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 came here for FWR, which has been a massive inspiration, encouragement and support. It is so important to have this space.

I also post on Relationships - so many women in painful and abusive relationships who need to be heard and supported.

AIBU is for procrastination.

FWR keeps me here.

I came when I was pregnant with my first child. Stayed for breastfeeding help. I owe Tiktok and HunkerMunker et al hugely.

Tiptoed into FWR. Saved my sanity.

I didn't realise the true brilliance of my own sex before I saw the magnificence of the erudite, articulate, warm, intelligent and witty women here.

Without Mumsnet and FWR I would never have found my tribe, and I would not be now playing my small part in trying to preserve the rights my foremothers won for us.

I actually believe that kids will be taught about the struggle of our generation of women's rights by referencing the part mumsnet played in hosting the forum discussions.

And I feel very choked up that FWR clearly means a great deal to so many women.

Keep it all going, MNHQ.

(And I look forward to the banned poster amnesty I'm sure MNHQ are planning)

I came here when I was pregnant with my first. The hyperemesis board was a lifeline (thank you Lucinda!)

MN generally is the first place I check for specific parenting queries.

But what’s kept me coming back is FWR. I can honestly say it’s changed my life. The women of FWR have challenged my views on quite a few things and I’m a better person for it.

I came when I adopted my children for general parenting advice. Stayed for the feminism boards and now feel so grateful to have one place where I can discuss feminist issues without (too much) censorship. I also love style and beauty.

I joined just before having DS1 in 2012. I almost exclusively read the FWR boards nowadays; they are an oasis of sanity and excellent discussion.

In the past, the BF advice has been invaluable, some really knowledgable posters on here (I count myself among them now, having BF for 6 years!).

There are fewer funny threads these days, most of the 'funnies' are on a par with penis beaker, more's the pity.

Been here since ds was small (over 11 years ago). Witty posters made me laugh and think, wise feeding advice kept me sane when ds was falling off the bottom of the weight charts. Sense of community helped me to feel less isolated as a new mum working freelance and then from home. Then the woman-centered and empathetic relationships board helped me to find my way through profound shock, grief and despair after exh left me.

I mostly lurk. Occasional forays into the litter tray, regular Archers thread follower. I love to get mumsnetters' insights into stuff from news stories and politics to TV programmes, health matters, new appliance recommendations, and DIY.

But the main thing at the moment is Feminism. Intelligent, thoughtful, rigorous women speaking truth to (male) power feels energising, and the space for this is absolutely vital at a real time of threat. My feminism feels silenced elsewhere.

Yep, the FWR boards.

Originally it was for support/advice when I had my first dd - she's 14 now.

When the dc were a bit older it was for a bit of distracting entertainment.

Now, definitely for FWR, it's the only place on the internet where women can openly talk about the GRA. It's powerful and valuable and having a tangible effect.

I joined in 2006 originally because I was pregnant and I'd read one of the MN books, it sounded my cup of tea.

Since then the boards helped rescue me when breastfeeding wasn't going well and I ended up bf to term. I was able to talk honestly about my traumatic birth without a load of patronising at least you have a healthy baby rubbish

I tried and loved BLW because of what I read on here

It stopped me feeling bonkers when my children did not sleep

The SN boards (mostly as a lurker) helped enormously when I was realising my child has autism

The relationships board made me feel less alone when my marriage was going down the toilet

I love the FWR section, I've become a radical feminist through my experience of motherhood and my fellow women inspire me every day

Style and beauty has filled my house with delicious perfumes and advent calendars

Oh and I had never eaten wraps until I did a Warburtons taste test for theirs but I've bought them regularly ever since

I came for AIBU and the funny stories. I stay for FWR.

I came initially for step parenting advice, then advice for my children. Was a godsend during breast feeding. Since the Daily Mail decided to use my situation as lazy journalism material, I’ve vowed only to comment and lurk.

Like most pp I love the FWR too, for no other reason have I been visiting this site in the last week.

I come here for the fact that MN allows discussions about gender/sex issues despite vast pressure from TRAs. Thanks MN!

Joined for read teenagers for advice, there were some amazing posters there who kept me sane.
Mental Health is the same, and SEN.
Now it is the FWR boards where I can read wise, witty and robust analysis and common sense.
But I will dip in and read anything interesting on Active - the whole of life is there!

I also used to frequent AIBU for entertainment. I’ve learned a lot about abuse on the relationships board. That history won’t be apparent though as I closed my account a while back and set up a new one quite recently. I now come on most days for the feminism chat. The women there have taught me an enormous amount.

