What do you think of Gransnet?

Allira

^I don't understood why it isn’t absorbed into Mumsnet.^

I hope it isn't PaynesGrey.
Mumsnet is so fast-moving that it's impossible to keep up. I very rarely look at it for that reason and have only ever posted a couple of times.
It does have features which I am sure could be introduced on here at little cost with some tweaking of the systems.

Of course, if posters prefer Mumsnet and dislike Gransnet, it would be interesting to know the reasons why they are on Gransnet 🤔

Well I guess one thing about Gransnet - as compared to Mumsnet - is very little of the "he was her man but he done her wrong" posts. That, to me, is an advantage of this site - as I basically decided my "lovelife" was over in my 50's - I'd made plenty of effort to find "Him" and had given up hope of doing so by then. I think most of us on here are either settled or "given up" (for whatever reason).

A lot on here will be widowed and some will be married still. So, all round, there's little of the "romance" stuff that feels pretty irrelevant to me personally these days.

You get to that age where if a younger/reasonable-looking guy seems to be taking an interest = it's probably not you that he's after. He's more likely to have reckoned you've got more spare money than he has and he's after it.....

AmberGran

Aveline

I only go straight to the forums. I don't look at the main website.

Me too. Can't say I would even notice changes unless I needed to change how I used GN.

I pm with two lurkers who never post but have read GN longer than I have.

One PM'ed me after something I wrote gave away approximately where I live - she lives a few miles away and we now meet up for coffee now and again. She posted three times. On the last occasion someone responded to her post with something like 'Third world problem. You must live a grand life if that's all you have to worry about. Get a life'. She never posted again.

The other PM'ed me when I wrote that I had an electric car asking a question and we've been in touch ever since. She won't post, but I'm not entirely sure why.

So nothing to do with the actual site itself.

Could it be something to do with wealth?

That seems to get peoples' backs up.

Another reason maybe, why there may be less nad less people posting. Regularly anyway.

😁

In which case Gransnetters would soon suss him out!

Sorry, that post was to CariadAgain.

Mollygo

^So what is it that deters people from joining GN or staying? Why doesn't GN have the footfall that MN does?^
IMO apart from the N&P thread, there doesn't appear to be so many reasons for angst on GN.
Look at the topics on Mumsnet (I do).
Their concerns about e.g. potty training before starting school, children being prevented from using mobiles in school, may more directly affect them, so the posts come thick and fast. On GN it tends to be more “When our children were young we . . .” Or criticisms of parents paying too little attention to their children because of phones.
Mumsnet might have genuine concerns about the cost of school bus fares, and while GN’s sympathise, there are always posts about “We had to walk x miles to school in deep snow.” Nostalgia is interesting for us, but doesn't help younger mums, so doesn't create the footfall that attracts ads.

And could younger people be more resilient to snarky comments?
Having "endured" social media for longer?

I think you make a good point there fancythat. Social media is a very direct form of communication, and some older people might find it difficult to cope with that aspect of it, which could put them off posting. As younger posters join Gransnet the site is inevitably changing in that respect.

I find it alarming when someone responds or gives advice to a post and someone else comes along and rips that comment to shreds rather than focussing on the original post and offering advice.
And, a lighthearted thread about partners daft or annoying ideas or similar is met by comments like ‘think yourself lucky you have a partner’.
If a GNetter can’t offering support, advice or a lighthearted comment then simply scroll on by!

Not sure I agree that. From time to time new posters come on and tell us to be nicer in our responses. Sometimes the nippier responses can be useful or completely appropriate. We're not all sweeties here!

Casdon

It’s to do with the transitory nature of Mumsnet I think PaynesGrey. Lots of the posts on there are young mothers supporting each other through difficult child related and pregnancy issues, AIBU relationship, and gossip type threads, but it’s more pop in pop out type posts. Gransnet is more of a conversational site, with people getting to know each other, and forming alliances and friendships. I think quite a lot of Gransnetters are on both, because they offer different things.

Yes, I suppose so. I'm just trying to understand why the owners pretty much ignore GN and put next to no resources into it.

