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.

I still love MN and spend too much time on here but the covid-19 threads really put me off coming on here for a while.

Clearly I'm a masochist as I do venture over to the dark side ie the covid board now and again and it does seem to have calmed down a bit but the doom mongering and catastrophising really were a sight to behold.

Too many trolls these days I think. You can pretty much guarantee that anything that runs past one thread in length is complete bullshit.

Plus there's a collective of posters who seem to exist to belittle and just be generally nasty to the OP.

It ain't like it used to be.

NicOgJul, I hear you. Most of society does not see its inherent racism, and posters here are no exception, mainly by virtue of operating from a place of privilege. I was going to say it is a terrible format for approaching discussion about racism, but I half take that back, as I feel like I've learnt a lot from the sharing of women of colour on MN. But it's also an easy place to indulge in feeling offended or defensive and flounce off without really reflecting more deeply when one's prejudice is challenged. It is a shame, because it could also be a really safe place to acknowledge and confront our unconscious bias; it is an anonymous forum after all.

Be interesting to see actual stats but FWIW there’s much the same debate (traffic decreasing) on at least a couple of other forums I lurk on.

General feeling there is many people had moved to specialist groups facilitated by faceache (though after last weeks events…..???), plus in the last year or two what appears to be an increase in plain nastiness and intolerance which some people seem to manage shoehorn into any thread on any topic at the first opportunity.

Given the uncertainty many people have suffered, and in some cases continue to suffer, since early last year the. maybe it is the way some people respond to stress?

Maybe people have just thought instead of speaking to randoms on the internet, I'll read a book or watch a film, places like MN will maybe die a natural death for chat and become more of an information type place like MSE

[quote AdaColeman]@CarlaH

TIO ~ Threads I’m On…. A quick way to navigate the site.[/quote]
Thanks.

I came to MN in 2000 looking for recommendations for double buggies. Those children are now 21 and 20 and MN has seen me through toddlers and teenagers (on the last one now, thank goodness!), divorce from an abuser, SN parenting, lone parenting and so much more. I agree some people are aggressive and unwilling to debate reasonably. It's also got many more users which has good and bad points.

These days I use it to keep up with the views of younger parents as I work in childcare. I love the book and gardening topics and the low carb bootcamp people have been amazing. I think there's something for everyone but you need to pick and choose and remember it's not real life. That said I feel I've learned a lot about how others live which is good as my area isn't very diverse.

@MyCatDribbles

Re Queen Bees: It was like being the uncool girl in the school playground when everyone else is in on a joke, and you're not. And when you try to join in, they take the piss out of you as a gang.

Back in the 'old days' using a forum was more of a niche interest. Now everyone and their nan has got an iPad and can post all day. There's less cliques but it's all more anonymous and geared towards one-off interesting interactions rather than thread-long back and forths.

And to anyone not using the site, the reputation is terrible. I actually wouldn't want people to know I post here.

I had a long break during Covid because I found myself getting so riled by the Covid fanatics and their self-imposed status as rule-monitors.

I had another long break about 10 years ago because it was just pissing me off and so many people couldn't spell.

I use it intermittently now for a bit of a chat when illness keeps me at home.

I would hate it if it went all high-tech. I'm a 50 yr old who has been here since the start, and I don't use any other social media. I don't even have a phone! So I just wouldn't bother with it any more if it changed in that way.

Fear, and victim mentality dominates MN.
l think it's a shame that a forum created for women and mainly used by women is so full of uttat nonsense.
A lot of the threads here are fake, surely ?

Utter

@Coffeeonmytoffee

The potential to end up as a story in the daily poxy mail makes me think very carefully about what I post and reply. That has changed mumsnet for me.

Yes this has scared a lot of people off. I'm not sure what can be done about it, and it must drive traffic to MN.

The genuinely funny threads there used to be so many off have definitely disappeared, maybe to Twitter?

I love MN though, the Feminist and the Relationship boards make fascinating reading and have changed me as a person through being able to quietly educate myself on lots of issues that impact my life.

