What would you do?

I came across Gransnet some years before I joined. As I wasn't a grandmother then , I thought that I wouldn't be welcome.
So perhaps a general note on home page to say that you don't have to be a grandmother or even a woman , would be a good idea.

hillwalker70 I am not a cruise going Grandparent?and am also not elderly? I co parented DGS1 for 7 years until last year,but I still like some of the threads on GN! It’s not because I am bored I assure you! as I still also work full time! As well as assisting with DGC and various community projects GN gets looked at when I have the odd spare moment!

Crikey, I can't cope with any changes. I do agree though that the Logo could be off putting. Do men post on Mumsnet? I rarely venture to the dark side.

I'm newish here but I find it odd that the forum is called Gransnet and its logo is two women with a small child when your About Us page says the site is also for men and "it doesn't matter in the slightest whether you have grandchildren or not!".

If you want to grow you have to appeal to a wider audience. The name alone will deter a lot of people who will assume it is is only for grandmothers and that the discussions will be limited to grandparenting issues. Every other forum I have partipated in has an even mix of men and women and a much wider variety of topics being flagged as active or discussions of the day.

Maybe I havent quite got the hang of things but the linear way that discussion threads work is considerably inferior to other forums. It can be hard to see who is replying to whose particular comment. Take a look at something like Ravelry where posts are numbered, specific posts can be replied to and member's receive a notification when they receive replies.

I realise this isn't the question you asked but I think the current name. logo and forum format could deter many potential partipants.

Heard about you from my daughter who uses Mumsnet so perhaps an ad every so often calling for Mumsnetters to tell the 'grandparents'. Perhaps you do this already.

Take it off Facebook!

hillwalker70 that's me in the wrong place then, I've never been on a cruise as the idea doesn't appeal, I have no grandchildren as yet and I'm divorced with no partner. Life is diverse and so is this site, there's room for all types and all opinions. No point in all being identi-kits of each other. If anyone finds it cliquey that's simply because some people have been here much longer than others and have got to know each other.

I found Mumsnet first, then I think my daughter told me there was a Gransnet.

It is on fb Pjkoctur and Twitter a great part of many people’s disappointment and why some people left was they felt they could be more easily identified on those two social media outlets
I don’t remember how I found it I think I just googled forums at some point and came across this
I like the size it is personally as I am, after a few years feeling I can recognise posters and perhaps be recognised I also thought there had been a lot of new names recently so I thought we had had an influx
I felt it was cliquey when I first joined and felt fairly invisible but I just kept plugging away and although I wouldn’t say I ‘ belong’ fully yet I do feel more comfortable

I suppose making it bigger is purely for the businesses side and not for our benefit really

I honestly can’t remember how I found you but I really think it must have been mentioned on Woman’s Hour on the radio. Ok I am a bloke but I still try to ‘keep up’ with current feminist thinking and even at 67 know I have a lot to learn from the opposite gender.

Mumsnet is often mentioned in the press and on programmes like the Wright Stuff. As you are the same company maybe look at doing the same thing for Gransnet. There is an awful lot of ageism online nowadays particularly about voting, Brexit etc. People will say things like they only have to wait for older people to die off and then xyz will get better. It would be nice to see some sort of forceful reply to this. Should ageism be treated like other isms? One of the worst places is the Guardian which is not what you would expect.
I noticed when dealing with my problem neighbour that the fact that the other neighbours in the block were in their mid 80s and that she was keeping them awake every night was not taken into account so far as the Council or Police were concerned. I am sure that there was a time when they would have been given more consideration. If Mumsnet can get their talking points into the press, Gransnet should be able to occasionally.
Are the results of surveys you carry out given to the press as press releases?

Tell the U3A . The U3A local group secretaries if you can.

I read Gransnet daily and love it. I never post though, until now. I think you need to put Gransnet out there on Facebook. Many older women are now big Facebook users. I’m not sure where or how I found Gransnet as I’m in the USA.

Don't watch daytime TV so that would be wasted on me.

Think about the people who may have more time than others, what are they reading or watching, do they have a blog or a publication?