Came because I needed examples of Internet discussions for a course I was teaching. Stayed initially because of a very amusing thread, can’t remember which! But it went into Classics. Then in rapid succession, AIBU, Education, General Health, Menopause, Westminstenders, Trump, Feminism Chat...and so many others. (I have a weakness for Baby Names which rather surprises me.) At present Brexit, Trump and Feminism Chat are the first places I go to. Thanks Mumsnet for enabling these discussions.

I didn't come for many years despite being a mum because (I'm ashamed to say) I assumed mums talking to each other would be boring.... Wow some internalised misogyny there. I also assumed there would be a vaguely right-wing view point, perhaps because of the blue branding. How wrong I was on both counts.

I browsed some archived threads that came up in Google last year as I anticipated a birth and found the discussions informative and reassuring. A replacement for female family members I no longer have. Post birth, I browsed some more about breastfeeding. I still didn't think I'd join!

I became addicted briefly to some cheeky fucker threads and then I noticed the feminism chat board around the same time as I began to question what the Labour Party was up to. Everybody there was so articulate and informed I didn't think I could add much. But I learned so much - not least about challenging my own prejudice and preconceptions.

I can't remember which FWR thread I finally joined to comment on but mumsnet has become part of my life ever since. The FWR board is breathtaking. In my 10 plus years in and out of higher education, I have never experienced an intellectual domain that is female led.

I love the archives too and wear a better fitting bra because of them and have discovered help for my unusual hair. But feminism chat keeps me here, keeps me sane and crucially, still allows me a voice in a world that increasingly seeks to silence me.

Whoops an essay. Sorry!

I lurked for years on AIBU, but finally joined up when I discovered FWR. I don't post much still, but I read a lot. I've had an education there that has made me an active feminist in real life.

Been a member since 2006, certainly don't post as much as I used to but still read lots- although I do visit less now as it takes more time to find interesting threads. Mainly look at politics, style and beauty, FRW (feels most like old Mumsnet to me) and the excellent bargain thread which has helped me through every Christmas. I miss the humour of the earlier Mumsnet, but it's still entertaining enough.

Started on the Relationship board as I was extricating myself from a disastrous relationship. Learnt so much about gaslighting and emotionally unhealthy relationships and will be forever grateful to so many women for sharing their thoughts and wisdom. Watched in awe RedToothBrush as she analysed and helped navigate the disaster that is Brexit on the Brexit threads.
And then - the fabulous FWR - a place where women centred discussion and thought happens. I can only echo the comments made above by so many about the quality of debate, the insight, the analysis and at times, the brilliant humour found there.

I came for the feminism but I stay for the ghost stories.

And the CF threads. And the intelligence, wit and fairness of the posters. It's been a delight to find a forum where sensible, clever people are expressing themselves about a wide range of topics, giving each other advice and information in a very direct, but usually compassionate, manner, and generally acting the way women act.

I didn't join for a long while because I'm no longer a Mum and that was a huge barrier to me. But the fact that it's the only forum where women can have a genuine feminist discussion about what it means to be a woman and how trans activism (not the existence of trans people) is undermining our rights drew me into Mumsnet. It's vital that Mumsnet defends the free speech of the women using the forum.

I joined 10 years ago when pregnant with my first child. It was so helpful to be part of a virtual group of women all due in the same month, sharing worries/advice/funny stories. Then I posted on and followed the breastfeeding threads, mainly for the invaluable advice from TikTok. Then Aitch’s BLW threads. Since then, I’ve mainly used it a bit like a magazine, scrolling through active threads and any topic relevant to me at the time (education, camping, home decoration...). However, increasingly now I read the feminism threads first and I would say this is becoming my main reason for visiting. It’s something I can’t get anywhere else (apart from in RL with a small number of like-minded friends) - a sane group of women reassuring me that I’m not the only one who can’t see the emperor’s new clothes!

I first used MN years ago now when my child was young and I had moved here from a different country. We were quite lonely and I found another family from our country who lived nearby! They ended up moving next door, we moved our child to the same school and the kids were like siblings for years. I’ve come back after a long time away mostly to discuss women’s rights and women’s health, since I have a lot of women’s health issues. I particularly appreciate the space away from men, pretty much, to discuss feminism and women’s rights.

I google mumsnet (subject) when ever i want opinions/advice/links on a given subject

Im pretty much only pop on AIBU, chat and occasionally on the EU board

The majority of my time is spent on FWR, I don't post on everything but i read virtually everything

FWR.

And yes, I did not see myself as a typical 'mumsnetter' (to be honest, the name used to make me cringe) but I have simply been blown away by all the thoughtful, articulate, well-informed women's voices on here. Genuinely empowering and a real public service.

Thank you, MN.