Mumsnet: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia
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== Media ==
In November 2009, several political leaders held live chats on Mumsnet in advance of the [[2010 United Kingdom general election]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Politicians woo 'Mumsnet' generation |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8522000/8522841.stm |date=18 February 2010|work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Parties set sights on mums in the Mumsnet election |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7086096.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100602230431/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7086096.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 June 2010|date=3 April 2010|newspaper=[[The Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Mumsnet set to wield real clout in the election campaign|url=http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/features/Mumsnet-has-expanded-into-an.6130764.jp|date=9 March 2010|newspaper=The Scotsman}}</ref> in part due to the website's primary demographic being regarded by politicians as key [[swing vote|floating voter]]s, with [[internet forum|online forums]] seen as arenas in which their votes could be courted.<ref>{{cite news |title=Queen's Speech gets the Mumsnet treatment: Mumsnetters are being described as the next election's swing voters. So what did they make of the Queen's Speech? |date=18 November 2009 |newspaper=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/nov/18/mumsnet-queens-speech |first=Helen |last=Pidd}}</ref> Then-Prime Minister, Gordon Brown,<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite news|title=Brown takes break in biscuit quiz |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8312215.stm |date=17 October 2009|work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Prime Minister is scraping the barrel with biscuit silence, claim mothers |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6878606.ece |date=17 October 2009|newspaper=The Times}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> and the leader of the opposition, David Cameron,<ref>{{cite news|title=David Cameron answers questions on Mumsnet – live |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global/blog/2009/nov/19/david-cameron-mumsnet-webchat |newspaper=The Guardian|date=19 November 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=David Cameron blames Mumsnet webchat delays on laptop |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8368975.stm|date=19 November 2009|work=BBC News}}</ref> both appeared on the website's [[webchats]] in quick succession, an event that was highly publicised.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/jemima-lewis/6737817/Mumsnet-knows-no-mercy---and-not-just-for-Ed-Miliband.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091207093324/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/jemima-lewis/6737817/Mumsnet-knows-no-mercy---and-not-just-for-Ed-Miliband.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=7 December 2009 |title=Mumsnet knows no mercy – and not just for Ed Miliband |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=12 May 2009 |first=Jemima |last=Lewis}}</ref> Conservative commentator [[Toby Young]], in arguing that Mumsnet users constituted a minor and insignificant demographic, commented that the website's users were "Guardian-reading, laptop-wielding harpies", and that the website was "peopled exclusively by university-educated, upper-middle-class women who are only "swing voters" in the sense that they swing between voting Labour, Lib Dem and Green".<ref>{{cite news |last=Young |first=Toby |author-link=Toby Young |date=17 March 2011 |title=Mumsnet isn't representative of the 'squeezed middle'. It's just a bunch of Guardian-reading, laptop-wielding harpies |url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100080238/mumsnet-isnt-representative-of-the-squeezed-middle-its-just-a-bunch-of-guardian-reading-laptop-wielding-harpies/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110320140710/http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tobyyoung/100080238/mumsnet-isnt-representative-of-the-squeezed-middle-its-just-a-bunch-of-guardian-reading-laptop-wielding-harpies/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=20 March 2011 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref>
The 2010 election was hailed by some as "The Mumsnet Election"<ref>{{Cite news |last=Davies |first=Caroline |date=2010-02-09 |title=The Mumsnet election - parties use parenting website as battlefield |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/feb/09/mumsnet-election-political-parties |access-date=2024-06-14 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> and the site has played an increasingly prominent role in UK general elections since.
