Mumsnet in the Times by Caitlin Moran

[morningpaper]

Mumsnet in the Times

Here's a nice article about Mumsnet - make way for the newbies.

And blimey don't Justine and Carrie have a lot of children?

I really don't see how Caitlin Moran's view of MN 'changes the boards'

These newspaper articles come and go

well it doesnt does it that would just be silly

I'm not sure what I think of this. But I don't get the newsletter so I haven't had the 'special sleb features' (not even sure what they are tbh).

However I would like to point out that in her blog this week Saint India of Knight has referred to the excellent special needs board of mumsnet this week and I think those of us who regularly post over there should take a bow (that includes you Twig and our resident geneticist).

this week this week.

I assume Caitlin has younger children. The article and name checks have a babies/young children emphasis.

(Aitch and Hunker, though I know they post a lot here, do not figure so much in my experience of mumsnet as I block most baby and toddler threads).

It would have been good if there had been more mention of older children, education and teenager topics and a name check from someone like martianbishop or custardo, to reflect this.

If I had no idea about mumsnet, I'd assume from the article that it catered more for parents with young children and babies.

Can see there's an argument that if you cite thread examples, why not cite regular poster examples.

Still, anyone who 'knows' mumsnet would surely know that the name checks would go down badly with lots of people here.

IMO it would have been better to have writting more about memorable MN discussions, with passing reference to the backgrounds of those regular posters who appeared on them. Surely that would have got the personalities of the posters across in a less obvious way? But that's just my opinion

Feral and alpha

At the same time

Scary combination

this week

mumsnet in the mdia is always about babies toddlers and little itsy children tho

i assumed that is the side they want to promote

not a side i have much to do with iether for the most part

but promoting the bits im interested in would be downright bizarre

i'm actually quite shocked by the article (perhaps im alone there) but it just makes it so much more clique than i first thought. the bit about education etc

whilst i found the hamster thing hilarious i thought the other storys mentioned were a step too far

i dont know perhaps im alone on this

ooh lovely article

i would like to add that before i used mn the pg book and baby book were great

What bizarre bits are you interested in then, Zippi? I see you as someone who spreads herself quite evenly over a lot of mn, in the nicest possible way

I'm sure more people post on the tinies threads and AFAIK they attract a lot of vociferous regulars.

But children grow up fast. Will those same people post as much on the teenage threads I wonder, and be heard as much? And will mumsnet be as popular with parents of older children as it is with parents of younger children? Interesting to see how things pan out in 5 years time.

Glad the media spotlight shone on the special needs section as well.

As an older MNetter, the tinies posts aren't really of interest to me either - and I was really surprised when I stumbled across MN to find that there was something for me.

Actually I was very oddly pleased. Once you move beyond the age of baby/toddler there's not much out there by way of support. And there is fantastic help and advice here for those of with teenagers.

I, too, would like this part of MN to be made more evident to the outside world.

LOL at Zippi spreading herself around the boards!

Missy - I felt uncomfortable at one of the stories mentioned, as I felt it would not be nice for the poster in question to be so forcibly reminded via the national media of a dark period in her life that happened 3 years ago.

LittleLapin - in me whingeing about naming of posters I am making a probably futile and incredible anal point of principle that is not personal to any of the posters named - I do fully respect the fundraising you have done and hard work you have done on this site.

thats exactly what i thought.

i think that the education bit annoyed me too

who was the women who posted the suicide not again? i cant quite remember the name.

oh bollocks should have just kept my mouth shut and not posted my last post.

oh wilted rose don't. I think she's fed up with it being brought up repeatedly in these articles and I can understand why.

hmm the bit about so many women with degrees.. perhaps it's because i don't have one... does seem to be in an attempt to keep out the plebs, or seems a tiny bit cliquey and snobby.

SBF, I have a degree and am thick as shit and common, so I wouldn't worry too much about that

we do want to keep out the plebs

that's why txt speak and hugging is banned and swearing is compulsory

Aw, MP hun, u dnt mean dat, do u?

((hugz))

Too fucking right mp.

It's bad enough that some mners shop at Iceland ffs. And it's not as if the article was in the Daily Star.

wt

Totally agree with Twiglett re when she says

"I feel really repetitive, I don't want people to misunderstand: it is the seeming 'official' sanction of particular posters that has been building over the last few months that I don't feel / believe is the nature of this democratic melting-pot. It changes the 'feeling' of the boards"

Absolutely. I think mumsnet have made a mistake here and the named section seems to completely contradict what Justine is quoted as saying in the article about not wanting cliques.

I also agree with tigermoth about subjects and the posters mentioned - I associate Aitch and Hunker with BLW and breastfeeding, neither of which remotely interest me any more since my children are past that. Therefore I don't come across either of them that much since we're just not on the same threads much (and I'm not here that much atm). I associate Cod with style and terrible typing but certainly NOT with hardened feminism, good lord no. So not only was it a bad call imo, it isn't terribly representative of mumsnet or, in Cod's case, of the poster concerned. If cod's a hardened feminist then I'm a member of the royal family.