Unofficial Draft Guide to RFF

[MrsStarkey]

Was I the only one that felt a little badly for the MN team member who tried to get our input in order to help build a guide for this forum recently? That didn’t go as planned!

Am in the only one who laughed about Justine’s “The Royal family forum
is deranged” comment and can take it in stride? That thread was definitely an example!

I am proposing we try again and help crowd source a guide. I just ask that we don’t be so RFF, and have a sense of humor while we do so. I’ll paste my draft attempt below. Everyone is welcome to contribute however they like.

Thank you .

I think the time has come for a change. There is an issue here and mumsnet have also acknowledged that .

Name change or an additional board - that will help . I favour an additional board . Why not? There are lots of boards that vary with the traction they get and we can’t be sure how it will go. We do know that it is known and accepted that many mumsnet users avoid this board and not just because they aren’t interested in the monarchy .

There may well be users with ill
intent but that can happen anywhere . As it is critics of the monarchy are sometimes told ‘ what are you doing here ? This is the ‘royal family’ board - ie no place for critics here .
We need a dedicated place which is open to debate and the current ‘royal family’ board can remain for the users who feel more comfortable here .

I think the new thread is a good idea. with that , the PR and the lighter chat (which I assume is for people who are more pro) surely there is room for everyone without a split.

The PR thread is not for posters more “pro” there are several long term contributors who are self declared republicans who post regularly on those threads and they are most welcome.

The lighter H&M thread was started because I just wanted somewhere (im sure some others too) to say there are things they do that I like without being labelled a sussex squad member, a H&M fan or whataboutery or how can you aay something nice when they have done x y z.

I am also someone who prefers to talk about people and things more positively and I limit myself to negativity and drama in general because it doesn't serve any purpose to me (this is just how I am as a person).

Yes quite right! , just taking a break from acting for the moment.

Whole heartedly agree with this. If you don't like something as it is then move on. I'm a big cat lover - imagine if I went into the dog Board here and then complained that people are posting pics of their pups and talking about what dog food they buy.

I've now given this some further thought and have come to the conclusion that a split board probably isn't the way to go.

As pp said, I'm not sure there would be much traffic but I'm more concerned it might become a semi-official way to redirect and then isolate what to some might be unwelcome opinion and ultimately have the unintended effect of stifling debate.

On balance I think the current set-up is probably optimum but I do agree a re-naming of the board - maybe The Monarchy or somesuch - could be a good idea.

What do you mean by a " safe place" ?

Have you also posted this to Jeff’s thread on Sitestuff? MNHQ read the posts on there but don’t on here.

I’m not sure I follow what you mean by a divided board. Do you mean an overall title then two subsections? I’m against that as it seems like a deeper bunker if you see what I mean.
Also I think it’s important to include the word ‘debate’ in the title as a poster mentioned above . Not just ‘the monarchy’ but the ‘monarchy debate’ . I think that’s crucial

But I prefer a standalone title under the ‘other’ section where we currently are ( or in politics ?) and the ‘royal family’ can stay as it is .

Sorry @CathyorClaire i see I’ve misread your post . You are also against the split board .

This is all very confusing as certain people are complaining they don't have a " safe place" , are chased off the board blah blah yet there are numerous posts about Andrew and the institution of the monarchy which have gone on forever. I'm not going to count them but I'm aware they exist. I don't read any of these as I have no interest in them and no I am not turning away from reality nor am I a morally deficient person as SOME like to imply. I post on many Boards across MN and they are all feisty at times ( don't get me started about Style and Beauty - handbags at dawn 😳) These same people though don't want a separate Board with a " safe place" with no gifs or jokes allowed . There's no pleasing. Personally they have all run alongside for years so why change now? However there are 🧐🙄😳😂🤮🫣 allowed as well as gifs so that's the MN rules. You don't join a tennis club then complain because some people like to sit in the bar after a game.

I am inclined to agree with you. Unless the Pro Royal chat board is strictly about lovely dresses, great that Sophie went to an underdeveloped country and gave a speech and how cute the Wales kids are, I think it would be a bit of a problem. It will be that the Pro Royal section will not countenance any criticism or thoughts that are contrary to being pro. And where would all the meghan and harry threads go? They aren't working royals after all !

Also, occasionally I have noticed that some posters like to talk about what others are saying elsewhere and if the Board was split, I fear that would happen more often. I am not sure where it has been said that gifs and jokes won't be allowed if the Board is split? I haven't seen that but I have been concentrating on rodding our blocked drains and now waiting for the Water board!

Let's not delude ourselves. There is no such thing as a 'safe' space on the internet.

And if you need one, you really shouldn't be on the internet.

It's wild how things fluctuate over the years - there was a previous poster who very much advocated a separate board. I recall at the time there was lots of " banter" about drinking wine and recollections of past lives and jewellery dupes and we were told it was nice to get to know your fellow posters when threads went off topic. There was descriptions of everything from having sex with their husband as excuse for not posting to taking leaves off their drive. How times change. 🧐

What a sad view to have. People shouldn't be personally attacked, baited, loaded or met with hostility online or in real life either. I'd rather advocate for raising standards personally.

I quite agree.

Except some folk can’t help themselves (not just on mn) and so here we are.

It is a fine idea to raise standards and to want people to adhere to rules but some just aren’t able to do that.

So while it may be a sad state of affairs, it is a realistic observation to make.

That’s an opinion and all really rather rich of you to judge others for talking about how things are rather than how they should be.

I agree with this. People should not be many things and yet there is reality. I am holding my tongue because I’m amazing and that’s how do. Would you like to hear more about me?

Actually yes I would @MrsStarkey! , I’m very nosy and interested in hearing about others! 😁

It is a fine idea to raise standards and to want people to adhere to rules but some just aren’t able to do that.

They are able to do that. They just choose not to.

Fair point Simpson -I stand corrected.

Pretending that anywhere on the internet is a 'safe space' does nothing to raise standards.

If anything it makes people more vulnerable

Who said I am pretending? I am not, people here have share their experiences of feeling piled on to, their experiences are valid. I have been subject to it too.

And safe space is a thread where people can just mature discuss views without the need for goody comments like your posts are boring, lets not feed the pigeons, your a sussex squad member, you are on their payroll. If as people say on here we welcome different views why make nasty comments like that about the person making them.