...to think Mumsnet might as well shut down the other forums and rename it all "AIBU"

[JacquesHarlow]

A serious question for everyone:

Why does Mumsnet bother with hosting other forum areas (Property, Finance, Holidays, Relationships) at all?

When so many people just ignore these areas and come on AIBU.. with the heart-sinking first sentence

"...posting for traffic".

In the last day or so I've seen

• posts asking what to buy for 2.5 million GBP in Winchester
• posts asking where to go on holiday for £7k
• a post asking about financing debt

And dozens more. None of them "AIBU" dilemnas whatsover.

All of them trying to hoover up the attention you get on this forum from the 'traffic'...even though Property, Holidays and Relationships get plenty of traffic, dozens of posts replied to daily.

Why does any of this matter, I hear you ask?

Because the OP then complains about the robustness of the replies, or the tone of the discussion!

AIBU to think Mumsnet should just give up the ghost here and make the whole site 'AIBU'?

Because this site is never properly moderated like Pistonheads or other forums (where posts which don't belong in the General section, get moved over to the correct section?) I presume that's because AIBU makes the most advertising money, so it doesn't matter how crowded it is with irrelevant posts. People can just wade through, and the more interactions the better..

Or am I being completely unreasonable, and will be accused as 'forum police'?

You've posted in the wrong section

Yeah I get it.. I could have posted in " https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/site_stuff " I presume is what you're saying...

But you're missing the irony of this post, and my point -

That Mumsnet has already, de facto become AIBU.

I am just following the herd - the users are deciding what happens here it seems

Tbh, I often post first in the 'proper place' and get little if any replies. Then I post in here and get lots of really useful advice. So essentially people get the advice they are looking for here.

Absolutely @Riversideandrelax and fair play etc.

"AIBU' has become the town square - people come as much for the energy as what's on offer.

I can't say it bothers me at all, maybe because I always search "Active" for threads to get involved with, rather than looking at any particular forum.

This really annoyed me when I first started using MN but I’ve since let go of it and just browse for things that interest me/active conversations rather than by forum. I understand what you’re saying but people do just want responses and you’re much more likely to get them in AIBU than ‘gardening’ for example.

That's really interesting @LauderSyme and @loropianalover and proves that forum sections aren't as relevant to people as "active" conversations where the energy is.

I'd disagree with you as Chat works nicely enough most of the time, and there are many happy long running threads going on in lots of sections where people talk to each and support each other as human beings, and rarely have to be reminded they are not on AIBU.
AIBU is a bear pit and keeping the worst of it in one place is definitely preferable. People who don't like the robustness of replies usually have it pointed out that they've wandered into one of the rougher 'pubs.'

Or just delete aibu

nothing against the posters here, but 1 person use of the site doesn't "prove" anything