To begin I am curious how a website can hold copyright to a posting, that was not written by the site, it?s administers etc. It is like you made some music, put it on a website and then the copyright changed from the Artist, to the site owner. Most odd..But anyway.
Who am I, why am I posting this, what is it all about? Read on...It is very, very long but regulars may appreciate this. Others may have heard about this and the rest..Well allow your curiosity to be filled.
Four years ago I was 14. I read in a magazine as part of a Sunday Newspaper, an article about a website made by mothers for mothers. It had a big insight into how it begun small and had got bigger, about the founders and about the sort of topics talked about. It had quotes about how mothers had problems and would come here to ask fellow mums for advice and help. I was curious and wanted to make a ?splash? and cause some fuss.
I came to the site and had a look for some active threads and found many about Calpol. It seemed many mums were talking about when to use it, how much, or worried about using it and looking for alternatives. I thought this was a juicy subject and would go with it. I then messaged 100 women on another website with the same scripted story copied and pasted to get a ?feel? of public opinion on a woman who used Calpol way over the bottles dosage instructions. It caused a stir, with the vast majority saying how bad and dangerous such was. (Although some thought nothing of it)
At the same time I and found a medical website about what it was, could do if taken in too higher amounts and stats on how many kids were taken into hospital and what outcomes were of the cases. (By the way no one has ever died or needed a Liver transplant in the UK from taking too much Calpol but each year many hundreds of Adults die or suffer lifelong health problems from taking too many Paracetamol tablets)
Armed with the facts the scene was set. I would pose as a woman who openly admitted to giving her child too much Calpol. The child originally was to be 12 years old. The reason was, by this age technically can have the adult dose of most over the counter medication. This would ?soften the blow of the Calpol use? However I had no facts about that so went with no age, and simply weight of child. I posted a thread sat back and watched all hell break loose.
Many, many were upset, angry at such a thing. They thought it must be a ?troll? and alerted admin who promptly removed the post. Despite the original post no longer being on the site the debate continued. Someone then set up another forum, talking about ?Calpol Milkshakes? ? What the hell! I came back and created a second account, this time commenting on my own postings in a non-agreeable way but raising the question: If someone asks a question about medication, should anyone other than a doctor/nurse etc comment and give advice about that?
This further fuelled the flames and before long, I got bored and since 2005 have not been back to the site. Recently however I remembered it, and came back. I am amazed how many references there are when Calpol is talked about to ?do you remember the incident that turned out to be a 14 year old kid pissing about? or others being suspected of being trolls for talking about Calpol. The posts I made, the debate that happened after ? In part still remain on the site. Amazing.
So what is the point of this? Well, to say sorry I guess. I am 18 now and oddly off to Uni in Sept to study Medicine. I never thought that a single post could cause such a huge reaction. For anyone who may have worried, or thought badly, been upset or just plain old pissed off then I did not mean to cause that. I guess I just wanted to put a wasp in the room and see what happened.
A lot has changed since then. I am talking about the Internet. Four years ago we did not have the widespread super fast internet connections we do now. Social Networking was still in its infancy and yet now who does not have a computer? Who does not use the internet not just to search for things, but catch up on missed telly, call a phone, download music and truly interact online in amazing ways. But despite all this I have to say this site, just feels stuck in the past.
Its general design and the fact the people on here remain (from reading various posts) to be like locals in a pub. They all know everyone, but when a new resident arrives and pops in will all look suspiciously and wonder what they are about, can they be trusted and what are they going to be talking about. It seems ?ultra conservative? ? Even personal topics that are talked about here, such as women?s sexuality, wants and experiences almost have to be done so very politely and hush hush so not to shock or offend. Very few sites are like that, and very few people are online about such things. More, be open it is only words after all. Not here it seems however.
It is not so bad, but I wonder how many young mums, or younger single mums come here to talk and feel welcome. I suspect many will put up hands and say ?me me? but it does feel very..Middle England in here. Married, happy and with kids in tow. England just is not quite the green and pleasant land. Take the recent story of a 13 year old that is alleged to have given his 15 year old girlfriend a baby. Shocking on the one hand, yet so typically English on the other. You just don?t hear things like that going on in Europe or America. I wonder what is going wrong with us all in this country.
So now everyone knows the fact, it was made up by me to create an impact and raise a debate. And now I shall once again depart this site and carry on with my life. But, I was the one who shook the shack that is Mumsnet.