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Original poster

What is the point of the AIBU section?

2 replies

Flighttattendant · 07/09/2010 13:16

It's been around for a while now and anyone can see it's become really gladiatorial.

It's frankly an absolute pit...it's dreadful.

I have had it hidden for months now which makes my personal MN a lovely place to be, but as soon as I venture into that topic I find myself wanting to leave the whole site.

There must be some way to offload it surely...why not have it as a spin off site, separate from MN? The thing is, many people who come here will see all the nonsense of it in active convos and likely be put off completely if they have any sensitivity whatsoever.

I think it's a disgrace and brings us all into disrepute. In fact I used to recommend MN to all and sundry, but now I am ashamed to because of AIBU being such an apparently popular and sizeable part of the site.

I don't know what to do about that. The rest of the place is pretty balanced. But it's like Jeremy Kyle Corner.

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MNHQ

JustineMumsnet · 08/09/2010 11:00

Hi Flight and all,

We've a few things to add:
We started the AIBU topic because so many threads began with the words AIBU - if we removed the topic those threads would still be there, it would just be more difficult to hide them.

It is very popular for sure - our busiest forum - but I can't recall that we've ever sold a direct ad campaign onto AIBU. It's not really very targeted (in the way that for instance pregnancy or education is so doesn't produce big spondulas tbh.) But it seems to me that for all those who argue that it lowers the tone there are as many who argue that it's their favourite bit of the site, their light entertainment, their fun.

Besides that, yes MN is a business (it always was) and we have a lot of expenses to cover these days but we never have and never would sacrifice the good of the site for revenue - I'm afraid we just don't agree that AIBU is all bad.

As a general rule MN is what the posters make it. There's no magic button that makes everyone civil. As you know we do not police the boards but rely on members report abuse. So if you think people are being over-aggressive, deliberately inflammatory or troll-hunty on AIBU, report them. It's against our rules to make personal attacks, deliberately inflame and troll-hunt. That ultimately is the best way to change the tone, and we promise to have a look at every report.

That said, I do wonder if our disclaimer at the top of AIBU is having the opposite to its intended effect - it was meant to act as a warning to vulnerable posters but maybe it has the effect of sanctioning aggression? We'd be interested to know what you think about this and whether we should look at it again?

Thanks, as ever, for the input.

MNHQ

HelenMumsnet · 17/09/2010 18:13

Thanks for your suggested wording for amending the AIBU disclaimer BrightLightBrightLight

We have unashamedly plagiarised you.

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