How can we ensure views on Gransnet are given a broader hearin?

I am not answering your question Martha Beck but I assume your long train journey was not in the UK.
I love long train journeys except for the one across the Nullarbor Plain in Australia.
Now that really is boring.

People from gransnet HQ are often asked "What do gransnetters think?" on subjects in the news. They give interviews to journalists and go onto radio and TV programmes.
But HQ censor views posted on here, so they are not truly representing the opinions of all the people who contribute .

I don't think views get censored, eazybee, if they are expressed politely and without getting personally offensive to individuals with different viewpoints.

Lancslass1 there are plenty of long train journeys in UK.

MarthaBeck not sure whether people would air their views as freely on GN. There are lots of places to get involved already. Good idea but what does GNHQ think?

Obscene language doesn’t get censored

eazybee, what gets censored?
Serious question - it's a rare thing for a post to be deleted.
I can't think of any censorship but happy to be corrected.

Views and opinions are not deleted, unless they are really obnoxious and offensive.

Legs 55
There are lots of long train journeys in the UK as you say but my point was that I don't think any I have been on from the West Country to the far north of Scotland has ever been boring.
Maybe MarthaBeck was travelling when it was .dark.

I love the night/sleeper train London >> Fort Worth.

That woukd be a long sleeper journey
Isn’t it in Texas?

Dallas/Fort Worth Airport?

Do you think the list of forums is particularly female-oriented Grandad?
Can you suggest some different topics to GNHQ which could attract more men without the necessity of approaching the Equalities Commission?

The list of forum topics are on this page www.gransnet.com/forums if anyone isn't aware of the wide variety of things that are discussed. Grandchildren are not the only fruit!

Thanks Elegran, I was trying to do a link but couldn't.

MarthaBeck
I think that GNHQ are the ones to give our views a wider hearing. Often they do ask for our views on certain subjects by starting threads and sometimes others, eg researchers, will start threads too.

M0nica

Lancslass1: Nullabor boring? Come on! Aussies used to boast and put stickers on their car windows proclaiming "We crossed the Nullabor", and that was when large sections were unsealed. Then aeroplanes were invented!
On the train you get at least 3 meals each day , there are 3 days and 2 nights, lots of touristy companions, lots of reading and thinking time. No cooking and washing up! What's not to like? Not a care in the world except thinking of the damage to your bank balance when it's all over. It only costs something over $6,500. one-way. but it's only money. You could try "The Ghan" Adelaide to Darwin for a change next time!
OoRoo

Re thinking about having more grandads on here - I belong to a few other forums, and most of them eventually end up being dominated by one gender or another.
It depends on the main subject of the forum.
eg one is about WW2 and on there they all call eachother mate or guys etc. So I tend to be cautious about joining in.

Fennel; And guess which one is the dominant species here? I find it difficult to voice some opinions, especially of the humorous variety in certain forums and I've had my knuckles rapped more than once, but teachers have never frightened me!
Btw; can you give me a ref. to that WW2 Forum? They must be getting short of members after all this time.

"They must be getting short of members after all this time. sad"
Not at all - it's very busy and informative. There are some members from Australia and New Zealand too.
It's called WW2Talk.

Stick around Rufus and Grandad. PLEASE ??

Never read any obscenities on GN a bit of swearing now and then but obscenities......?

You could try "The Ghan" Adelaide to Darwin for a change next time!
That's on my bucket list Rufus (the other way round)
How much ?

Platinum Service: A$5,999 one way
But it is only in A$

Gransnet and Mumsnet are both commercial sites I believe, and therefore exist on the advertising that they attract. Therefore, the larger the membership the forum attracts, the greater the media advertising will be in prospect for the owners of these sites.

I also feel that gender balance on the sites is not as equal as some claim in this thread. Therefore, attracting a greater male presence on both Gransnet and Mumsnet would, without doubt, bolster the total number of forum members and in that ensure the financial future of both sites to the long-term benefit of the users.

There is also a sexist element on this forum perpetrated by some female members against male members. That has been demonstrated clearly in the last few days when a female user of the site used a very strong expletive against another female member, and not one complaint was forthcoming in the following posts against the use of that expletive.

However, when I used what I would consider a lesser expletive against a group of users, much false indignity was expressed against myself in regard to that expletive in posts on the same thread. Therefore, a greater gender balance on the forum(s) would I feel counteract the above.

Further in regard to equalities on the forums, I have long held great respect for the Lesbian and Gay community for the way that they have brought forward their recognition. In that, from a situation where homosexuality was illegal little more than thirty years ago, they have progressed through continuous challenge to the present day were same-sex civil partnership, marriage and even parenthood are now legal and accepted throughout society.

We have also witnessed the Lesbian and Gay community take on media, sports interests and hotels etc that have openly discriminated against them. In that, through the courts, they have pressed many cases demonstrating on almost every occasion success.

The Gay Comunity leaders have stated of recent that they are to target internet sites that they feel discriminate against them where practicable. Therefore, these forums with the titles of Mumsnet and Gransnet could well become one of those targets in the future.

In the above are the reasons I feel that a change of forum titles to Grandparents net and parents net would be beneficial to the community. That I also feel would bring about a change of emphasis to more encompass both sexes in joint discussions and interests

You could let Justine know Grandad

Who is "Justine" Jalimal