be reasonably literate ?We do occasionally see obvious trolling by the same poster over and over again and this is usually quickly reported and removed.[/quote]
Not the same thing, but there's quite evidently a lot of brands getting their marketing bods to start threads. You only have to look at S&B. Every week there will be at least 20 threads started with "what's the quality like at It will be followed by a flurry of new posters saying how the brand has changed their life.

It's very hostile to AIBUs and gang mentality of all agree or disagree and pile on.

I joined in 2006 after the birth of my first when I was feeling she'll shocked and vulnerable after his birth and massive guilt it had not gone the way I had hoped. I received nothing but support and it was a great help. So I stuck around. I've had help on breastfeeding, ditching the dummy, pnd, miscarriage and ttc. I also used to post on the telly addict threads. I remember all the cliques, the migration of the Moldies, SWMNBN, and lurked on lots of bun fights. It has definitely changed. There is an air of smugness and aggression on lots of threads. But I'm still here as I find it easy to navigate and probably because I don't know where else to go!
I still start the occasional thread but I'm more likely to scroll through most these days.

@AuntieStella

Oh, and something really need to be done about the ageism

Absolutely. There is a thread in S&B that I've been reporting since yesterday but the comments are all still there. (You might catch the Old if you buy a Seasalt mac)

It’s still an excellent resource for anyone interested in sociology and psychology. I come here as well as many other forums because you the opinions and views presented give you an insight into what’s happening in the world around you.

I’d rather read a few pages of well written contributions instead of page after page of garbage by bots or those types who just post junk all day on FB.

💙 MN

Everything changes, MN is no different. I’m sure when Twitter started it was nice and friendly and innocuous - now it’s a cesspit.

I’m here mostly for the feminist board. It’s so rare to have have an online space that is predominantly female has so many users actively talking about women’s rights (very much needed these days).
It has opened my eyes so much to what is going on.

We can’t really talk about this stuff anywhere else, we’d get shut down. Like the Reddit forum, or women being banned from Twitter and Facebook.

You may be on to something OP. It's an event to see an entertaining and amusing thread these days, whereas in the past you could have a good laugh on several threads a day. It's all goady backbiting and sniping now. I got called a vile name yesterday evening for posting a polite & reasoned response on a thread, and I now suspect that the thread had been deliberately started to cause a bunfight. There's too much of that, and too little of the fun stuff.

I don't really go on the feminism board much, so I don't feel qualified to comment on what it's like, but rightly or wrongly, I do think that MN is now seen as an anti-trans site

Well those people are wrong. I came to FWR boards to find out more after JKR hit mainstream media. Perhaps some posters take the sarcasm too far and could be accused of being anti-trans, but the vast majority are not anti-trans.

They do want to protect vulnerable women’s rights to single sex places with well informed, articulate, and evidence-based arguments that are thoughtful and insightful.

The point here is that I’m really v thankful that MN has allowed that conversation to continue on these forums. Especially I see the impact of a narrative harming the young girls that I personally know.

However, I do spend far too much time on MN and must cut back my screen time…

I love Mumsnet and don't care if it's a bit basic, so is my tech ability (and willingness to upgrade it).
I think Covid, Brent etc have preoccupied a lot of posters for a few years, so there are more repetitive threads, but Style, Christmas, Relationships and Aibu are like a lovely soothing comfort blanket to me .

Brexit FFS.

@Why2why

It is not very diverse and can come across as uncaring of ethnic minority women. It only caters for a certain demographic of women.

Mumsnet is implacably and irredeemably racist to the point that I feel I could never post anything from my experience that might in any way make a white person feel at all challenged without being met by hostile rage. A case study in white fragility.

I've posted for years and it's got increasingly right wing and intolerant. The middle class posts are a joke.

I actually agree about it being racist. Often from a I haven’t a clue and refuse to put myself in question position too.

The views are extremely polarised and often, once a few posters have gone down a certain route, everyone piles in wo thinking for themselves (or at least it feels like it).

I think that is becoming more and more pronounced, which is a réflexion of what happens on other platforms. Plus there wa also being proud of not being like netmum (does it still exist?)and ‘telling it like it is’ which has one overboard imo.

However, over the years, I’ve learnt a lot from MN. Not from asking for help as such. I’ve done it a few times and it rarely has been as helpful as it could have been, esp in the last few years. But I’ve learnt from people expressing different pov, pointing behaviours (abusive, not abusive etc…) etc…. There isn’t a lot of places where you can have discussion on how to leave a partner/get support for an SEN child etc… (The SN board is amazing for example)

There appears to be a handful of posters who post, have it deleted then post again, have it deleted and post the same again. Sometimes changing small details to make people agree with them.

Why would someone want to keep posting the same thing over and over again tbough? What are they getting out of it?

@MyCatDribbles

What was it like with Queen Bees?

It was the anointed few, MN Royalty who, when they grace a thread with their presence, would have everyone 'billing-and-cooing' at their every word. Or if they started a thread it was full of cliquey obtuse in-jokes that some people knew about (or pretended to know), designed to exclude. I, as an uncool, occasional poster, made the mistake from time to time, trying to find out what all the 'fun' was, maybe post a comment to try and connect, but there was an obvious attempt to ignore anyone getting in on the in-jokes. A bit childish so I quickly realised it was best to ignore and not bother getting involved. Why waste energy (a bit like RL )

The ringleaders must have eventually got bored, or finally grew up, or drifted off elsewhere.

Like most stuff in life, I tend to take away the good bits on here (support, information, general chat) and discard the rest (Covid and Brexit fury, feminism board - too opinionated to get snarled up in). I glance at some threads for some take-it-or-leave it info and then form my own opinion privately, who cares what I think anyway, that's why I don't bother with Twitter!

It's a good site, and you need to take it at face value. The doghouse has been invaluable for me, and the health boards at times.

I did take a very long break though in the height of the pandemic - there is a very high proportion of users with health anxiety, who all still seem determined that life should be put on hold still to appease them.

On a thread with Queen Bees you certainly couldn't speak unless spoken to. Or if you were lucky and not ignored you'd be told MN wasnt the place for you if you disagreed.

It’s aggressive and contrary; people post reasonable questions or describe reasonable situations and posters pile on to tell them they are wrong. Covid sent this into the stratosphere. I wouldn’t start a thread and even though I do visit I find it a very negative place.

I also wouldn’t want anyone to know I post on here really. A bit embarrassing.