WTF has happened to Mumsnet?

[Humblebottomous]

First we had troll posts, then massive influx of posters from the US (frankly I found it annoying negotiating the different reference points) and now all these ridiculous AI threads which seem to consist of long winded posts about non-problems.

I’ve been on and off MN for years but does anyone else feel it really has had it’s day.

I'm so sick of people constantly troll hunting, they think they're so clever and are so desperate to prove they're right demanding all sorts of details. It's by far the most tedious thing about MN right now.

There's a lady whose dd was excluded from a party and had to go home from school swimming alone - and even though the post had already been taken down, checked by MN and the OP made to jump through hoops there were still posters telling her it couldn't possibly be true.

Unless it's someone selling something or a sex pest I wish all the troll hunters would just fuck off

I mean you are proving the OP's point, where did anyone propose hostility? So much hyperbolic overreaction. The reference points are different due to a different set of cultural values (a reality TV star being elected as the US president is an example of that), there is something sad about the loss of quiddity that arises due to this desire for everyone to be the same and If you are not in agreement with that outlook, you are lambasted for it.

I've reported this thread, twice. Cannot believe it's still standing. If complaining about an "influx of nationality X" isn't xenophobic...

Anyway, another thread has now been completely derailed because troll hunters insisted on picking apart the OP's description of her DC's school holidays. Fucking wonderful.

MN allow it though. I could not believe this vocal pensioner on another thread; tearing apart another poster because they were American. It was allowed though because as mod said “American exceptionalism is a thing.” It’s shocking. MN is a bit of a pit now. Many posters are on here pretending to be vocal left wingers. All the while bleating about “their day and those bloody Americans.” It’s disgusting. Challenge them - you’re ageist and should shut up and pay your taxes. It’s becoming so awful at the moment. That’s because the vocal majority on here don’t work - xenophobia has no place in a modern society. You’d be fired for it at work.

Again, it is not about the U.S posters but more about not having to prefix everything with, 'I am in Britain' which is a shame as its relatability is what attracted many to begin with. British outlook on politics, social issues is very different to the U.S and much more akin to European politics in that respect so having those reference points is useful. You are not starting from scratch all the time e.g many of us grew up with an understanding of the IRA and the corresponding issues, many in the U.S do not have a clue about it and not do they need to but in that respect there is little commonality in reference points. Leaving the EU again. Most Americans didn't understand the gravity of that for many British people and the economic issues that have followed from that referendum. Even outlook is more religious, more conservative in the US, I mean people aren't allowed to drink until they are 30 or something like that but can own a gun under 21! Even parenting is much more conformist, naughty step, grounding, time out, all concepts British people had never heard of before the 00s so yes that advice is not always going to coming from a place of common ground. For example, many teenagers will drink at 16/17 here and the parents will not go bananas about it.

Some is true and some are based on stereotypes. Also, your issue with the prefix of saying “I am in Britain” has little to do with Americans when funny enough it is usually British posters who are always referencing the States unnecessarily and/or comparing the systems while rarely ever referencing the European ones. We don’t want the American healthcare system yet no one has ever said that that is the one that should be adopted in the first place and nothing is stopping the British people from looking to Europe or other countries. It is typically other posters in the UK constantly pointing out that “so-called” Americanism came from the UK itself through immigration to the States. Heck, some posters can’t even help themselves with automatically assuming that something must be an “American thing” if they have never heard of it and don’t like it.

Many Brits here know little about the US too including its history and ignoring that the 50 states and territories have its own laws. Many Brits also didn’t understand the gravity of the referendum so not sure what kind of point you were trying to make there. The US federal drinking age may be 21, but unless you’re caught doing it in a public establishment, no one bats an eye or goes as bananas as you want to assume especially parents.

The States is more religious and conservative in some parts more than others but not overall.

The whole reality tv thing is neither here or there and using that example when we had Boris here is not exactly better.

The irony!

It is not xenophobia to declare you have a cultural identity that isn't American - what a bizarre logic.

How do you know people are "pretending to be vocal left wingers"?

Oh the claxon has gone off.

I am sure your correct that many don't know about the legal and political system of the US but that's because this is a UK based site.

More Brits are going to appreciate the issues around Brexit than Americans as it directly impacts us.

The U.S is more conservative that is reflected in their politics, they would never in a million years have a Corbyn running as Opposition for example. The reality TV is relevant as it demonstrates how politics is really about populism in the US.

What's that supposed to mean?

