Abbreviations and gender focus

[clutha]

My fiance and i joined mumsnet seperately but dont post very often, as we both have difficulty comprehending posts, due to the abbreviations.

We are both seasoned forum users, and are well versed in acronymns common to fora.
However, those on mumsnet seem unique to mumsnet.

Is their a guide for these?

Also as the propsective father, I am interested to know if mumsnet is so called as it is a forum geared up specifically for mothers, as opposed to parents?
Hence why their is a section for women's rights, but not men's rights, as one example.

Does this mean that mumsnet isnt set up for myself, but i should be frequenting a 'parentsnet'?
And if so, can you reccommend a forum for this?

so if I type a sentence with the asterisks at either end of it, it will all bold?

ah... cool. Didn't know I could do that

Hello Mary

The conversations i see on here carry on in the same manner i see on any of my forums.

As the threads on here arent just chatty stuff, they are also discussions, debates, and disagreements, hence quote features, if MN had them, would work for the same reason on here as they would anywhere.
on MNM, people already do quote what other people have said earlier as part of their own replies.
I have seen this lots, they just have to do a copy and paste botch job version, thats all.

I never went looking for dad bashing or said i would spend my time doing so.
It was just their standing out on my first day as I clicked on active threads.
I only reported what was there

I already have been diving in and taking part in lots of different stuff all week.
i have also blocked the sections i dont like to see from coming up under active threads, so everything is sorted now cheers.

clutha Mon 27-Dec-10 13:46:04

Might be worth not trying to respond all in one go, and using italics for the quoted portion (or simply quote marks preceded by the poster's name) is perhaps a better option than using upper case for large portions of the post.

Re 'copy and paste botch job' - anything which encouraged limiting the amount quoted is an advantage in my book - it isn't (surely) necessary to have indented text in some 'quote box'.... oh, yes, and others seem to cope well enough without MNHQ including a quote box or quote button.

Though sometimes, because the MN facility does not thread posts, it might be advantageous in some cases to indicate 'for ' before a rant (as I sometimes see people post a follow-up saying 'by the way, that was for ')... That's a general point not specifically aimed at you, clutha...

I think one other really significant difference between this and other websites is a considerable degree of "freedom of expression" so one may find 4-letter words liberally spread around and that's another reason some might feel the need to be a bit thick skinned.

A friendly warning to reinforce the existing one for AIBU ('Am I Being Unreasonable'). AIBU is like jumping in a snake pit, so do be ready for chance of upset if you post there...

hi network

I will indeed be using your ideas.
Plus the embolden whole section thingy.

Albeit i think the opposite myself, anything which encourages quoting is great in my book, as it encourages healthy debate.

Its pretty much the norm on most forums, where it works quite postively.

Swearing doesnt bother me either.
All my observations havent been related to sensitivity anyway.

I like your idea of a freindly warning to reinforce AIBU (i didnt even know that was meant as a warning?).
Preferably one written in plain english, as those AIBU acronymns etc arent having the intended effect upon me anyway.
As soon as i see them, my brain immediately thinks what the fuck and skirts over them on to recognisable text.

Hi steve

I dont know what forums you go on, but all of mine barely use acronyms, and they are only really basic ones, common to all fora, such as LOL, IMHO, LMAO.

Im strethcing my mind to think of others, thats how little they pop up.
Im on another forum right now, it would be a challenge for me to find a post that ISNT just written plain english

As regards MN having a small list that is discouraged...err, look around.
Their is even another thread about this issue at the moment.

You are right about text speak on other forums, members would defintley view that the same way they would all these odd acronyms on MN that you dont see elsewhere, and overrun some posts on here.
Both tend to make it hard to follow what people are on about.
And the text speakers always get jumped on on all my other forums

Since when has MN actively discouraged the overuse of acronyms? Text speak, yes and we've debated the necessity of the S in PMSL from a pedant point of view but I don't remember acronyms in vernal being discouraged.

