What do you think of Gransnet?

It's only conjecture. Nobody knows any stats for the business as none are published as they are for MN. It's just a feeling based on how few regular contributors there are to the forum. I thought a couple of hundred maybe. Someone upthread agreed with that. When I see that MN had nine million posts in 2024, this is a minnow.

PaynesGrey

The opening post was about the outdated look of the site rather than wished for functions. Neither is going to change.

The site will continue to look like a student GCSE project from 1980 with a 1970 logo and outdated content.

Active membership will continue to dwindle unless the directors wake up one day and remember that they own it and start to invest and promote it.

Where is the evidence that membership is dwindling PaynesGrey, I can’t find any?

Well this was enlightening. I'm relatively new to Gransnet and was a bit surprised by how dated it is in comparison to mumsnet, it's harder to follow a conversation between the OP and replies. I also see several ads, today clothing, Tesco mobile etc.

Looks like we're doomed then PaynesGrey.

The opening post was about the outdated look of the site rather than wished for functions. Neither is going to change.

The site will continue to look like a student GCSE project from 1980 with a 1970 logo and outdated content.

Active membership will continue to dwindle unless the directors wake up one day and remember that they own it and start to invest and promote it.

I agree, Doodledog.

Sometimes, if you take the time to preview a longer post, someone may have posted in between and they then say, 'well, I've answered, didn't you read my post?'
No, because it's taken so long to type and preview my own!

5geecees

People often complain there is no way to edit posts, but there is. Once you have written your post there is a PREVIEW button - click it, read what you've written and edit if necessary before posting. Simples.

I think we are all aware of the existence of the preview facility . What is less 'simples' is that the vast majority of discussion boards allow a temporary editing period (often five minutes or until there has been a reply) so posters aren't used to remembering to preview everything before posting. I use a few, and GN is the only one where editing is not possible.

Previewing is not editing. I often notice mistakes (typos, autocorrect bloopers or stray words left behind after a pre-post edit) just as the post appears. Sometimes reading the final post shows that a point could have been better expressed otherwise the it is ambiguous. I could edit in seconds, but there is no facility to do so.

I come here not as a very old woman or as kin to anyone else, but as myself.

I am bemused by the very concept that a user would want to categorise herself as belonging in an age group ,or as a parent or grandparent.

Interests are common to people of any age, gender, or kinship.

5geecees

People often complain there is no way to edit posts, but there is. Once you have written your post there is a PREVIEW button - click it, read what you've written and edit if necessary before posting. Simples.

It's rubbish doing that on my mobile tbh. It doesn't scroll smoothly enough to use effectively. Only site l have that problem with. So there.

I, too, would leave if they merged.

Aveline

I'd certainly just leave if GN merged with MN.

@#££%&-

I agree. MN is a bit overwhelming.

I've just remembered that one thing I would change about GN is a way to tell where a quote ends and the commenter's words start. I always put a row of different symbols (if you put more than 2 of anything they get automatically edited out) to show this, but on other people's posts with quotes, I can never see the difference.

One of the - downsides imo - thing of Mumsnet is there don't seem to be any discussions on there. It's all personal - ie Person A having a problem with Person B (either a man who "done her wrong" or a friend that turned out not to be a friend at all). These things have a "time and a place" - but it's nice to have some "discussion" too. Life isn't just about the "strictly personal".

I’m a MN member too, it’s different but not necessarily better.
The format on here means this site is easier to navigate.

People often complain there is no way to edit posts, but there is. Once you have written your post there is a PREVIEW button - click it, read what you've written and edit if necessary before posting. Simples.

Haven't visited MN.
Enjoy being on GN.

I have learnt a lot from the knowledgeable posters on GN.

On one issue I totally changed my mind after reading other posters comments.

I do dip in and out of MN.

Me too.
MN is hard work, what little I've seen of it.

I'd certainly just leave if GN merged with MN.

fancythat

The more this thread goes on, the more I am in favour of incorporating GN into MN.

I don't agree. You can belong to both, I don't think it has to be a choice of one or another.

Kandinsky

*The worst topic on here to discuss is economics*

How many people know enough about that subject to talk about it with any real authority?
Not many.
To me, GN is ( or at least I thought it was ) a place to discuss the changing relationships with our children ( now that they have become parents themselves ) or are adults navigating their way through life. And of course how we feel about aging and all the issues that go with that.
Pretty much every other subject discussed on here can be discussed on MN.

How many people know enough about that subject to talk about it with any real authority?
Not many.

Probably more than you think.
The other point is, that as we all tend to be more on the mature side, we may well have a lot of experience so that posters are able to offer advice to others.

To me, GN is ( or at least I thought it was ) a place to discuss the changing relationships with our children ( now that they have become parents themselves ) or are adults navigating their way through life. And of course how we feel about aging and all the issues that go with that.

Surely we should not be limited to that?
Just because we age does not mean we stop thinking or having opinions on many different subject.

PS to Escaped:-- I am glad your mind is still flexible. Mine is too. I welcome objections to any claim ,including my own claim. as long as the objector understands the issue and also has a flexible mind.

escaped

Caleo

PS , copy to escaped

Thank you.

Even knowledge is not infallible. GN is not the fount/font of all knowledge, not by a long shot.

Knowledge of how things were in our jobs, because very few of us are working now.
Knowledge of how things are from family young family members, because we're not actually there alongside them, or they're not allowed to tell all.
Knowledge from researched statistics, because a lot of the time they're manipulated anyway.
Knowledge from various reports, because they're out of date so quickly as new information crops up.

Pinch of salt comes to mind often on GN about knowledge, although interesting, and the fact we're all so set in our ways that we won't change anyone now!

(Though I have been made to think differently on occasions, which is good!). I hope everyone continues -in a helpful way- with their knowledge.

Thanks for your reply. I guess you are drawing attention to the fact that many posts are anecdotal not objective.

Personal anecdotes are perhaps more useful when it's about practical matters such as a recent thread about what household innovations have been extremely helpful.

Also anecdotes are helpful or entertaining when the topic calls for self expression such as ghostly haunting, or ----a recent one)- versions of Wuthering Heights.

However anecdotes are less relevant when the talk is about objective topics such as economics , philosophy, politics, or science.

Caleo

PS , copy to escaped

Thank you.

Even knowledge is not infallible. GN is not the fount/font of all knowledge, not by a long shot.

Knowledge of how things were in our jobs, because very few of us are working now.
Knowledge of how things are from family young family members, because we're not actually there alongside them, or they're not allowed to tell all.
Knowledge from researched statistics, because a lot of the time they're manipulated anyway.
Knowledge from various reports, because they're out of date so quickly as new information crops up.

Pinch of salt comes to mind often on GN about knowledge, although interesting, and the fact we're all so set in our ways that we won't change anyone now!

(Though I have been made to think differently on occasions, which is good!). I hope everyone continues -in a helpful way- with their knowledge.

^Pretty much every other subject discussed on here can be discussed on MN.

^

Well, if people are intentionally narrowing the fields of discussion, no wonder it is a lesser relative of MN.

And no wonder, the site appears to be slowly dying.

And no wonder there seem to be less and less posters saying, "hi I am new here", or "this is my first post".

And no wonder older people on MN are staying there. Assuming that they are.