Two controversial posts in one week, if I’m not careful I’ll get a reputation.
Firstly, I need to apologize to the group of Mumsnetters for my wee outburst on Twitter last night after my first foray onto the forum; I behaved no better than they did with my name calling, which was very childish, although hilarious according to some. I can only claim the ‘wounded dog’ defence and the offending tweets have been deleted. I hold my hands-up to this.
Most of you are aware of the ongoing saga I’m having about getting my money back. As Mumsnet, is such an influential network, it was recommended that I state my case on their in an effort to get help and support. In hind-sight this was a bad I idea and I wish I hadn’t done it. As, I’m not a regular member, I thought it would be hypocritical to ask for support so I asked a friend to post on my behalf. When I think about it, it was very short sighted, verging on bad manners, to pile into a forum where I don’t spend time and ask for support.
However, I was very surprised at the reaction I received. When I read through the comments, on the face of it, the worst that they called me was naïve. However, they ridiculed my spelling, questioned my intelligence, were condescending, openly laughed at me and for the most part were not helpful or supportive which I was hoping for. The bottom line is I came away feeling embarrassed, belittled, ashamed and guilty and I’m pretty thick skinned. Sadly the first word that sprung to mind was bullies…..
What worried me the most was when I tweeted about my concern for involving my friend this was the response I received
‘oh, don’t worry about BellaBear. Getting flamed is all part of being a real proper MNetter’.
I’m sorry but is this some sort of weird initiation right? It all sounds a bit barbaric to me. If this is all part of being a MNetter I think I’ll give it a miss.
As always, I like to present a balanced view and would love to hear your experiences of Mumsnet. Is it a godsend and helped you from going over the edge or did it push you?
I would appreciate if people avoided name-calling, like I did, but only share your personal experiences.