I would say I owe my happiness to MN as I learnt to leave a really unhappy relationship and not fear the future and to have pride and confidence in myself.

I came over from netmums which has slowly gone more and more downhill since it was taken over in 2011 by a French group. NM used to be much easier to navigate than MN. The thing I dislike most about this site though is the number of times I write a long reply to a post just to find the thread has been taken down. It's so annoying. I don't even care if the threads are fake, as long as they're not scamming people does it matter? It's still interesting to read other people's advice on different situations or what they'd do if they were in that situation.

I think there’s a small group of posters who are very, very anti-SAHMs. Very bitter people. They blatantly arrive on every thread with their thinly-veiled agenda. They are belligerent and spiteful, but claim to be ‘concerned.’ They make MN - which is after all a parenting site for mums - into a joke.

@YouWereGr8InLittleMenstruators

I don't recognise this impression at all. As a PP said, perhaps it is slow if you are looking for entertainment? I still find MN a great place for seeking advice and reflecting on issues brought to the forum's attention by other posters, on any number of fascinating topics. The wealth of information, advice and anecdotal evidence is phenomenal; you don't even need to start your own thread about most things, you can literally search any obscure, niche predicament, and learn that others have trodden that path before you, which is, in itself, reassuring. I find MN as a community a place of generosity and mutual respect, and failing that, at least good humour. The kindness of strangers who take the time to support, encourage and commisserate with others in need is heart-warming. The only place where people tend to come unstuck is climate related discussions, where climate sceptics tend to behave as they do in all other corners of the internet.

Me too actually. MN is my first port of call for good advice (or at least a bunch of thoughtful perspectives).

A lot of the wit has gone. The feminist boards have become a self-congratulatory echo chamber. And the only way a lot of people have heard about MN is either from the tabloids stealing stories or from the reputation (earned or unearned, as you see it) as deeply hostile to trans people.

That said, it's a place that can offer stunning support for women who need it, particularly on the relationships page. And there are still posts that make me laugh out loud. Plus property is great.

I think the more witty and interesting posts seem to be declining.

People talk about racism but other "isms" seem ok. For example, a poster on a recent thread about what you are sick and tired of said "baby boomers." It is also ok to refer to old and fat people in a negative or stereotyping way.

It could be a case of simple ageism and the younger generations feeling they know the answers, which has been ever thus. "Every generation blames the one before." (Mike and the Mechanics)

I am not American but the amount of anti-American comments really surprised me.

But overall I stay because I learn about what matters in the UK and gain understanding of the place where close family live. And DH who was born in London during WWII. The UK is also the place where a good number of my ancestors came from, mostly via the US and then to Canada as United Empire Loyalists.

I think it's way more policed. People get cancelled if they say anything remotely controversial.

I was just thinking today, if we had no MN, where else would we go?

I've been here under various names for about 14 years now and at times I do feel a bit irritated seeing the same "my boyfriend is a dick but I am blind to it" posts or the "is this a line" posts

Slowly becoming Parler for middle class white women

@JustAnotherPoster00

Slowly becoming Parler for middle class white women

To be fair, people have been saying that for at least 10 years.

In the last few days I have seen 'mn is full of sahms that think they are morally superior'

And

'Mn is full of high earning women who dislike sahms'

'Mn is like the opression/poor olympics'

'Mners must lie about their income because most seem to be high earners'.

I think certain things stick out to certain people and we can think mn is full of that demographic.

For a site that is supposedly in support of women, it’s frighteningly full of hatred, bitterness, contempt and mockery of said women

Many forums are declining in popularity. I don't think this one is any different.
I think people just outgrow forums as time goes on. There's only a certain number of things you can talk about.

I personally am sick of shitrags like the sun and the Mail posting women’s problems in their papers like sensational news, making it very difficult for those people with nobody IRL to turn to post on here for advice. It’s much more likely they’ll be recognised. I have various problems that I now won’t post on here. Gutter journalism.