National Trust
English Heritage
Age Concern
Medical charities - older people have more ailments

Find a piece of research relating to grandparents or older people and relate it to GN then get involved in the follow up.

There must be loads of things which relate to grandparents and older people it you look. In our area we have a magazine sent to all residents called All about............ Presumably this is in other areas too. It looks as if they need more editorial and I suspect it is only older people who have time to read it closely.

Are not most of the little local papers owned by Newsquest or such? Surely they would like to have some advertorial? Maybe they would print something for no fee?

Out of curiosity, I've just Googled 'Gransnet wiki'. What comes up is the Mumsnet wiki, in which there are two mentions of Gransnet. Not sure whether getting someone to write and upload a dedicated Gransnet wiki would help (or hinder) but, as they say, I'm just leaving the idea here

It's all very well people coming to us via competition sites but it is very irritating that regular members see prizes going to people we have never heard of. Though, tbh, I haven't seen the 'won anything' thread lately.

And, I have won some good prizes - thank you!

I tend to agree with gaga and gabriella in that i don't want hoards of new comers - i think that would make it more cliquey.

gabriella if you look at the forums page, rather than active, meet up is listed there

How about an article in WI Life? That reaches a huge number of people!

I found Gransnet when I Googgled a specific topic. Gransnet came up in the search results because that topic had been discussed on the Forums. I like the endless variety of topics, and the very varied viewpoints of GNetters. For the most part posters are pleasant and kind to each other, though there are one or two who seem to seek only to criticise others without any real interest in the topic itself. I notice some GNetters are very regular visitors as their names pop up on almost every post, perhaps why some might think it a bit 'cliquey'. But I'm sure for some people GransNet is a valuable link with other people and the wider world. As for promoting GN to a wider audience - doctors waiting rooms, Mothercare shops, mobility stores, internet providers, Saga, magazines, local radio, bowls clubs, golf clubs, village halls, public transport, charity shops etc etc.

Having seen a lot of threads, I scan through them, decide whether I'm interested then either delete the page or proceed/follow.
I found Gransnet from an article in the Telegraph. Perhaps, having more people interviewed on the benefits or otherwise of GN in newspaper/media articles, then there would be more followers. Also, could it be less women oriented and have more men? I have to add that unless a man is interested in social media, he won't follow...

Missfood love
Introduce the improvements you suggest and I would never bother with the site again
There are so many possibilities of beauty techniques/ celebrities on other sites that I am not sure that introducing them here would do anything other than dilute the differences between them
Just thinking out loud!

If there were more active members, I think it would help to have a limit to the number of messages on a thread - with the option of starting a new one on the same subject. I personally tend to avoid the longer threads because I can’t read it all and it is so annoying for others if someone repeats or makes a point that is not relevant in the light of what has previously been said.

I agree with others that, Loose Women, J Vine, Esther and Glo could prove invaluable in thecquest to spread the word.
I do know a couple of 'names' who live nearby and will ask them for ideas and input at our next PWRR meeting.
The question is: how big do we want it to grow?
At the moment it seems comfortable and club-like.

I found MN to be too full of ignorant mums with nothing to do but slag off other posters. Just another site which breeds incorrect info and, at best, another version of twitter.
It's inevitable that there will be cliques within these spaces and newbies may feel 'outside the circle' if they see posts between the same names on a regular basis.
Some might find it hard to dip their toe in the water.
No matter how nice you are, there will always be some who chat behind your back or freeze you out.
That's life and you need to be able to deal with it.
I enjoy reading the various views expressed on here and I feel, for the most part, that we respect views other than our own, though we may not agree with any of it.
BTW, where do we find GN meet-ups?

I found my way here several years ago when entering a competition. Never looked back since! Competitions do seem to be a good way of promoting the site, as they are so popular these days.

Social media, such as Facebook and Twitter are also great ways of finding new websites.

Another idea is the forum layout, I find it quite unclear at times, and prefer the type of forum layout at Money Saving Expert, for example.
URL forums.moneysavingexpert.com/
Each section is clearly displayed, and you can easily subscribe to threads, receiving emails when someone posts to add comments.

Just ideas.

what about FB - social media gets to most people these days!