Compare:

•Number of MN employees (excluding the 3 directors) 64.

•Number of GN employees 1.

Mumsnet mission: to make parents' lives easier by helping them make better decisions through pooling knowledge, advice, and support. This is achieved by providing a platform for discussion, offering trustworthy editorial content and unbiased product reviews, and campaigning for policy changes that benefit parents and families.

Why then are the directors not doing the same for grandparents and older women in general? Where's the campaigning for policy changes that benefit grandparents and families - the squeezed middle, as it were? Some of the issues are the same but other present themselves, caring for elderly parents, for example.

GN feels like something that was tagged on 12 years ago and then forgotten about.

Aveline

Not sure I agree that. From time to time new posters come on and tell us to be nicer in our responses. Sometimes the nippier responses can be useful or completely appropriate. We're not all sweeties here!

Oh Aveline that reminds of that lovely Scottish term “a nippy sweetie”!

So Mumsnet employ 64 people.

I wonder what they all do.

A lot of the technical and site support comes from Mumsnet to Gransnet though, so those figures are misleading, it presumably means that only one person is dedicated to Gransnet only?
It doesn’t worry me that there isn’t much investment into Gransnet. I think we are lucky to have it in the present form, there isn’t anywhere else with the same feel that I’ve found, and as long as it chugs along that’s fine with me - I’m sure plenty of people disagree though!

RosieandherMaw I've often been called a nippy sweetie. Can't think why

I think it’s gone into a bit of a slump. Loads of games, and some dreary threads. Perhaps it’s the weather, but I am really struggling to get enthused over anything.

CariadAgain

I think one thing we'd all agree on is the need to be able to edit our posts - yep...lots of us have got typing errors up on our posts because there is no way of correcting them. Other than putting up a post straight afterwards saying "I didnt mean this - I meant that".

I think we're so used to being able to correct our typing errors afterwards on everything else on the Net that we forget we have to proofread carefully before posting here.

Don't be silly

We can edit on GN. It's called PREVIEW MESSAGE in a brown box underneath the one you type in.

Click Preview Message, go back to the typing box to correct mistakes, click Post Message.

I suspect Cariad and others mean after something's been posted. I always use Preview and try to correct typos and formatting before I post but I still manage to miss some typos until I see them against the pink background, by which time they can't be edited.

I don't think it costs a fortune to get decent software. I know people who have set up private boards for very little money.

I use both MN and GN, and like them both for different reasons. Here it feels a bit like going to a local pub, where you know lots of the regulars and can sit at a different table each evening, chatting to different people but feeling you know them all. MN is more like a city centre bar, where you may know one or two people, but on the whole are amongst strangers. The conversations might be wider, but are often shallower (ie people stating opinions rather than engaging in a lot of dialogue). That does happen here, obviously - even in discussions actively about RTFT there are those who robustly defend their right to simply broadcast their opinion regardless of what has gone before, who might be hurt, whether the conversation has moved on etc . On MN it's a bit less tone-deaf - more a case of people not knowing one another, so not going into too much detail, so a wider range of views but most expressed on a more surface level.

I don't see cliques on MN, but that might be because with so many more posters I just don't spot them. Also the names on MN are difficult to remember, so if you do get people derailing threads or filibustering it gets hidden.

I think there is ageism on both sites, but the vitriol against older people on MN is much more obvious than the patronising or intolerant views about younger people often expressed on here. That may be because older people have been young, but younger people haven't yet been old? Or maybe it's because of the constant pensioner-bashing in the media.

I don't think GN could easily be absorbed into MN, but as someone said upthread, I don't know why the owners don't exploit the 'grey pound' more, and at least try to attract a broader base of users. Something I would like to see is a 'members' forum which can only be seen by people with more than X number of posts. I think that people might be more willing to post opinions on more controversial subjects if they could be a little bit more confident that they were more anonymous than they are on a board which has more lurkers than posters.

As for editing - I would love it. I know there is a preview option, but I don't know anywhere else that still relies on that, so I forget to do it. Everywhere else I post has an option to correct errors after posting, even if only for the first 5 minutes or with the original still available for those who want to see it (to stop people from 'rewriting' the thread.

