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 hate the trolls/bullies.

But I also hate how sexist so many posters are.

There can be almost identical threads, but the advice given is completely different depending on whether it’s a male or female.

Americans don't have kettles?

How do they have a cup of tea?

For me the big change is reading comprehension.

It used to be an occasional mix up, now it’s more than half the posts on a thread. If someone says a basic sentence like ‘I’m annoyed my son’s primary school finished early without telling parents by email like they usually do’ the replies will be
-at secondary age he should be walking home alone anyway
-you should check if it’s an inset day on the calendar!
-you can’t expect them to ring every parent!
-are you the poster with the daughter who is always late? Maybe sort that out first

Its bizarre a lot of the time, I’d be annoyed at some of it if I was teaching year 3 and they made similar responses!

Nothing wrong with people of any nationality living in the UK posting on here. It can get confusing when people live overseas and ask questions where the answers would differ between countries but they don't say where they are! Such as education, England, Wales, Scotland, NI and the ROI are enough.

Hey, don't blame us all for someone's historical decision to have only 120V !
😂

I think it’s more than on any English language site, Americans tend to forget that they may not be talking to Americans and ef give advice based on what the law / process is in America, which can be quite confusing and misleading for the OP. I’ve seen this so many times eg on maternity rights.

I agree about weird non posts and a constant sense that a poster is not really genuine - for more and more threads these days.

I find I back out if threads far more than I ever used to because I just don't really believe all is as it seems. I report some and hide the others.

And everyone is so much angrier than they were a few years back. Even the most harmless topics trigger two or more posters into a slanging match.

Anyway, I’ve been on the site 11 years with a variety of usernames 😬😂 and to me the main change is aggression. I think that might be a post-pandemic thing as I see it on the roads and in schools too. But specifically to Mumsnet, while AIBU has always been straight-talking, I see a level of nastiness and unhelpfulness around that I didn’t used to see. The site clearly hasn’t had its day tho, mainly because the changes to Facebook have ruined Fb and I can’t think of another forum where it’s so easy to chat anonymously.

My pet hate is when posters assume everyone lives in England and has the slightest clue what age a year 4 child is. Where I'm from that would be 16 year old.

It may be your pet hate but it’s not unreasonable given this is a UK parenting site and the great majority of the the UK population lives in England. I wouldn’t participate in chat forums based in eg France and get annoyed that I don’t understand what they mean by certain things just because I don’t live there - the majority do.

But I live in the UK and am raising children in the UK. Just not England.

It's just a very narrow viewpoint is all.

More than once I've given useless advice because I thought the child was a completely different age.

Pretty sure this is an AI generated thread.

Definitely feels like there are more made up threads. Completely fabricated rather than a few details changed to keep things less identifying.

And there is a found shopping list thread that loads of posters didn't understand!

So true @MorvernBlack !

“ "It were all green fields, when I were a lass" Tbf, it has definitely changed, somethings for the better, some not. I don't miss the royalty and in jokes“

This made me laugh as I’m sitting in a house that was literally built on a green field relatively recently but now tis all houses 👌😂

What else has changed in the last couple of decades? Man I miss cheap travel and having no internet.

Americans can cause confusion - healthcare, relationships (divorce law/breaking up when living together but unmarried), housing, education, transport and driving, even recipes - these are all very different between the two countries. If someone in the US is, say, suffering with a health condition but uninsured - that's a very different set of circumstances than someone in the UK.

It's not a problem, but anyone non-UK should flag that in the OP if their issue is potentially location-specific. Often I wouldn't really have the right information to help an American or Australian poster.

I find the xenophobes more annoying than the Americans, personally.

I think Americans do have kettles?
Or at least some of the ones I’ve seen on TV do but they could be quite a new thing over there.

But they don’t typically drink hot tea.
Thats a very British thing (or Asian thing).

I watched a programme where they went to a British pub in America which served hot tea and they were horrified as they had only ever had iced tea and it was so weird to them to drink it hot.

Me too!

It’s really not a narrow viewpoint when the majority of posters are English/living in England - others are of course free to join in but the references will be those common to the majority. If it helps, add five years to the school year, then you will have the age of the child by the end of the school year/August. Eg year 6 +5 = age 11.

Where is year 4 a 16 year old? Scotland has S4 not year 4? NI is through to year 14 or else it would be fourth form not year?

What is wrong with people from the USA using Mumsnet? Surely you've put yourself into the troll bracket with that statement...?

I do the same. Sometimes I have to comment on the most snipey posts as they annoy me just sitting there simpering smugly while the OP is probably in tears somewhere.

Age of poster says a lot...im confused by years..im uk..in secondary it was year 1 , 2, 3,4, 5 , 6th form. Its all changed now..even im 😒.

Same @RudsyFarmer

How very dare you?! 😡

😎😂

Nothing per se, it's just that for some reason some American posters don't seem to realise that this is a UK based site (despite it being called Mumsnet as opposed to Momsnet) and when someone is seeking advice relating to specific UK matters such as legal or benefits advice, they'll post something relating strictly to U.S. law or guidelines which isn't really helpful.