Gransnet today....Just my opinion.

I have often complained in posts about the fact that GNHQ are way too prissy, and act like big brother. I have said time and again that we afre ADULTS here, the clue is in the name for goodness sakes GRANS net. No one takes a jot of notice though, even though I have said how annoying it is to come on and see posts deleted before I have had chance to read them, and judge for MYSELF if I find it offensive or not.

I almost left because of it, but sometimes there are interesting things on here, be they amusing or helpful.I have found Future Learn through the threads, and for that I am very grateful. It is useful, for want of a better word to read about other people's problems, then one can think " Oh!! it isn't just me then", but I do wish GNHQ would come down off their high horses and give us a bit more leeway. I have suggested an ignore button which would give us the option ourselves to press if we didn't want to see a certain person's posts again.
Anyway I doubt they will change. Probably GNHQ is run by a closed order of nuns . So for now I will dip in and out and read what appeals, post what i like and the rest can go by the board.
I can't think too much about GNHQ they really annoy me, and I have enough annoyances in my life, all I can say is Thank goodness I don't work in that office I wouldn't last 5 mins without a disciplinary hearing, lol.

There is a bit of everything it seems to me; lots to choose to join in or give a miss.

Isn't there room for everything ?

And everyone ?

Isn't this the place to be topical, to be retrospective, to seek support from like minded people,to be kind, to be funny , to challenge the status quo , to be the same, to be different ?

I'm not sure if it can be al things to all people but there's precious little about that even comes close .

It's not all about bring kind, and nice and supportive.

It's about being more open to new ideas and stimulation.

We certainly need more (grown-up) humour, and perhaps rather less earnestness. IMO of course.

More humour, engaging discussion that doesn't descend into rancour, more stimulation.

Bags does try to raise the bar, as do a couple of others, but not enough takers.

But you still have the political threads and the nice kindly kitchen threads, the supportive estranged threads, religious threads and the topical news threads. I realise you may be talking about before my time but what exactly is missing? Surely the same thing applies as the advice if you don't want to get caught in the line of fire on the political/controversial stay away. So if you don't want to be bored rigid stay away from those threads. Each to their own and all that surely there's room for all. I enjoy a bit of both and have learnt a lot .

It is much more than this I think. What is it you would like to see Anya that is missing?

Yes, Anya. Or have we got rose-tinted specs on...?

I'm really not interested to discover how many TVs people own, or to worry about those who still haven't mastered the art of creamy mash. Husbands watching football on TV, hide the remote. Problems with DiLs have surely been done to death and so has slagging off people's choice of 'news' paper.

GN used to be much more than this - didn't it?

So do I.

I agree Luckygirl

I don't worry about posts being deleted, it's people being deleted that gets my goat.

Be back later. Slight family crisis means I have twice the number of people for lunch now.

Off to do my loaves and fishes act.

There are lots more deleted posts on Mumsnet! It happens all the time. So the idea that we but not they are expected to communicate with each other in a reasonable unhurtful way does not hold water I suspect. I do not feel that I am being asked to conform to some sort of ancient stereotype of a granny - you only have to look at the response to the sex after 60 thread to see that nothing could be further from the truth - we are not the children of the 60s for nothing!

It takes all sorts to make a world (and a forum) and I tend to ignore the threads where a poster is being deliberately unpleasant or provocative for no reason, as I do in RL. I am all for a good argument based on facts and opinions, but I do not think it is unreasonable to get rid of posts whose clear aim is to offend or hurt. Gransnet is what it is (a commercial enterprise) and it cannot afford to have lots of people dropping out because people are rude.

I do not think that swearing is a problem - but personally directed unpleasantness is. There is a tendency to feel that you can say what you like in the ether in ways that you might never do in RL, and I can understand that this has to be kept in some sort of check - we do not know the state of mind or health of someone on the receiving end of unpleasantness or how vulnerable they might be. We do get to know the personalities of some regular posters and might say things to them that might be inappropriate with a new member.

Jingl did push the boundaries and that is fine - but there were a few occasions when it went too far IMO. I had many a good laugh at her outspoken comments, as we all did, but a sharp intake of breath when sometimes these comments could cause deliberate hurt to an anonymous person whose vulnerability was unknown.

Gransnet have a difficult line to tread and on the whole I do not think they do a bad job. There are times when I think a post should be deleted and it is not (e.g. unsafe "medical" advice to a vulnerable person).

I agree. Ana she's not back.
I am always on the look out for our Scarlet Pimpernel
Maybe she will return in the New Year.

Is JBF using Mumsnet at the moment?

She's not back.

Some posters I agree with, some I don't but that's life. Surely we are all adults on this site and as such should by now have learned to accept that others will have opinions (some very strongly held) which disagree with ours. I don't think anyone posts anything to be deliberately offensive. How many people have to complain about a post before it is deleted? 1,5,10, 20?

Maybe Jings is already back under another name? Maybe she doesn't want to come back? GN seems OK to me at present but things can blow up any time.

Hear, hear merlot

Having had 2 posts removed I can say that it is completely arbitrary, depends on who is in the office and how they are feeling that day, oh and how good they are at understanding English (this isn't a racist remark in my opinion many of the English educated are the poorest at understanding what is actually being said).

Yes, this 'banning' of members does seem rather silly.

Unless someone is being deliberately rude/offensive/provocative on every single thread, it's likely that they just have strong feelings on certain subjects and should be allowed to express them. Even if some others don't like 'robust' language!

I totally agree and that's partly why I now spend far less time on here.
I have no idea what Jingl said or did but it seems pathetic that she's still banished so many weeks later (in fact the whole banishment bit strikes me as being somewhat arbitrary).

I don't have the time to follow the very long threads but I hadn't realised that if you wanted to say somthing controversial you'd be barred. I thought someone had to make a complaint about somthing of a very personal nature before that happened. Most of the 'the one for in the grave' people I know are far from bland. They are the very people that are likely to have the confidence to be feisty and put their opinion across very forcibly. I'd suggest that the advertisers don't know their target audience very well if that's what they want.

Hear hear! I get REALLY annoyed by (generally) new members who whine and moan about strong opinions which they take as personal attacks. I for one did not join GN to discuss the cute sayings of grandchildren although I respect the rights of those who wish to do so. I joined to read other's opinions on matters which concern or interest me, I like to hear the other side of things whether it be Brexit or anything else of importance and interest, and I love being part of a club which includes people of many professions/jobs/ages/experience/places, a club which is only really possible online.

I do so agree. I sometimes feel as though we are all on the naughty step, ready and waiting to be expelled. It was JBF who brought the situation in Aleppo to my conscience, each time I hear the name Mosul I think of her. Can't say the same about say, mash.