Gransnet in 2024 - have your say!

OH DEAR NANNA Dont you understand that Scotland is a seperate country the "UK" IS MADE UP OF 4 seperate nations all with differences as pointed out above ,We have our own systems of law,education a National Health service that is and has been run seperately from the rest of the UK's since its inception in 1948 and many other things that make us what we are ...including a population that hasn't voted for a TORY government since 1955 YES that is nineteen ffty five .We are not a "region" of England and never have been

However Gnet would be more democratic and thus better investment for advertisers if Gnet did not have the image of old ladies doing old lady activities so does need a better name without disrupting the current readership.

Kandinsky, the management of Gnet know which demographic to aim for . If Gnet has a good enough readers /advertisers balance then Gransnet will continue with the traditional name.

I think the title shows what the site is about. It is aimed at over 50s, and predominantly aimed at women. People say that others are welcome, but who is made welcome depends on who is posting, really. Also, we don't know who is posting. As we are anonymous, we could all be anyone. Personally, I don't mind in the least if men post, so long as they don't announce their maleness in every post and expect that it means that they should have the last word , but others may feel differently.

The fact that we are predominantly women over 50 means that we can usually expect others to understand when we refer to things from our youth, and not expect people to write us off just because of our age, as definitely happens on MN. We are not all of the same mind, and have as many differences as similarities, but we share, on the whole, the fact that we are women and that we are over 50 (although that doesn't apply to all, and in any case takes in decades, as we have at least one centenarian in our number).

I'm not a gran, although I may be one day, and I don't think that matters. I have lots of friends with grandchildren, and brought up two children of my own, so they are not an alien concept. By no means all threads are about grandchildren anyway.

Given that Mumsnet is the main site, calling us Gransnet shows the link, and that we are, on the whole, older than the average MN poster.

People have been moaning about the name mumsnet for years.
Not everyone over there is a mum, or female etc etc.
they’ll never change the name because it is 80% mums.
Same as GN is predominantly women with grandchildren.

Elegran

The most useful thing that gransnet could have is moderators who are in the same age bracket as the average GN member, and who are specifically working for Gransnet not moonlighting from Mumsnet. Sometimes it seems as though the moderators are on a different wavelength from the posters, and inclined to assess reported posts, bannings, complaints about unpleasant posters and so on from a different point of view.

We are probably a lot of fossils in their eyes, but we have been living in the world and observing human behaviour for a long time.

I agree. When I joined the moderators used to join in some of the discussions.

If the name is changed from Gransnet it would lose about 12 years of its personality in the public eye. Any change would have to be to something near enough to the old name "Gransnet".

Grandparents of both sexes, and people with no grandchildren or even children are welcome - it is NOT just for grandmothers.

I'll second that, Elegran.

The most useful thing that gransnet could have is moderators who are in the same age bracket as the average GN member, and who are specifically working for Gransnet not moonlighting from Mumsnet. Sometimes it seems as though the moderators are on a different wavelength from the posters, and inclined to assess reported posts, bannings, complaints about unpleasant posters and so on from a different point of view.

We are probably a lot of fossils in their eyes, but we have been living in the world and observing human behaviour for a long time.

Age-related and gendered are fast becoming out of date and may well be as unpopular as racist next year.

Must it be age related and gendered?

BTW thanks for everyone's patience with typos!

What we really, really want, is for GN to really really listen, take note of the most requested changes and really, really do at least some of those things rather than ask (as has happened many times before) and do nothing. We know we are the poor relation, invisible mature, opinionated but not worth listening to long in the tooth (less), irritating not so golden but still relevant oldies who would still like a website where we can feel at home. Perhaps Gransnet still has the echo of Ena Sharples and hairnets for some, maybe Grandparents.com would be a a better fit, more inclusive which is what everyone seems to want nowaday

someone whom i knew, from east africa, used to refer to older people generally as,
the grandees.
i rather liked that.
could we be the website for
the grandees.

JudyBloom

I thought the wholel point of Gransnet was for Grandparents, Just keep the site for Grandparents.

on the title page it says, or used to, (i never see it now, going straight to the active list),
aimed at the over 50s.
that seems fair enough and perfectly clear.
many regular posters are not GPs; some are not parents, so will never be GPs.
most are probably over 50, and have much to share, and much in common with people who are the age of being GPs.

how do you know when you start the thread that it is going to become a classic?

You don't . Much depends on how they develop. I think someone has to ask for a thread to be moved if they want to keep it, and the mods decide if it is suitable, but I'm not sure. Usually they are full of links that people might want to keep, or have a lot of posts from someone no longer with us - that sort of thing.

Musicgirl

I would like to be able to immediately go to the latest comments on a thread as we do on Mumsnet, rather than the site always taking us back to the beginning.

it doesn't take you back to the beginning if you use the bookmarks.
and you can always pick 'last' from the page options now on GN.
this seems to have disappeared on MN, which i find annoying.

Kandinsky

Basically -,make GN the same as MN.

no, no, no.
i find MN difficult to use now, and so look at it less often.
i like the simpler layout and navigation on GN.
on MN i have to keep going into settings to change the size of the print, in order to turn the page.
most annoying.
the next page number and arrow disappears under adverts.
and then i have to reverse it all to make it big enough to read easily.
and so on.
so i give up with MN.

I thought the wholel point of Gransnet was for Grandparents, Just keep the site for Grandparents.

Why on earth would you have a Scottish category? I could, however, understand Irish, being a separate country. I like that it is mainly women, nothing wrong with that and I also like that it is mainly grandparents.

I hadnt noticed there is a Classics topic!

Classics could be better used, but it is for threads that people want to go back to because they have useful information, or because they were particularly entertaining.

I've often wondered what "Classics" was. Obviously not about Latin and Greek, but what then? And if it is intended as described., how do you know when you start the thread that it is going to become a classic?

Here's one that might be easier to implement as it just involves inserting a text: could you put a text at the top when someone goes to "Start a Discussion" reminding them which forum they are in?

Some threads land in the oddest of places, probably because the writer didn't realise that they were in another forum, or are new and weren't aware that there was such a thing as a forum.. If the search function doesn't work, it would certainly help to find things if they are at least under the right heading.

Like/dislike button.
Not losing message when referring to previous pages.
Namechange that doesn’t sound ageist…🤔

Callistemon21

Jaxjacky

Edit function please, no to like button or name change.
Granny23 and Wales, Northern Ireland, extended to USA, Australia and so on? Unworkable IMO.

I agree.

There have been plenty of threads on Scottish issues, they are very well represented on Gransnet, far more than other countries of the UK or other countries where Gransnetters live.

Anyone can start a thread on anything if they wish.

I think one reason people ask for a Scottish category is that Scotland has a different legal system, school system, house-buying procedures, and so on from that in England and Wales (I don't know about Ireland) Posts about these things often give advice which doesn't apply to Scottish members.

This site is based in the Uk and has a majority of UK members, so those from other countries and continents wouldn't expect advice on legalities etc to be relevant to them.

chelseababy

Bookmark facility as on Mumsnet

There is a bookmark facility already as pointed out in earlier posts on this thread.

A large header advising that posters read the whole thread before posting would be useful.

Bookmark facility as on Mumsnet