Prior to the 2024 general election, the Mumsnet Manifesto was published,<ref>{{Cite web |title=GE24: The Mumsnet Manifesto |url=https://www.mumsnet.com/news/ge24-mumsnet-manifesto |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=Mumsnet |language=en}}</ref> outlining user asks for the next government and began publishing frequent analysis of conversation and sentiment on site using proprietary data analytics tool MumsGPT.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-12 |title=AIBU? Mumsnet can sway the election |url=https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/aibu-mumsnet-sway-election-190245517.html |access-date=2024-06-14 |website=Yahoo Finance |language=en-GB}}</ref>
==Sponsored content==
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Other publications include a cookbook titled ''Top Bananas!: The Best Ever Family Recipes from Mumsnet'' (2014), ''The Book of Bedtime Stories'' (2013)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mumsnet.com/books/book-of-bedtime-stories|title=The Mumsnet Book of Bedtime Stories|website=www.mumsnet.com|language=en|access-date=2019-02-19}}</ref> and ''How to Blitz Nits and Other Nasties'' (2017).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mumsnet.com/books/how-to-blitz-nits-and-other-nasties|title=How to Blitz Nits and Other Nasties|website=www.mumsnet.com|language=en|access-date=2019-02-19}}</ref>
== Security ==
In April 2014, Mumsnet had user accounts hijacked, and its CEO was impersonated as part of the [[Heartbleed]] exploit.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kelion |first1=Leo |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-27028101 |title=Heartbleed hacks hit Mumsnet and Canada's tax agency |work=BBC News |date=14 April 2014 |language=en |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-date=29 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129224913/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-27028101 |url-status=live}}</ref> The site later published an explanation of the incident saying it was due to Heartbleed and the vulnerability was fixed..<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mumsnet.com/features/mumsnet-and-heartbleed-as-it-happened |title=Mumsnet and Heartbleed as it happened |work=Mumsnet |access-date=17 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229112220/https://www.mumsnet.com/features/mumsnet-and-heartbleed-as-it-happened |archive-date=29 December 2017 |url-status=dead |language=en}}</ref>
== Lawsuit ==
In April 2006, lawyers acting for "childcare guru" and former maternity nurse [[Gina Ford]] contacted Mumsnet in response to bulletin discussions of Ford's parenting methods, in which users had advocated for personal attacks to be made on Ford and her family. Ford's lawyers claimed that these threads constituted [[libel]], and requested immediate removal of the posts in question. After 12 months of discussion, Mumsnet settled the dispute by apologising publicly to Ford and making a contribution to her legal costs.<ref>{{cite news|title=Gina Ford accepts five-figure sum over libel claim on Mumsnet site|url=http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article1769332.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503235804/http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article1769332.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 May 2009|date=10 May 2007|newspaper=The Times}}</ref>
In November 2010, Mumsnet co-founder Justine Roberts wrote to Prime Minister David Cameron, urging reform of the draft Defamation Bill to address the rise of online publication.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mumsnet founders demand libel law reform |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/8143814/Mumsnet-founders-demand-libel-law-reform.html|date=19 November 2010|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph}}</ref><ref>[http://www.mumsnet.com/campaigns/libel-law-reform-open-letter-to-david-cameron Open letter to David Cameron] Mumsnet</ref>
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=== Transgender issues ===
The site has been criticized on the grounds it hosts [[transphobic]] content.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Woodhead |first1=Hannah |title=Has Mumsnet become a hub of online transphobia? |url=https://www.huckmag.com/perspectives/opinion-perspectives/mumsnet-transphobia-online/ |website=Huck Magazine |access-date=4 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220904174835/https://www.huckmag.com/perspectives/opinion-perspectives/mumsnet-transphobia-online/ |archive-date=September 4, 2022 |date=April 30, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2018, Mumsnet introduced new rules regarding discussion of [[transgender]] issues after controversy surrounding allegations of allowing [[Transphobia|transphobic]] discussion, a move which was seen as a broadly positive change by [[LGBT]] activistsrights group HERO, but faced criticism for restricting use of the terms '[[cisgender]]' and '[[TERF (acronym)|TERF]]'.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jun/13/mumsnet-transgender-row-feminism-tougher-forum-rules|title=Mumsnet brings in tougher forum rules after transgender row|last=Ntim|first=Zac|date=2018-06-13|website=The Guardian|access-date=2018-09-09}}</ref> Eve Livingston, writing for ''[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]'', described the forum as a "toxic hotbed of transphobia".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/a3mn9k/mumsnet-uk-mom-forum-terf-transphobia-feminism|title=How an Online Forum for Moms Became a Toxic Hotbed of Transphobia|last=Livingston|first=Eve|date=2018-12-06|website=Broadly|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-06}}</ref> Edie Miller, writing for ''[[The Outline (website)|The Outline]]'' in 2018, stated that "Mumsnet is to British transphobia more like what [[4chan]] is to [[Fascism in North America|American fascism]]. The tendencies were already there, but a messageboard to amplify them and recruit people to the cause never hurts."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://theoutline.com/post/6536/british-feminists-media-transphobic |title=Why Is British Media So Transphobic? |last1=Miller |first1=Edie |date=2018-11-05 |publisher=[[The Outline (website)|The Outline]] |language=en |access-date=2019-06-04}}</ref> Beginning in the late 2010s, transgender activists began to refer to Mumsnet by the sarcastic appellation "[[wiktionary:Prosecco_Stormfront|Prosecco Stormfront]]", in reference to the [[white supremacist]] website [[Stormfront (website)|Stormfront]].
In October 2019, [[Upfield (company)|Upfield]], the makers of [[Flora margarine]], withdrew from a "Mumsnet rated" promotional agreement after campaigners drew attention to alleged transphobic content on the site.<ref>{{cite news | last1=Lothian-MacLean | first1=Moya | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/mumsnet-transphobic-flora-upfield-boycott-a9155016.html | work = [[The Independent]] | title = Mumsnet users declare Flora margarine boycott after brand cuts ties over claims of transphobia | access-date=20 January 2020}}</ref>
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[[Category:British women's websites]]
[[Category:Discrimination against LGBTLGBTQ people]]
[[Category:Feminism and transgender]]
[[Category:Internet forums]]