What would you do?

I heard about it on Woman's Hour. Now if someone on the Archers mentioned it, we probably would be inundated.

Advertise through U3A

site not iste

I read about the iste in the Daily Telegraph just as it was launched and joined then. I like the anonymity of it and enjoy the feeling of having a connection with so many of the regulars.

Is this being cliquey? I don't think so. We are all more comfortable and at ease with people we "know" even if it is virtual knowing and not in real life. Obviously the site won't suit all who try it and there have been many who have come and then gone over the years.

Personally I am happy with GN as it is and do not want to see an influx of newcomers who often seem keen to change things as they are. I know, I know - that makes me an old stick in the mud. Well, I like my mud!

I can't remember how I found GN, only that soon after I became a GM for the first time, I excitedly joined. It has been so helpful on so many topics, that I have referred some of my friends (my age) who do not have GC to join. Don't know if they did, but it's a great place to let off steam about older parents etc. In fact, I reference it so often, when I start a story my daughter will often say "Is this from the grandmothers?" I agree with trying to get on Loose Women or Jeremy Vine.

Can't remember how I found Gnet but I enjoy reading it on a mostly daily basis, and occasionally I post some comment. I have mentioned it to my sister and others but they don't seem interested. Some people are just not curious or interested in others.

Tricky one this. I struggled advertising a club a while back.

I found Gransnet via Mumsnet and rarely go back there now.

Sponsored TWEET? Ditto on FACEBOOK? At least you'd be getting to those online.

Sonething in U3A annual mag?

Email to all current members with a link to send on?

I found GN through a competition website and originally joined to enter comps! Then I started reading posts and "lurking" in the background until something was posted I felt I needed to comment on. I have long since given up the competition sites but feel I have made a few friends here and the support I have had has been a comfort when I was in need.

Instagram is a great medium. The Gransnet page is a bit lacklustre with few followers!
Pep it up with some videos, stories, make up demos, reviews etc.
I would love quick tutorials, eg how to apply under eye concealer, easy up styles, fashion tips etc.
Follow and use “ influencers” and don’t assume we all want ads for incontinence products and will writing!

I’m sorry if this sounds really stupid, but I might post more if I understood the abbreviations, lots of them beginning with D. Some of them are obvious, and some of them I just can’t figure out. I check in every day, but the site does seem a bit clique-y and I should like to feel more at home here.

I tend to still flit between Mumsnet and here without feeling I really belong in either camp. I know there are other non Grandparents here, same as there are now non parents on Mumsnet, but I still feel a bit out of it here because I am unlikely to be a Grandparent (2 adult DDs with severe health or disability/MH issues). Could there be more promotion of the fact that the site isn't just for Grandparents?

It really depends on the main reasons you want more people on here to know how to target the right area.

I think I came upon Gransnet via a link on a connected site. I obviously liked it as I read bits daily and occasionally post. It helps that I get a daily email which I link in to get the hot topics. I probably wouldn't come on daily if I didn't receive the e-mail.

Remember we can lead a horse to water but we can't make it drink.

I wonder whether my posts are being read!!!! I love both gransnet and mumsnet.

Yes, there seen to be a lot less active posters here than a few years ago.

The realisation that everything we post is in the public domain, including Facebook and the press, put a lot of people off.

There may be lots of lurkers who won't risk posting now, people like their privacy. I don't know what the answer is.

I found GN in the same way travelasfar . There seems to be a bit of an assumption that GN is for women only, I think this should be rectified.
I understand the view of other posters that they don't want to be recognised, but GN does need more members to keep it alive and interesting.

I am not convinced using day time television to promote GN would increase members. I do not know anyone that watches the programmes suggested.
I read about GN in a newspaper article just as it was about to be launched so have been here from the beginning.

I too came across Gransnett by accident when I was googling something else.
However, I wouldn't dream of telling my friends I was a member, only my husband knows this.
Also, I like the anonymity, as it's a place to let out all my frustrations, when I'm in pain and know that I will be sure of support. My friends don't really know how chronic my health conditions are, no-one wants to listen to someone moaning all the time and I certainly don't want to waste our time together.
Much to my surprise and delight) I've made some new friends ( and probably annoyed a few people into the bargain), The Edinburgh grans are so welcoming.
Also, I love reading the variety of threads on different subjects.
I suspect GN is a lifeline for many people who are lonely and have little human contact.
The suggestion of a highlighting GN on "Loose Woman " , "This morning" etc. is a good suggestion.
As for being irrelevant to people who do not lead full lives, I can assure you that my problem is that my life is so busy, that I'm having trouble fitting in GN.

I just googled forums for older people and GN popped up.

That seems a logical step Mamacaz

It was my DiL, a Mumsnet user, who told me about Gransnet. So there you are - find a way of persuading all Mumsnetters to recommend it to their mums or MiLs

I 'found' Gransnet in the first couple of weeks, so am very nearly a founder member. I think I had heard about the forum on the radio. Could it have been mentioned on Woman's Hour? Perhaps in a newspaper? It sounded like a good idea and so it has proved.

I also find it a bit 'cliquey.' and some posters seem to spend all their time on here. However, I have appreciated the input of lots of different points of view and the kindness shown.

I have recommended to some of my friends but I would not tell any of my family that I contribute and guard my privacy as much as possible.

Er, I don't watch daytime TV and have almost 9 dgc. I don't look after my dgc a huge amount of the time but it is a huge assumption that I don't have a full life.

I think I am fairly typical of lots of grans. I'm 70 (almost) and I do some child minding have a houseful of family fairly often. I have a huge extended family and a lovely husband. I volunteer a lot and have a few friends I see on a fairly regular.

So don't say that I don't have full life.

I first saw the website in the back of a book I read. I think it was in the author's acknowledgements section. Sadly I can't remember which book or author it was. (I enjoyed the book though in case the author is on GN!)

I’m new here and found Gransnet by Googling for like minded people. I think it appeals to the middle class, cruise taking sort but not to people like me, single parent, now single g.parent, old hippie, still circle dancing type of person. Why should it be advertised in magazines for older people, you can be a g.parent in your 40’s. As it is, I don’t thinks Gransnet is relevant for a lot of people who are leading very full lives, possibly co-parenting their G.C. with their own offspring. Few of us sit around watching daytime TV, or any at all, personally I am busy doing school runs, toddler groups and swimming lessons, amongst other stuff.