Tell MNHQ why you use Mumsnet

[EllieMumsnet]

Here at MNHQ we would really like to get to know our users better and would therefore love to know why you use Mumsnet and if Mumsnet has managed to help you in any way.

Is the main reason you use Mumsnet for the advice from other users? And if so, what advice do you look for in particular or is it on everything and anything? Do you use Mumsnet as a place to browse the funny threads and have a bit of ‘you’ time? Is it more the product/service reviews and recommendations that you use Mumsnet for? Has the support of fellow Mumsnet users helped you get through a tough time? Or maybe you have created long-term friendships with other users and come on to chat to them.

Whatever the reasons you use Mumsnet and any stories you have on how Mumsnet has helped you, we would love to hear them so please share them on the thread below.

Thanks
MNHQ

I forgot to mention someone else who I look up to on MN.

MaryZ.

Came for advice on getting scuff marks out of DD’s patent shoes and found a warm community which made me cry with laughter and sadness. Have since sought advice on all kinds of things.

Now I mainly post on the lovely 50 bookers threads and another one where our DCs are in their second year at university. I also lurk on Westmonstenders and a bit elsewhere.

I feel like MN is a really nice way to not feel alone because I think we can all agree that being an adult female can get tough; especially as a parent. We can all get a little lonely sometimes, but on MN you can get/give help and advice from/to other mums in the same situation as you.

please rethink the moderation policy and reinstate the women recently banned for speaking out in defence of women and children.

THIS^^

I must have been here for 10 years, under a handful of names. I spend most of my time now on the FWR threads, which have helped me to form my opinions on many issues, and have always been in awe of the kindness and support offered on Relationships. MN has helped me when I didn't know what was wrong with dc and has entertained me during many a long night feeding and changing the dc.

I visit AIBU, In the News, Telly Addicts and chat occasionally, and also The Staffroom.

And I only ever post positive feedback on Baby Names .

Joined for the infertility advice, stayed for the feminism. The solidarity with other females here is unsurpassed.

And Woolly Hugs. I love Woolly Hugs!

FWR lurker every day. Keeps me sane.

Came for relationships, stayed for the feminism.

The women here helped me leave an abusive relationship, kept me sane during my stint in refuge, and have opened my eyes to why we need feminism as much as ever.

Searching for news items and opinion pieces on particular subjects, I began to find that Mumsnet FWR forum was coming top or near the top in most search engines.

Quite often, the things being posted on FWR were more to date, more nuanced, more challenging, more detailed and more informative than anything coming from professonal writers and bloggers.

I felt that Mumsnet was doing something ground-breaking. I felt that the FWR was doing something that other organisations had failed to achieve, even though there are numerous initiatives to encourage women to participate in politics as individuals. With encouragement from MNers, and probably for the very first time, individual women are lobbying MPs, writing letters, attending women's meetings, handing out leaflets, boycotting businesses with suspect values, and contributing to government consultations on laws and policies.

Those voices have been missing from the public sphere and now they are being heard. That wouldn't have happened without a curated, well-run and moderated space.

What was extraordinary was the bringing together of women AS AN INTEREST GROUP, with legitimate concerns about things like education, social care, child care, crimes against women and so on. The interviews and Live Chats with politicians and others, adds another layer to that participation.

The extraordinary and groundbreaking things extended into other areas as I saw women sharing experiences of abuse, violence, control, coercion, recognising red flags and narcissism in relationships with partners and parents. I wonder how many lives will be affected for the better because of that shared wisdom and support.

Without wishing to exagerrate, I wonder how many lives will be saved by the survivors who have been brave enough to share their stories.

And then there are the reviews of equipment and general "stuff". I really value reviews from users.

Came for conception advice, appreciated the pregnancy, feeding weaning boards. Relationship boards helped me so much even though I never posted. FWR has opened my eyes and I'm learning so much. Mumsnet is awesome.

I was aware of MN for years before I actually visited because I knew once I did I'd be sucked in and lose months of my life to this place. I was right...

I'm mainly a lurker but love the anonymity; despite efforts not to be judgmental it's difficult not to make assumptions about people in RL based on age, accent, appearance etc. Here women can all mix together regardless of location and background.

The places I visit most often are Chat and AIBU esp CF and parking threads, Relationships - the wise, supportive women in there are amazing, Property/DIY - really useful for recommendations and advice for house renovation, and most recently FWR for the articulate, reasonable and intelligent discussion.

Thank you so much for giving us space to talk, laugh and cry together

I joined for the conception boards and rotated through pregnancy, miscarriages, childbirth and infant feeding.

Now I come directly to feminism chat, mainly lurking, occasionally posting. It's such an important resource.

Other than that, I look at active chat and see what grabs my attention.

Search for occasional advice and visit FWR four or five times a day. The intro to THE SECOND SEX says: "women lack concrete means for organising themselves into a unit which can stand face to face with the correlative unit. … They live dispersed among the males, attached through residence, housework, economic condition, and social standing to certain men – fathers or husbands – more firmly than they are to other women." Well, thanks to the Feminism Chat boards I feel that is no longer true!

Search for occasional advice and visit FWR four or five times a day. The intro to THE SECOND SEX says: "women lack concrete means for organising themselves into a unit which can stand face to face with the correlative unit. … They live dispersed among the males, attached through residence, housework, economic condition, and social standing to certain men – fathers or husbands – more firmly than they are to other women." Well, thanks to the Feminism Chat boards I feel that is no longer true!

