Is there a predominantly British frequented site a bit like metafilter?
February 26, 2016 3:27 AM Subscribe
What are some predominantly British (in the way Mefi is predominantly American, not just UK topics) sites that might have a level of not terrible general discussion and commentary.
Our family is considering moving to Britain for a few years. We are Australian but have lived there before, 15 years ago. One of the ways I grew to understand the local culture better was participating in online discussions frequented by locals.
What are some predominantly British (in the way Mefi is predominantly American, not just UK topics) sites that might have a level of not terrible general discussion and commentary.
When last I lived there I was mainly looking at USENET for this sort of chat, so I may be a bit behind the times. Other fond memories are NTK.net and nasty web comment threads on local newspaper sites.
If it works better to think in terms of England, Scotland and Wales, I would be keen to hear about sites frequented by those country-people too.
Our family is considering moving to Britain for a few years. We are Australian but have lived there before, 15 years ago. One of the ways I grew to understand the local culture better was participating in online discussions frequented by locals.
What are some predominantly British (in the way Mefi is predominantly American, not just UK topics) sites that might have a level of not terrible general discussion and commentary.
When last I lived there I was mainly looking at USENET for this sort of chat, so I may be a bit behind the times. Other fond memories are NTK.net and nasty web comment threads on local newspaper sites.
If it works better to think in terms of England, Scotland and Wales, I would be keen to hear about sites frequented by those country-people too.
I can’t vouch for it personally, but Mumsnet might be worth a look. It’s very popular & predominantly British, though apparently self-policed rather than moderated.
posted by misteraitch at 3:51 AM on February 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by misteraitch at 3:51 AM on February 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
I've never used it, but you could try Kiltr for Scotland. It looks a bit like a Tumblr when you look at it not logged in, but I think it's supposed to be a social network, so it presumably gets better once you create an account and join some groups etc.
The nasty web comments sections on local newspaper sites are still very much there (~ sad former local newspaper reporter).
posted by penguin pie at 4:06 AM on February 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
The nasty web comments sections on local newspaper sites are still very much there (~ sad former local newspaper reporter).
posted by penguin pie at 4:06 AM on February 26, 2016 [1 favorite]
justthetalk.com is the community of people who used to use the Guardian talkboards before they were discontinued. It has its own culture which is simultaneously welcoming and shouty (if you're in a shouty bit there will be a welcoming thread next door) and some dedicated trolls. Also a block user function. It's very very middle-class British.
posted by lokta at 5:11 AM on February 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by lokta at 5:11 AM on February 26, 2016 [3 favorites]
Reddit is great, yes you get idiots but less so in the City subs, so for example if you wanted to get an idea of the cities you could look at a few of those - people will help you understand the better areas and things on offer.
posted by razzman at 1:11 PM on February 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by razzman at 1:11 PM on February 27, 2016 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
There is quite a high bar to entry, the British contingent is smaller than it used to be and it's not quite as friendly a place, but the I Love Everything forum is from Britain and full of Brits. Similar, but with an even higher bar to entry, is the B3TA forum.
Reddit has a couple of subs that aren't totally hideous, /r/London and /r/Britishproblems are OK sometimes.
posted by bonaldi at 3:41 AM on February 26, 2016 [1 favorite]