What do you think of Gransnet?

I am in agreement with the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” maxim.
There are plenty of other social media platforms such as Facebook that you can give a thumbs up to or not.

I don’t get any ads at all now since I used the ad-blocking feature on my iPad- and yes the repetitive little pop-up videos featuring stereotypical situations or subjects were often excruciatingly twee and always extremely annoying and patronising.
Just Google how to block them.

I’m quite happy with Gransnet as it is.
Is it dated? Possibly but it’s not something which bothers me.
It’s easy to navigate, and I’m delighted the adverts seem to have stopped.

Years ago I found Mumsnet after reading about the site somewhere.
It was ok and I found some hilarious threads, especially the parking ones but the constant swearing put me off.
I then found Gransnet and haven’t bothered with MN since.

Obviously other people don't find it boring or dull,or they would be looking elsewhere ! Perhaps you should find some other forum more to your taste, Mumsnet for example.

Grammaretto- to avoid ads (I don't see any) you go into settings and choose not to see them. It will say something like "manage my settings". You can do this for every website you use.
As I'm here - does GN notify you of additional posts to a thread you're following or have posted on?

Not for me but I chose not to have emails etc from them. It would be my idea of hell!

Seapebble

Grammaretto- to avoid ads (I don't see any) you go into settings and choose not to see them. It will say something like "manage my settings". You can do this for every website you use.
As I'm here - does GN notify you of additional posts to a thread you're following or have posted on?

I think you can get emails telling you about posts on threads you've posted on, but I'm not sure. It would be much better to have notifications (as on MN) so that as soon as you log on you can see if anyone has quoted you, or if threads you are on have any more traffic. I use a different email account for SM from the one I use for other things, and I almost never check it.

Been on here since when it started as became a Grandma in 2014. Read what I want to, comment when I want to - not a lot! Know who to avoid! Look up things in threads if need to know something that might be on here. Please don’t join it to mumsnet it’s a totally different world. By the way I’m only just 68 and I think I have a youngish outlook on life! Maybe we need a button for “I agree” rather than a “like” button?

I find GN entertaining and sometimes informative. I don’t pay attention to the adverts which you get on most sites these days. I do think the format is old fashioned though but what others have said about financing and staffing probably explains that. It probably reflects the general attitude towards older people too.
I would love the site to have the facility to uptick / downtick a comment to signal agreement / disagreement.

I think it’s fine. Yes be good to have an edit button and some of the other facilities MN has, but I quite like the fact that’s it’s a bit dated ( same as me really haha )

I love it just the way it is. It’s not frighteningly modern like everything else seems to be these days. I find it comfortable and, sometimes, comforting.

Another vote for mostly leaving it the way it is. It's simple, easy and such a good way to start the day even though I hardly ever post.
Although lately I've found myself getting really interested in a few threads and will come back during the day to see what other people have responded with. Yes to a possible edit button.
Maybe people like me should try to post more if we don't want gransnet to to close down due to lack of traffic..

Maybe people like me should try to post more if we don't want gransnet to to close down due to lack of traffic.

That is a very obvious, but very true comment! You're right gardenoma, and you'd be welcomed if you posted more, I'm sure.
I sometimes think there's a dozen or so posters who actually keep gransnet going. It's not enough.

And then, we have complaints that it's always the same "old" people. That their longstanding familiarity with each other spoils things for others. Or that their comments are repetitive, and that they refer back to threads from 2005. Etc etc.

New blood is definitely needed, but I still say thanks to the "very old" core of members who have "old" stories about GN to tell, and who kind of hold the site together. There's plenty of room for all.

PS "old" is not used insultingly here!

PS I'm in 60 - 70 bracket.

I don’t think there’s the exodus from Mumsnet to Gransnet as perhaps they thought. Most posters on Mumsnet ( who were there when it started ) are grandmothers now, but I think a lot of them just stay there?
Hopefully GN will keep going as it does have a cosy, familiar, feel about it which is nice. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it merges with Mumsnet.
I’ve been on GN for years now and it doesn’t seem to be growing.

I thought GN and MN were one team. When I first joined GN in 2021 I contacted them and asked if they were had any intention of updating the site and was told that they were currently working on MN and GN would follow.
I've just been over to MN and theirs is so different.