I have been on Mumsnet for years, though rarely post. It’s just not as fun as it used to be. You can predict how virtually every thread is going to go and, quite frankly, I just can’t be arsed reading the same old thing.

there is not the sense of community that there used to be, now posters just seem to want to get one over on someone. It’s tiresome.

“More joyful and less savage” — yes, that really does seem applicable to MN and the world in 2007 (when I started posting in earnest too after prior occasional lurking)

The trolls have been around for years and I've git used to that.

The ChatGPT bots are something else though! The whole place is infested.

There is a huge difference between bullying a poster and someone trolling harmlessly about something daft. 99% of troll threads don't cause harm, and yes there is too much actual troll hunting going on these days , whilst at the same time a lot of nasty piling on of genuine vulnerable posters.

I think this is true not just of MN but many other sites as well. Back 15 or 20 years ago I used to post on the Evening Standard, Comment is Free, Guido Fawkes plus a few blog sites

There were differences of opinion for sure but with the moderation it seems a lot less free form now and sites seemed to become echo chambers. Certainly GF and the Guardian are like that. I only post on here and one other site where the moderation is fairly loose

There used to be some really good blogs back then as well - in particular I remember one by a copper and one by someone who worked in a care home that were very illuminating. Think the the chances of being outed as the author have gone up so doesn't seem to be as much of that stuff around

I've been here on and off since 2012 and some things have changed but that's going to happen in a decade.

There were always complaints about how nasty posters were and how it used to be so different and it was never massively different. And posters always have someone or something to blame for MN being shit at times and seeming to get shitter.

It was penis beaker, then MRAs, then the Daily mail, the TRAs, name changing, Americans.. Truth is, a lot of people just like a fight and to be unpleasant online.

I never saw a wealth of hilarious threads. A handful maybe that were quite funny. One change I have noticed is that you didn't used to have to say you were joking or being 'lighthearted' as most people generally got the jist. Now even if it's states lighthearted, people still jump on to take offence and attack. There did used to be at least some sense of humour.

An excellent example is a post a few weeks back from someone very obviously being tongue in cheek asking if she was U to be offended that when she buys wine on the self-service checkout, the worker comes over and only glances as her before pressing the 'clearly over 25 button'.

And received replies along the lines of 'get over yourself, they're only doing their job, "well you obviously look over 25, stop being so vain" and several people ignoring the AIBU completely to instead make comments implying the OP had a drink problem because she posted a thread about buying wine and the time she posted was around 9am 🙄

I think that's another thing I see more of than in the past. The posters who ignore the majority of the OP to start being bitchy about an irrelevant detail. A poster can start a thread about their DCs school anxiety and get a bunch of snarky orthorexic comments about the fact they mentioned their DC had cocoa pops for breakfast.

I can't stand it that you have to write want they want from a long list in the bar to post,and mostly I can't find what I want to talk about so have to write 30 days.
Please get rid of this nonsense and let us write our own topic

The over long posts get me. I now scroll to see how long a first post is before reading it.

Me too @ZenNudist

I contacted MNHQ ages ago about these. Obvious ChatBot ‘assistance’ in evidence, very much correlated with bullshit, and really boring and repetitive.

The OP is writing about a 19 year old? Let’s get ‘19’ into that opening post eight times. MiL making the OP feel left out? Let’s have a 10-para OP and mention that in every single one.

Tedious. That’s a scroll and hide from me. In fact I’m hiding more OPs than I’m reading these days - so many have that ‘feel’.

The over-long opening posts on a fairly juicy subject matter (often a family or friendship rift) with perfect spelling and grammar are sure signs of a ChatGPT thread.

Having said that, I did actually start such a thread a couple of days ago .

But ykwim.

Exactly @AutumnCrow. We cross posted.

I have only just checked in and the post I was reading last night has went poof when I checked this morning

This happens too much!!! I am really getting fed up with it tbh.

People are very much more aggressive and argumentative than they used to be. I've been here for a long time, in various incarnations, and have never seen anything like the casual nastiness and whooping-with-vitriolic-joy pile ons that now occur every day.

I don't use Twitter or Facebook or anything like that so I don't know if this is just how the internet is these days. It's really horrible.

'Little Englanders' refers to a specific type of xenophobic and ignorant person who has a narrow cultural frame of reference and tends to think that political correctness has run amok. It is not a reference to 'white English people' as an entire class, and it is a category that includes people who are not 'white English'.