To think Mumsnet is more vitriolic than it used to be?

[knowifIcando]

Or has it always been really bad and my tolerance levels are decreasing?

I must have been using the site for almost 20 years. There have always been trolls and disagreements but it’s getting mad. You see a post asking if anyone can recommend a good white gloss paint and you are asked if your DH will be doing the painting, why you’re not married, accused of not protecting your financial future and offered contraception advice.

Or you post to say that you’re sick of the same packed lunches and what healthy options can you make instead. You’re asked why you weren’t making healthy choices to this point, quizzed over your BMI and it ends with being accused of neglecting your kids,

Is it actually getting worse or is it me?

I've been here for eight years or so. I've noticed a drop off in some goady anti-American posts, and not much change in the standard arsey replies. Though I was told yesterday that I "was taken" when I posted what my kitchen remodel cost.

It’s always been a bit like this, but recently there’s a breathtaking level of callousness often mixed with complete stupidity that has made it a lot worse.

I don't know if it has got worse...I think I have changed and mellowed with age so the chippy-as-fuck posters seem ridiculous now. Just spoiling for a fight no matter what the topic.

I think it used to much funnier! People in here seem massively chippy and judgy now.

It didn't get the moniker of a viper's nest when it was in its infancy because it was all rainbows and lollipops.

There’s a lack of kindness and respect.

Some people seem incapable of discussing everything turns into an argument, like you say, usually about some erroneous detail that’s largely irrelevant to the post.

I think the world is more vitriolic than it used to be! The government and media is doing a really good job in convincing the general populace that marginalised communities of all sorts are the causes of problems.

Been here on and off since 2012 and it’s a bit feisty these days. Makes me laugh!

Apparently forums will die out anyway! As we will just ask AI for advice (probably Mumsnet AI and the answers will be based on old threads like this!) 😁 - who knows though!

i agree it is much worse than it ever was. Posters just attack the OP to a ridiculous level, exactly as you describe. You have to stay off the beaten track to find the supportive environment which used to be the norm everywhere.

Cue the ‘not this again, get a thread like this every week’ etc responses ….

It’s definitely changed for the worse.. Sometimes I google specifically to find Mumsnet threads on certain issues, eg “Mumsnet Coach handbag quality” and that quite often brings up threads from, say, the early 2010s. You can almost immediately tell it’s an old thread because the tone is much more friendly and forgiving of others’ mistakes or differing opinions. It had a much nicer feel to it back then.

I think MN is reflecting what’s happening elsewhere in social media. It all goes back to Twitter and Instagram.

Back in the day, there would be a thread every three or four months that would make me actually (really!) cry with laughter. Such pithy humour, singularly and uniquely British (I live abroad). Loved it. Hasn’t happened in years now.

Agree with this. Everything online is sowing discord and promoting division.

Anti-america Vs Anti-Europe/UK, Men Vs Women, Child-free Vs Parents. It's miserable.

I think there were some vile posters about 10 years ago.

No that’s absolutely true. But the name vipers nest carried humour and self awareness.. nowadays it’d be offensive to vipers and we should be grateful for the preservation of nests…

I think mumsnet has taken a puritanical turn though. So much disapproval these days. So haughty.

It got notably less empathetic around the pandemic.

Absolutely agree with you OP. There are some nasty people on here!

No, but it did tend to at least be replies relating to the topic being raised. Now everything is twisted just so people can have a go.

Yes! This is what it is.

A few years ago I made a point of going back to read the tweets from June 2008 onwards …… omg the style of the Tweets from them is SO SO different

Gosh, what a rapid decline. It’s sad! Where did all the funny people go? Is there a secret forum somewhere that is still jovial?

I've only been using mumsnet since 2023. Thankfully no one has been mean to me. But I have witnessed some horrible responses to peoples threads!

The ones that get me are (not that mean but hilarious) "do we really need another thread about this" - girl, if you don't want to see another thread like this shut your eyes or keep scrolling! Why respond only to bump it and have it saved in your "im on" tab 😭🤣. Its like going into Tesco and being angry that there are bananas for sale when you didn't want to but bananas today.

It’s always been high… it’s like the daily mail

I think that there has been one of these thread's created weekly since mumsnet started.. Nothing new.

It’s always been like this