to expect some old timers of MN to be twirling & scuttling around still

[wizzofwotz]

Haven't been here for probably 15+ years. Went absent, never dipped back in . But today something made me think of the MN support, the laughs, life's highs & lows shared when insomnia kicked after my little DDs were tucked up in bed.

DDs are grown and flown the nest. On reflection it was time well spent. Even the cliquey and other shitty bits. Hope you all keep twirling and scuttling around. If you're new keep with it, it will all pan out.

I must have missed those! I remember people always asking, “Are you on glue?”

I've been here around 20 years now - name changed several times but rarely use my original MN name. I used to like recognising the regular posters - it was far easier to keep up with all the threads and read it all in a couple of hours. I remember Ghosty from NZ, Slug,Cod, Wicked WaterWitch, Twinkie, Soupdragon, WhyMummy and ScottishMummy. There are many other posters too I used to love to read and were so witty - but I can't remember their names! There were regular London meetups too.

I do find it harder to find threads that are really funny.

However, I still find MN great for advice for whatever parenting or work or family challenge I am facing in valuable.

Ive been here 20 plus years, yes it’s huge now there’s loads more threads and I don’t “know” as many people. Still wastes an hour or two.

I've been here 20years with a few name changes.

It was truly awful at times, back in the day. Like a bitchy girls boarding school. It was small enough that if you disagreed with someone, their cronies would jump on everything you said for months afterwards.
There was very little diversity, lots of middle class white women and very London centric.

My eldest is all grown up now, I joined when they were a toddler.

I agree there's less fun, and less of a community feel, but I still pop in white often although I tend to lurk more than I post! And I name change very frequently.

When MN was shiny and new we kept our usernames for eons, perhaps adding a seasonal slant to it now and then.

The community could be cliquey but it could also be amazingly kind. Mners meeting up in cities all over the UK to walk a mile for Maude, or physically helping each other in person locally in tough times, etc. I had a mner bring me round a sofa to my new house when I'd fled abuse with my child. I've holidayed with someone I met on MN, had park meet ups, etc. Kept in touch for years with people I met on here and still do.

Now it's much more anonymous. Which is good in some ways, not so good in others.

Edited to add. My main draw that brings me back to MN is the feminist and GC threads. Breath of fresh air.

I remember laughing so hard at the Olympic horses thread.

Been here 21 years on and off, also came over from Babycente which I'd completely forgotten about until Pp mentioned it! Think I was one of the only working-class northerners here in '03, but I always found solidarity, comfort, wisdom and much hilarity. I feel the solidarity and comfort aspects are lacking these days and there's far more toxicity/judgement. Less naice, in summary. And nobody gets the "darked on" reference any more.

it's still very MC.

What was the security breach ?🫣

@BorgQueen do you have any links to threads for these two? I would love to read. I came to mumsnet 10 years ago and I also feel it has changed. I’ve name changed lots of times too. I miss the earlier days!

I've been here 14 years, definitely a helluva lot more serious these days, less laughs..
I've never namechanged, but presume a lot of MNers do now. I hardly recognize posters names anymore and im sure its not down to my aging cognitive ability
(i could be wrong mind!)

Yes I remember LeQueen she was hilarious'

I remember little Maude, and the night Peter went pink so well. And people tidying up TrinityR and the Christmas appeals when people trusted each other a bit more. And the jokes.

It's changed.

I joined 14 years ago (I think) when i started dating someone with teenage children (I dont have any).

Back then, it was vibrant, open, educational, rowdy, a bit rude and very clever. I learned an incredible amount about life, relationships, politics, theology, philosophy, education, work and travel.

It was like having a door opened into another world, populated by funny, intelligent, highly educated and high achieving women. I used to cry laughing at some threads on a regular basis and marvel at the nuggets of wisdom passed on.

Sadly, it's now gone the way of a lot of online forums, where you cant say anything at all or the permanently offended will come and tear a strip off you and the thread will be deleted.

The user base has been diluted too so now its more a reflection of the general population (I blame penis beaker for that).

Been here far too long.

I’ve been here over 20 years. It’s certainly not like in the last where there were so few of us we “knew” each other. I can certainly remember back when someone posted you’d think “oh yes, x has the husband who does x job, has twin boys and dislikes her MIL”. That sort of stuff. And now I barely recognise names, amount of posts and posters is massive

Very well put.

I agree about name changes. I used to do it once a year or so. Now it's every 6 months.

My original user name was from 2008 but changed many times

LeQueen posting about her "benign neglect", ie ignoring her children and letting them play freely in any room of the mansion they so chose.

Zenia and her millions, unable to understand why other parents weren't funding their twins through private school and uni. Oh and did she mention her millions🙄

It seriously is a lot better now

I still never change my username. I’m too fond of it.

There used to be a button you could press to see new threads/posts since your last visit. I’d sometimes check in maybe 3 hours after I’d last visited and press the button and there had been no new posts! 😆. Certainly quicker moving these days.

Been here 13 years with a few name changes.

Came over to the dark side from Net Mums (huns)

Agree with those saying it's a more sensitive place now. Ive managed to go for 13 years without having any posts removed then I've had posts deleted twice in recent weeks for the most spurious of reasons. Presumably reported by the OP. Bit heavy handed with the moderation at times.

Has changed a lot.
I was surprised when the truth came out about LaQueen.

22 years. Impressed by how many people with two decades worth of mumsnetting are on this thread.

Admittedly been on and off with many names, came here via daily mail and the infamous beaker, remember many of the names mentioned from back in the day.