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Original poster

Has Mumsnet dumbed down over the past couple of years IYO? Or, if you're new, what's your impression?

243 replies

WideWebWitch · 14/10/2006 19:31

Well? Just wondering what people think about this. Even if you're new, what's your view? (I don't want to be accused of oldster cliqueiness, I'm interested to hear what new people think too)

OP posts:
expatinscotland · 15/10/2006 00:01

in other words, yes.

SueW · 15/10/2006 09:29

I don't post nearly as much as I used to.

It was highlighted for me earlier this year when my DD had an op. 4 years ago when she underwent the same surgery, I got support from here and felt like I could talk about it 'with friends'. This time, I barely gave it a heads-up on here because it doesn't feel like the same place.

lulumama · 15/10/2006 09:37

in that case www- i hope you had a lovely evening

niceglasses · 15/10/2006 09:46

There seems to be this argument in a wider context all over doesn't there? Sorry if this is been said elsewhere - have skim read the thread.
There are loads of books about dumbing down etc esp in the context of American culture.

I don't know tbh. I think in wider society yes, so maybe this inevitably has an effect on smaller things like MN. Been on here for 5 yrs on and off. I must admit to getting bored of the same arguments (which aren't the same for new pple I appreciate). I have to say I find it less tolerant. Its harder to have a good discussion without it descending into mud slinging.

I still think it gives fantastic support but I also maybe see some posters who need help sort of sink........

Sorry not making much sense. Broadly I suppose, yes I agree, but I think its the judgemental nature which gets me more - mainly because this gets in the way of having an honest discussion.

coppertop · 15/10/2006 09:52

After 3+ years on MN I think it's a lot more judgemental than it used to be. I don't remember there being so many smug threads on here before either. I also think that the newbies get a hard time on here too. They used to be welcomed to MN but now people tend to be very quick to accuse them of being trolls.

Chandra · 15/10/2006 09:56

Answering the question that names this thread I would say, Mumsnet has not dumbed down its just that in all these years I have become wiser and far more tolerant so I find some of the threads increasingly boring or far too judgemental.

PhantomCAM · 15/10/2006 09:58

that your dd has had an op that you couldn't feel you could post about SueW

Hope she's ok, though

GhoulsToo · 15/10/2006 12:01

www - mumsnet hasn't dumbed down you're just getting older - you'll soon be saying 'in my day, caligula already is!'

dejags · 15/10/2006 12:05

Well put Coppertop. Nothing further to add.

ks · 15/10/2006 12:07

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

dejags · 15/10/2006 12:08

Thinking the same thing KS.

However, my reason is, is that I am sh1t scared my grammar will get a roasting.

ledodgywizardrobespierre · 15/10/2006 12:13

It's probably like going to a club that you went to every week when you were younger then you go back a few years on the club seems to be full of kids, although they are the same age as you when you went there, doing and talking about the same things you did. The club just doesn't seem the same it's not full of the same faces who once went who you can say hello at every turn. You realise that maybe this club is not for you anymore it served it's purpose and you had a great time but now it's time to leave it to the next generation of clubbers.

This post isn't ageist btw just an analogy.

ledodgywizardrobespierre · 15/10/2006 12:17

Should also have said or you can embrace the changes and stay in the club.

GhoulsToo · 15/10/2006 12:22

agree coppertop.

It does seem to me that it's the very posters who dislike all things judgmental who are the most judgmental of all!

Call me old fashioned but to be frank I think some of the posters have dumbed themselves down - 'fck off' or 'pss' off are used with gay abandon these days in a ruck and from people I wouldn't expect to hear it from. Some let rip in quite a nasty way because they think the person on the receiving end 'can take it' and 'they don't give a sh*t' and 'I'll say what I want'. To me these attitudes are a dumbing down of respect for other people and a dumbing down in well, just good manners.

motherinferior · 15/10/2006 12:28

Hmmm.

I came to MN to scoff and remained to post. I'd seen it mentioned, and I had a look in a rather snooty 'FFS I hate being called a mum' way, and then was absolutely rivetted by the bright, funny people posting on here. I wanted to get to know them and have my name recognised and all. I also wanted advice (I was about 30 weeks into my second pregnancy at the time and considering a home birth) but that definitely wasn't all. I do writing for a living, and was absolutely thrilled to find somewhere where people played around with writing in the same way.

