being a bit -nosey- interested GN past

I think a lot of us miss the late and much lamented Pete his humour was wicked and so witty

My nose is fine, thanks, Elegran.

I think the increased political content is inevitable, given the recent General and Labour Party election results and the number of Gransnetters who have strongly held political views on the left (where they believe all right-thinking people should be - funny, that); they have been cast down by the first outcome and raised up by the second.

But there are still plenty of non-political threads to relax on, far preferable to retiring to a shed.

papaoscar is also missing...
I think a lot of longstanding GNs have gone when I think back to when I joined a couple of years ago.

Certainly over the past two years I think the tone has changed and not necessarily for the good unfortunately, I daren't venture on the political ones or even those that start apolitical

TBH the long political discussions with links are a big turn off. I have been here since May 2011 and we used to have some lovely light hearted discussions and good banter, now it is likely to descend into mud slinging.

I didn't come to that party Galen but it is nearly Hallowe'en again - hint, hint!

I think it has become much more political than it was when I joined in I think November 2011.
I miss the humour we used to have and the parties
Who remembers Glastonbury on Halloween and the cat/dog Donald's burnt bottom? To say nothing of the firemen and was it Phoenix. I was laughing so much I was crying as the evening unfolded.
There was also the suffragette March and someone handcuffing themselves to the railing and having a copper with cold hands trying to retrieve the key from her bra.
Cue
Those were the days my friend
We thought they'd never end etc

annsixty I take your point but I think the genuinely supportive threads which are clearly valuable to many, are now few and far between.
Perhaps the stroppy posts just outnumber the worthwhile ones but I'm glad that so many grans still benefit from the kindness of most? some? contributors.

I reckon things gradually become worse until an enormous explosion occurs, after which the biggest offenders become more restrained for a while. At the moment there are more dissenting voices being raised to the dominators on the political forums than there have been recently. It seems quite amicable, relatively speaking, but not one-sided.

(Memo to self - must get a post deleted more often)

I have never said I don't like GN it is a lifeline to me some days and I am a regular poster.

Well, I love Gransnet and find it more informative and fun than any magazine! Also, it's a lifeline for lonely people.

I'm pleased I am not the only one who thinks there are some very big egos on GN.

GN had far more humour and lively interaction 'in the old days'.
Serious (and interesting) threads now degenerate quickly and posters show little tolerance of differing views.
There are very few light-hearted threads which are intelligent at the same time.
Certain persistent posters are so egocentric that threads often focus on one poster rather than the subject under discussion.
Some posts are so mindlessly ignorant or blatantly jingoistic that they are a real turn-off.
The interesting weekly digest is now daily and trivial.
I'm one of the original posters (and I believe there are lots of us) who have become disillusioned and now visit only rarely.

Grumpas just resurfaced briefly on a political thread but had his nose bitten for flippancy.

Anya They keep me amused and on my best behaviour!

Anya

I think the main difference from the 'old' days (or as phoenix says 'when Gn was in black and white) is that there are more posters. In the old days we were still finding our feet and being terribly polite (mostly) to each other!

The granddads obviously have better things to do, places to go. The site is people by those who pop in now and again and those who have nothing better to do than sit with a laptop, computer, tablet, mobile phone all day and pick arguments with those who post pictures of their cats.

There have been dominance issues in the past my cat is better than your cat but now the subject matter has changed and we have become more political my politician is nicer than yours (oh no he isn't, oh yes he is) so that's my take on it.

So I don't become associated with the sad old farts who have nothing better to do than post links to obscure political issues pictures of their cats all day I try to limit my time on GN to certain times.

PS all those cat lovers please don't be offended I like looking at your picture
PPS I don't really care if I have offended the political heavies

We have grumppa, feetlebaum and crun (apologies if I've missed any current granddads) but they tend to post on general threads rather than congregate in the Shed.

pompa 'goes to ground' quite often. It's his way. I think he is kept busy with grandkid duties and his gardening.

I've been wondering about pompa too, haven't heard from him for ages.

Even pompa seems to have gone back to his aeroplanes.

I think on the whole, internet chatting is more a woman's thing. Like gossiping chatting over the garden fence.

We've never had that many grandads. They are usually too busy playing with their little aeroplanes, toy trains, reading motor racing mags in their real life sheds, etc etc