It is odd that any public discussion forum set parameters of age, gender, or parenthood. I suppose there must be a market for the parameters.

On the positive side, Gransnet is easy to use despite the lack of an editing facility. Especially, the quote system is clear and concise.

Kandinsky
I think you are right about Mumsnet. I remember the chats in the playground about it as it was something new and quite different. My daughter was at primary school then and now she has her own children at school.

I still look at MN but haven't posted on there for a while. GN does need a shake up to encourage more people to join but every time we are asked for suggestions they are never implemented.

Does anyone recommend GN to anyone else?
I dont.
Far too snarky a place to recommend. In my opinion.
Not just meaning the N&P threads.

How often do we see people say "I dont post much anymore".
Who can blame them?
Even on this thread a poster said excactly that.
And then had at least one snarky comment about what she wrote.

But it wont stop any time soon.
So the site may die off. Again, in my opinion.

I asked AI ‘Has gransnet membership grown’

Overview

There is no specific data on whether Gransnet membership has grown or declined recently. However, Gransnet launched in 2011, and as of 2019, it was described as a busy social networking site with over 11 million visitors per month, indicating a large user base. Its parent company, Mumsnet, continues to be a significant and financially successful platform, though the specific growth of its sister site, Gransnet, isn't detailed in the provided search results.

fancythat

No, I will not be naming names! If anyone is thinking to ask!

Thank you to those who have sent kindly positive messages. Much appreciated. However, I frequently wonder if posters were to give their full names instead of hiding behind pseudonyms, this forum would be a friendlier, less antagonistic site. And yes, there have been other remarks, sad but true - I feel rather sorry for those who are obviously bitter or permanently unhappy

Goodness me, not a good idea!! 😲

People might post about personal matters they wouldn't want family or friends to know about.

Although, of course, Allira is my real first name 😀
And I do know you are the real Countess Fosco.

Casdon

I asked AI ‘Has gransnet membership grown’

Overview

There is no specific data on whether Gransnet membership has grown or declined recently. However, Gransnet launched in 2011, and as of 2019, it was described as a busy social networking site with over 11 million visitors per month, indicating a large user base. Its parent company, Mumsnet, continues to be a significant and financially successful platform, though the specific growth of its sister site, Gransnet, isn't detailed in the provided search results.

That year, 2019, GN posted a trading loss of over £700,000 and owed £425,000 to the parent company.

That was a poor year for MN too as advertisers cut their budgets over Brexit concerns. Turnover was down £2 million on the previous year.

I have no idea where the GN throughput numbers come from as they aren’t published in the accounts, whereas MN data is.

The only reference i could find to that 11 millon visitors a month claim was from some marketing for White Label Dating which appears to have been an online dating collaboration with GN. It makes reference to FindCompanionship.com now defunt.

www.whitelabeldating.com/partners/gransnet-case-study/

Does anyone remember those?

Eleven million vistors a month would be over 300,000 visits a day. If traffic is anything like that now, that’s a lot of people viewing out-of-date content and not participating in online discussion.

I would guess that the number of people who contribute to the forum on any regular basis amounts to no more than a couple of hundred.

I would guess that the number of people who contribute to the forum on any regular basis amounts to no more than a couple of hundred.

I did start to add it up at one point.
I guessed it was about 300.

The trouble with a 'like' or 'agree' button is that there are already many people who by their own admission lurk but don't contribute anything, and others who say they have to pluck up courage to post.

If lurkers could 'like' a post there would still be low numbers of contributors but those with lower levels of confidence might feel even less confident if their posts got few 'likes' as judged by non-contributors. Others might decide not to bother posting at all if they are unsure of themselves but could still add a 'like'.

Also, it is often not possible to know why someone likes a comment. It's easy to agree with a simple statement, but not to use a simple 'like' to comment on a more nuanced contribution. On boards that do have the facility there are often many posts asking why people have disagreed or agreed with points that have been made, so the threads veer off topic. The whole point of a discussion board is that people discuss, so why encourage what would amount to polls at the expense of actual debate?

I use both Mumsnet and Gransnet, but I much prefer it here. Maybe it's because older people have weathered more of life's ups and downs, but I find most posters here to be empathetic and kindly. Mumsnet can be very abrasive at times.