Times article about Mumsnet's evil streak

[NorkyButNice]

I wonder which former devotee wrote this?

No such thing as bad publicity? Or does it make us look like a bunch of beeeatches?

There are some total bitches on here, but the article does not refer to them. They are a very very small minority, literally a handful on a site of thousands.

oh that's ok then

Bad examples(esp to pick athene who was
making a good point even if
it's one people
don't want to hear) but I do feel
uncomfortable about the whole
election thing as it seems to be taking over- I know the Sarah brown party thing was not party politiical as such but it does make me feel uncomfortable.The whole politics thing is ott - It's a bit like thinking you are going for coffee with a friend and finding out it's actually a local constitutency meeting.
I know we are all voters and therefore there is room fr political debate but I think it was a slippery slope that ended up in becoming involved with the whole media play on the election when started inviting the various politicians on here.

The article is a bit but I enjoyed Roland Richardson's comment at the end. WTF????

There's a massive irony in complaining about a bitchy website by writing a bitchy article. There is a clear implication that Carrie and Justine have gone power mad and are letting any old rif raff in as long as it ups their personal profile.

Sometimes I'm lovely and cuddly when I post and sometimes I'm a prickly bitch hedgehog (no offence to hedgehogs). That's because I'm a human being with faults and failings as are we all. You will always get the rough with the smooth, it's inevitable. Also inevitable is that sometimes the truth hurts and comes with a few expletives. This is mumsnet not mylittleponynet.

I agree with some of the points in the article but not at all with the examples given by the journalist to back up her assertions.

There is a huge difference between bitchiness and unpalatable truths. Athene and Quattrocento made points that fall into the latter, not the former, category. It is not "supportive" to tell people they are right when they are patently wrong.

The journalist seems a bit dim, really.

Who is she?

Thread referred to in article with Athene as star poster.

To me, Athene seemed her usual highly informed nanny/au pair employer in a black-and-white case.

There is bitchiness and bullying on MN, but this is not an example of it.

Bet My Little Ponies are really nasty underneath all that sweet exterior.

Of course there will be cliquey and spiteful posters on here (don't frequent it enough to know who they are but i am assume) because there are cliquey and spiteful people in the world.

The thing is with internet site such as these is that you 'hang out' with people that you wouldn't usually associate with IRL and so you get an insight to others way of life that maybe totally opposite to your own (and therefore you can assume your way of life is not something they'd aspire to ergo think isn't right)

Add to that them being a little bolsie or simple more outspoken because of the shield the internet provides then they will come across as bitchy

"There's a massive irony in complaining about a bitchy website by writing a bitchy article."

It wasn't bitchy, it was critical - there is a difference. Just because someone says something you don't agree with, doesn't make them a bitch.

I kind of agreed with a lot of what she wrote, but I also agree with the posters here who said her examples were poor and didn't support her argument.

It was bitchy, though. She took some comments out of context and added her own emphasis to posts left by others; so Athene's advice about au pairs she says was "snappy." In the context of the whole thread it doesn't read like that at all.

Since the article was clearly written in cooperation with Justine and Carrie, it also makes me wonder about their perception and judgement...

Hey ho.

A good journo would have written it without naming names!

Why do Justine and Carrie want to be seen to publicly condemn intelligent, informed posters like Athene and Quattro?

I think it was interesting criticism and could be seen as constructive.

But that won't happen round here I don't think it's the how dare they bandwagon

activate - it could be viewed as constructive criticism if the examples given substantiated the points made (which were valid). But they don't.

No they probably don't but the overall feelign of the article had a certain resonance with my impressions of this site

There is a lot of bullying and bitchiness on here, and swearing, and other unpleasant gang behaviour. Woe betide those with alternative viewpoints or informed opinions that are not held by the majority!

Fine to write an article about that - but it needs good, substantiated examples to lend it credibility and to render it constructive criticism.

I'm not sure what Justine and Carrie are hoping to achieve with this article.

There are some horrible posters on here. Personally, I find what some people put on here is aggressive and rude.

In saying that people are entitled to their views and if you don't agree with them you have every right to engage in a debate.

tell me you are joking about there being a haiku competition to win tickets to the mumsnet party?

Bonsoir, what makes you think they had anything to do with the article?

Bonsoir - there's nothing at all to suggest the article was written with MNHQ co-operation. Why would it be?

I am not particularly thick-skinned but have never found MN all that nasty.