Would I feel the same today? I don't know. Most of those posters are still here, but they are a bit swamped in other stuff. It's not, for me, the subject matter, it's the way people write about their subjects.

Blandmum · 15/10/2006 12:31

There have always been people who make outrageous personal attacks on MN though. I was on the recieving end of one, about 4-5 years ago!

I do find the currect crop of 'outrage for the sheer hell of it, 'look at how hard an opinionated I am' style of posting, tiresome and dull.

Earlybird · 15/10/2006 12:41

Do you think it might have something to do with the fact that years ago most people who posted didn't know each other? Now, after so many years of posting, meetups, MSN'ing, inviting RL friends to join etc many of the social niceties seem to have been disposed of - whether because of familiarity or various factions that could be classified as....dread to say it....cliques?

I have only been to one meetup 2 years ago. I have met only one or two posters in RL. I'm amazed at how many people here are friends offline, and think that maybe those friendships bring a different feeling (both positive and negative aspects) to the site.

disemboweledbint · 15/10/2006 12:55

this reminds me of a conversation my gran had with the undertaker when we were organising my grandad's funeral.. funeral director was about 70, my gran is 85. funeral director was trying to cheer my gran up by saying things along the lines of 'we've seen the best years' 'it's all going down hill' 'this country's not what it used to be' 'young people today..' blah blah. he had no concern for the fact that my sister and i were there, both in our 20s with the rest of our lives ahead of us. my gran told him not to be so silly, the world changes, people change, stop being such an old fuddy duddy.

PhantomCAM · 15/10/2006 13:11

jolly good diseb

niceglasses · 15/10/2006 13:30

I totally agree re the complete over-playing of a point sometimes. I remember the thread where somebody posted a lovely picture of their daughter but unfortunately used the word 'sexy' in the title. The poor woman!! Gawd, it went on for hours. It scares pple off.......I do really dislike that sometimes, but maybe its just the 'herd' attitude as some have said and everyone wants to make a point, regardless of whether its been said before. Very rude tho really.

disemboweledbint · 15/10/2006 13:36

yes it does scare people off. as a new poster i know it often takes a lot of courage to post and even more to start a thread. often i get ignored, but i'm used to it. i guess it takes a while before people think you're worth talking to.

foundintranslation · 15/10/2006 13:38

I've been on here 2 years and I think the bright, funny people do still stick out. I wouldn't agree with the dumbing down, but I do think there is a vein of judgementalness that wasn't so pronounced before and that certainly could be perceived as rather offputting. As far as the subjects that come round again and again go, it's in the nature of a site like this. I lurk on another forum in which the general rule is to respond to any newbie with a question with a (rather rudely expressed) request to go and exhaust the search function before coming back. It would be a shame if MN ended up like this. One of the things that impresses me most about MN - and that I don't think has changed really - is the sheer amount of time and energy people who know a lot about a particular area put into answering queries (Thomcat, tiktok and Jimjams spring to mind, but there are plenty of others). I've unfortunately become a bit of an expert on miscarriage, so I aklways keep an eye out for threads in that topic I can help on.

meowmix · 15/10/2006 13:59

think I've been here about 2 years and personally I think it goes through phases where it gets a bit mad-eyed and shouty and people just leap to judge. And then it gets nice and friendly again. There's a bit of a nasty new vs. old thing at the moment prob cos all the nobody publicity created a big rise in users. I hope it'll settle.

tbh tho we're the only ones who can change it. Maybe a MN pact to ignore the judgemental leaps and bounds?

tortoiseshell · 15/10/2006 14:29

I think it has got dumber - I joined in about 2002, and the average length of each post seemed a lot longer, and more structured somehow. I think the size of the site has contributed to this, and the chat topic did change it a lot.

That's not necessarily bad - I don't always discuss topics earnestly with my friends - we have a laugh, chat about men etc - but I do think it's different to how it was!

zippitippitoes · 15/10/2006 14:41

actually i think a lot of the unpleasant wrangling is among people who have been here for ages