It's MNs poor relation for sure. I spend more time on MN but pop in here occasionally.
You do see the same posters on every thread. It feels dated and definitely feels like the demographic is more like 75+ than 50+.

Lots of better features on MN such as edit, highlight OP, highlight own posts.

It would be better as a sub section of MN

Casdon

A lot of the technical and site support comes from Mumsnet to Gransnet though, so those figures are misleading, it presumably means that only one person is dedicated to Gransnet only?
It doesn’t worry me that there isn’t much investment into Gransnet. I think we are lucky to have it in the present form, there isn’t anywhere else with the same feel that I’ve found, and as long as it chugs along that’s fine with me - I’m sure plenty of people disagree though!

Yes, I suspect the moderation is combined. There must be a number of staff writing content and sales staff whose job it is to get advertising revenue. I would like to know what the one staff member dedicated to GN does.

It may be my imagination but there do seem to be quite a lot less regular posters than there used to be. I seem to remember quite a few years ago someone starting a thread to count the number of posters and there were about 30ish. Would there be 30 regular posters now?

I also think the average age used to be lower. I remember someone starting a thread about being 50 and wanting another child. There was quite a mixed reaction from an age range from 50 to 80+.

I've seen lots of photos on GN, and I don't mean those of posters. They come regularly on the home page.
There was an elderly couple with a child in a swimming pool, the lady with the dog, the white haired lady with a white laptop in a white kitchen, (always white I'venoticed!), a lady with a stripey Joules (?) top etc etc.

PaynesGrey

Elless

I enjoy reading Gransnet and it has been really helpful and informative over the years but the interface is very old fashioned. It doesn't seem to reflect today's Grans - the pictures that are used are boring and the whole layout is dull. I know some will say if it ain't broke don't fix it but the systems need updating too.

It’s incredibly dated. In theory, it should have a similar look to Mumsnet but the fact is, GN has never made a profit and relies on substantial funding from MN to keep it going.

Last accounting, year end to 31 December 2024, it had just £27,000 in the bank. creditors of almost £300,000 (mostly owed to the parent company). It employs only one person.

tinyurl.com/2yf5pnvz. if anyone is interested.

Compare MN with pre tax profits of £3.1million and £3 million in the bank.

Membership numbers are not known but there seem to be very few active forum members. The same names and same arguments come up over and over. Other content is tired and stale.

It’s suposed to be aimed at people 50 and over but I suspect the average age of forum participants is 75-85.

I don't understood why it isn’t absorbed into Mumsnet.

That's interesting to know, thank you, PaynesGrey.

I started off on Mumsnet and still go on it sometimes, but I prefer it here as I find the general tone of comments is kinder and more considered. (Although the News & Politics threads can get quite heated.) I also found the advice given on here was better on average.

I guess the site could do with an update and an edit button. It's also useful to be able to see all the posts from the OP together if you don't have time to read the whole thread, as on Mumsnet.

I think Gransnet serves useful purposes of connection and support, information and entertainment (I like the Wordle and Quordle threads). I hope it won't be absorbed into Mumsnet.

I like Gransnet and the people on it, it is a xx bit dated, but tbh, this doesn’t really bother me.

Mollygo

What pictures?
Since the only pictures put on GN are posted by GN members, that’s rather rude of you LS.

I took it to be the pictures on the Gransnet.com landing page.

It doesn't feel dated to me - though goodness knows ITRW I'm fed-up with having to fend off "updates" to life that I don't need and don't want - eg smartphones, smart meters, replacing our copper phonelines, worried about the downside of identity cards (and yep our "carbon footprint" is starting to be mentioned on things).

One of the plus sides of living in an old-fashioned little town like I do now is all that sort of thing is easier to "fend off" than in many more modern places. So - yep...I don't agree with changing things just for the sake of it. Imo there has to be a benefit from changing things - eg that missing facility to correct our mistakes in our posts.

I tend to think "If it ain't broke - don't fix it".