I do love the way people come on here and immediately start saying that MNHQ should change things without actually looking around and spending some time getting used to it ;) Am loving the 'all my other forums' Do you personally own them?

Hello Blackduck

So whats wrong, as a new member, saying what is making it harder to follow on here?

IS MN not storng enough to hear constructive critcism?

How do you know the acronyms posted quite liberally at times hasnt put over people off?

I introduced my pregnant fiance to this site, for obvious reasons.
She got some great advice for her pregnancy, but despite this, gave up the ghost after a week, as she said the overuse of acronyms was doing her head in and making a work out of deciphering posts.
They werent acronyms she had seen on other forums.

He Stewie (sorry about that)
If overuse of acronyms is discouraged, then it doesnt appear to be working?
Its the MN unique list i am referring to.

You dont see any other forum that has a home page tab dedicated to acronym translation.
This must signify something in itself, surely?

I never said the standard of grammatically correct english isnt present as well, it is present in threads sans acronyms, or present in posts amongst the acronyms....in fact, its that saving grace that has helped me follow some of the more confusing acronym riddled posts at time.

Im not even that othered by strict grammer or spelling, as long as its in english and their is a full stop and some sort of rough paragraphing to aid comprehension.
Thats all one needs really.

blimey you like to go on don't you - just post on threads or start some - stop naval gazing

"Acronyms above and beyond the list are discouraged Soup"

[shrug] Never seen it being discouraged at all.

The acronym list was put there by customer request BTW. People kept asking if there was a list and Lo! There was a list.

Out of interest which topics have kept/got rid of?

Also just wonder which ones your dp found difficult to get to grips with?

Please review use of 'their' vs 'there'. Thanks.

Yes it might take you a while to get used to the acronyms. Only you can decide if you think it's worth it. Thousands of people think it is. Oh and equality for women is not the same thing as man-bashing, is it?

I do find a few MN-specific abbreviations confusing, but there are clearly times when siblings will be routinely referenced, and DD1, DD2, DS2 etc make a great deal of sense, it's probably only where we get to some other family relationships (step daughters, twins) and into the realms of conception/birth where there are loads of extra acronyms, understandably used as short-hand or for a degree of privacy so a friend or relative searching for some specific medical condition is less likely to identify someone posting on MN.

I think there's plenty of debate without needing to quote others in any other way than cut and paste. I routinely take a line or two from a lengthier post and just put quote marks around that section - seems clear enough it is not me saying it (especially if my actual comment is contrary to what has been quoted!)

Blimey. It's a good job not all newcomers start threads like this!

Most of us just click on threads we are interested in, contribute if we have something to say and ignore the rest. Really quite simple.

Unfortunately, while some changes might be easy, lots of others are not. MNHQ must be happy with this message board software and given lots of users (some making hundreds of posts a week) are seemingly quite happy, then they take suggestions for change but don't guarantee to incorporate them.

If you want to find diabolical messageboard software which has had criticism for years just look around the BBC site. Strictly censored, some portions open only during office hours, many sections closed down completely, and so on.

MN may not match the various boards you have used before, but has to be reliable and therefore will have a lower likelihood of change. Some of the dozen or so PHP message board software will have been paid for, and have major developments and be by thousands of sites globally, so are perhaps more flexible and get more 'tinkering' to include features from a worldwide set of system administrators, so will easily be seen more often (hence making you see any differences found on MN as being 'disadvantages').

One of the few places I see 'man bashing' is on threads concerning use of pornography, where some posters (male and female) have open minds, but a minority have a 1000% anti stance and seem to think their views must be agreed with.

Plenty of threads where stupid fools are not meeting their responsibilities as partner/parent, but they deserve any negative comments, and their actions make such comments perfectly understandable!

That's not 'man bashing' but calling a stupid plonker a stupid plonker with good reason!

:)

sorry, just had to add that if you don't like it you can go. Just a thought.

Of course the question that remains is if this is so flawed and gender specfic and there so many better forums, what are you doing here?