I am beginning to despair of Gransnet.......

At last thank you

That figures - Thanks YG.

According to Wikipedia a troll is:

In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

Hope that makes sense Twobabes

Well, come on! What is a troll? Seen it mentioned a few times on GN but the only ones I know live under the rickety rackety bridge. confused

Cheers to you too, elizabethjoan! Shame that you're feeling so grouchy. I hope you recover your equanimity soon.

Absentgrana.....oh yes we have some excellent dinners, though sometimes the tie gets a bit messy. As for Jodi...I will say nothing, except that she really touches me.

Baggy...let's be friends! I live in the North and love it. Fab spot, great people about, and lots of beautiful places. Maybe a bunch of us could arrange a physical meetup sometime? Specially over the winter when the dreaded gloom and doom tries to step through the door. (Boo! Hiss! Go away!)

Goodness elizabethjoan Jon Snow and husband – that's interesting. Off to bed with Jodi Picoult that's tantalising too.

Hello Jangly
I'm with you! Let's wake up, shake up and not take things so seriously. Lord knows we all have various bits of poo-poo to deal with, and sense of humour and irony is "what I would call" Vital! Anyone who wants to get on to a pulpit and preach is welcome and has every right, but I think we need to get a bit of balance here...........(as the actress said to the bishop). I still love the joke about the guy going on to a website and needing to put in an eight character password, which he did......Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.
Plans for tomorrow? Monday phone calls and bill paying, walk and try to learn music for Opera Chorus simultaneously, AgeUK Day Centre, grandson to playground,
do nothing then glass wine. Stick in a few plants and prepare leftovers. Another glass wine, and dinner with Jon Snow and husband. Check I have place on Drama course and phone friends. Off to bed with Jodi Picoult. She hits the spot.
That's my day. What's yours?

Can we just stop this thread?

Just got that, Stansgran! I was picking it up as rs wipe...then I realised! Good description....

grannyactivist i still can'twork out what a troll is-on my shopping list it goes also as rswipe

Thanks Jess - summed it up perfectly, and I also agree with grannyact, it's very strange how GN takes hold of you and sucks you in

Yep, that's a good way of putting it, jess. You often have a way with words.

Exactly how I feel about gransnet JessM, brilliant post, thank you.

Very succinct JessM

No, no, no! I have been incredibly impressed with the quality of discussion from articulate and intelligent women, and am full of admiration. And there's always someone to lighten the atmosphere with wit and humour, and a glass... Love it.

Well put JessM. I really am at a loss to explain why I, with a busy fulfilled life and lots of 'real' friends, get so much out of 'belonging' to Gransnet. You have captured very well that sense I have of being a part of a community of (mostly) women with a range of different life experiences and interests. I try to work on the assumption that people don't post with the intention of upsetting others (trolls excepted) and that we all have different characters and personalities - much like in your average school class really.

Let's imagine a beautiful women's centre with many rooms. In some there is a serious political debate going on. In some there is a support group. In others there is a humour workshop where anything goes as long as it makes you laugh. In other areas there are gossipy or lighthearted conversations about shopping, men, chocolate etc. It would not be appropriate for someone from the humour workshop to barge in to a serious debate and start cracking jokes and telling them off for being too serious. Neither would it be acceptable for someone from a serious debate to barge into a group discussing makeup, over a coffee, and berate them for not being more politically active. Neither kind of interruption would be considered polite or respectful to others. In real life we are highly sensitive to these, and other, norms of behaviour. It is easy for us to forget them in cyberspace.

I don't think for one minute that anyone is suggesting that we should do away with the humour that comes shining through on so many of the posts. However, I feel that unjustified, unkind remarks are just not acceptable.

I think baggy's suggestion that we chill a bit is good advice.
It would be a shame if we couldn't post spontaneous and lighthearted comments.

That's a shame, nannym. I'd never joined a forum before I'd come onto Gransnet, and felt a bit shy of posting. Then I thought - 'Well, what do I have to lose, really?' If someone is rude enough to to be sarcastic, then perhaps they just need to be ignored, as we would any other rude person. I hope you can persuade your sister to reconsider, and return to post away merrily. Things can become a bit deep on here, but it's fun as well. I'm not the cleverest person in the world, but I am intelligent. I'm known by my friends for not being a serious-minded person, but I'm thankfully known to be a caring one. So I'm happy enough with that!

jangly almost always makes me and I do believe that she means well - even when she's saying something that appears to be on the edge of the wayward-side. Having been away for some days, I'm not too sure what jangles has been up to. We are a mix of allsorts - some serious - some flippant - some placid and others inclined to be controversial. However, we're all adult and should be mindful that it is polite to be sensitive to another's feelings. Oh dear! I sound just like my own grandmother did, so many long years ago...

I have just found out that my sister has been on the receiving end of a sarcastic comment on this forum. She won't give me much information, refusing even to give me her user name as she doesn't want to make trouble for anyone and despite promises that I won't name names she is adamant that she's not telling me who it was or even when it was or what her post was about. Uhlike myself my sister is quite sensitive and now has no itention of ever using GN again. I think this is a pity as she could have gained a lot of confidence here. I would ask anyone who thinks it is clever, smart or just funny to make sarcastic comments to take just a minute and think before they post.

Mad as a box of frogs....... well it was meant to be a form of welcome, it takes all sorts to make a happy mix and think that some of the posters should take that on board as we cant all be serious all of the time, how dull would that be.

I apologise if I have offended the serious minded Gransnetters and maybe should have made it obvious to the newcomer that in that statement I was only speaking for myself..