Came for Property, met amazing women, LTB with the support of the vipers, now reading FWR because it’s the only place these issues are being covered in mainstream liberal media.
Also use it religiously for shopping recommendations!

I came here first because of the relationship boards as I was trying to understand why my long-term relationships had all been with abusive men. Have been horrified by how many women are abused, gaslighted, cheated on, screwed over and have their lives ruined by men. Was and still am humbled and moved by all the amazing women (and some men) who took the time to help, reassure, advise, check up on posters to see if they were okay, be sympathetic, sometimes very frank (needed) and just be there to listen.

Spent many an enjoyable evening amusing and scaring myself silly on paranormal, even though I don't really believe in ghosts.

Lost far too much time in classics.

Then there is FWR. A safe space for women to discuss what it is like to live today in an increasingly more and more hostile world as we were born female. A world where girls are being increasingly sexually assaulted and raped at school by their peers, where boys are thinking due to the 24 hour access to extreme porn that girls are objects, not real people. A place where we can discuss what it was like to grow up when some men think it is acceptable to catcall young teen-age girls, sexually harrass women, assault, rape and kill us because we are female. A place where we can talk about our lived experiences and future fears without being constantly told NAMALT, victim blamed or be accused of fear mongering.

Safeguarding is being systematically stripped from us and our children and we are being silenced, threatened, doxxed and frightened for asking questions about why it is happening. Male rapists and paedophiles are being housed in female prisons and sexually abusing women. Paedophiles are getting into positions of power where they are influencing policies being drafted including having safeguarding removed. Men are killing women, using the excuse that it was due to consented strangling and stabbings in sexual situations and they are getting away with it. Two women a week are being murdered by their partners or ex partners.

We need FWR to be able to talk, ask questions, learn, support and share our knowledge, advice and wisdom. There are so many articulate, intelligent, patient, educated, witty, courageous, compassionate women on FWR who show us how amazing all us women are. It keeps us sane, it gives us hope and strength.

It is to your eternal credit you allow us this oasis, it is such an important place for all women. We may not all agree on the topics discussed but unlike other online places, all views are allowed, debate is encouraged and no-one is threatened, frightened, doxxed or intimidated into silence.

Thank you Mumsnet. You are a shining light in a very dark sky.

I joined when BMC folded, spent my time between AIBU, chat and relationships, then discovered FWR.

I’ve learned so much thanks to the patience of clever, articulate women who are passionate about protecting the rights of women and girls.

FWR is where I lurk and very occasionally post every day. I’m so appreciative of a space where free speech and discussion is still allowed.

Came here by chance really , then lurked all over the place , mainly on AIBU , before finding my fellow tribes in the tack room, Christmas and dog sections . Relationships has helped me keep mine on an even and equitable keel , and have recently become a regular lurker on the FWR boards , where my vague feelings of double standards ( which for a long time I thought was just me feeling that way ) have been crystallised by being educated by the far seeing yet fair , intelligent , far more eloquent contributors that I would probably have never met IRL . Thank you . Thank you to all those giving me the tools and the confidence to start fighting my corner .

I started out of sheer boredom during mat leave but have found it to be an invaluable source of laughter (AIBU), inspiration (Fem boards) and advice from the other boards. I enjoy the sense of community coupled with anonymity.

I started off ten years ago, when I was pregnant, on the pregnancy board - my ante natal thread was great. Spent a fair bit of time on baby names. A lot of time on AIBU and chat.

Then breastfeeding boards. Hung around on baby names for quite a while after I'd named DC1 as I enjoyed it.

Got into the political threads particularly at general elections and referendum.

Although I saw myself as a feminist, I never searched out the feminist boards particularly.

Used AIBU less and less as it got more full of arseholes and I got bored of it.

Now my DC are a bit older I don't need so much advice. Also, I have a spin off MN community - the MN antenatal thread I joined for DC2 ended up being a Facebook group of the most brilliant women and we chat most days on FB.

So, I don't have a lot of need for MN any more - except - I started finding out about what was happening with self ID and trans activism last year, from Mumsnet mostly, and now almost all my activity on MN is the feminist boards. I check in several times a day.

Mumsnet has helped me over the years:

• get sound advice about pregnancy
• helped me through tests my DS had, posters explained what they meant and held my hand
• helped me successfully breastfeed my DC
• find out where to get evidence based advice on breastfeeding when I needed it
• made me know I'm not a freak for BFing my DC to natural term - I didn't know anyone else in RL but could chat to people here
• helped me make sense of my relationship
• kept me company when lonely / bored
• helped me throught the process of buying and selling my house
• introduced me to a brilliant bunch of mums, we used to have MN meet ups
• introduced me to a birth cohort group who have become my friends
• helped me name my children
• helped me rediscover feminism

Joined after finding reviews on holidays with young children, probably 10 years ago.

Main reason I come now is FWR and the SN boards.

Came here for advice on teenagers, stayed for AIBU and Woolly Hugs. I love a good parking or CF thread!

Stumbled into FWR - this is now my reason for checking in most days, even though I only lurk there.

CF, parking threads but since Speakers Corner alerted me to the seismic changes happening FWR boards. Thank you to the clear, fantastic posters on there.

FWR boards. Almost exclusively these days and multiple times a day. I do look at other threads, however, when I need some relief. I joined when I was naming my baby.