Yesterday's Most Active Posts

For the first time since I started writing this series of posts there wasn't a thread or two that stood out well above the rest in numbers of replies or views. Instead, several threads were all very close to one another. Among the threads at the top were a range of topics, including working moms, mother-in-laws, nuclear survival, and New England.

One constant in the DCUM forums is debates about "work out of the house moms" or WOHMs vs "stay at home moms" or SAHMs. When I saw that the top thread in number of replies was titled, "Working moms - how do you…" I immediately assumed that this thread had turned into such a battle. Indeed, the thread, which was posted in the "Jobs and Careers" forum, appears to have gone in that direction for a bit. However, it doesn't look like the thread was completely hijacked. Instead it looks like much of the conversation turned instead to questioning the role of husbands and dads. Nevertheless, there appears to have been quite a few substantive responses so hopefully the thread was generally helpful.

Second in number of replies was a thread titled, "Can't stand MIL - need advice" in the "Family Relationships" forum. The original post is rather lengthy and I just don't have it in me to read through it entirely. Nor have I read the thread, obviously. In-law problems have always been a popular topic of discussion on DCUM and are the reason that we created the "Family Relationships" forum in the first place. Mother-in-law, or "MIL" issues provide a steady stream of drama-filled posts. I think I have commented in earlier posts that a surprisingly high number of threads in this forum turn out to be the work of trolls and most threads are suspected of being troll attempts even when they aren't. I don't believe this thread has been reported as a troll thread yet because I don't remember seeing it until just now. But, it is probably simply a matter of time.

The third thread in number of replies yesterday was titled, "Anyone got a good nuclear survival plan?" and posted in the "Off-Topic" forum. Since the increase in tensions surrounding the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin's allusions to employing nuclear weapons, there have been a number of nuclear war-related threads. I haven't read this thread and didn't even know about it until just now. I feel like one benefit of living in Washington, DC is that you don't have to plan for the outcome of a nuclear war since, for us, there won't be anything left for which to plan. A brief glance at the first page of the thread suggests many responders are of a similar frame of mind.

The thread with the fourth highest number of replies was posted in the "Travel Discussion" forum and titled, "New England is depressing". This is another thread that I haven't read and wasn't aware of until just now. In the original post, the poster doesn't offer any information about what was depressing. But, in a later post she explains that she expected it to feel much more like Europe than it did. "Boston looked like a larger Baltimore", she says. DCUM has many users who are either New England transplants to the DC area, DC transplants to New England, or simply New Englanders who stumbled across DCUM at some point and became regulars. So, I'm sure the region has plenty of defenders which may account for the length of the thread.

I'll end today with a thread that was number 1 in number of views but not even in the top 10 for number of responses. Posted in the "Off-Topic" forum, the thread is titled, "One of the families is trying to block our club membership". The original poster asks how clubs (she doesn't say what kind of club) handle situations in which non-members of the club spread "unnecessary gossip" about her family in an attempt to block the family from membership. Responders are understandably confused and the thread is soon awash in snark. I feel like the large number of views can be attributed to posters refreshing in order to enjoy the latest smart ass response. The drama gets slightly heightened when the original poster — while explicitly claiming not to be the original poster — asks whether families who are members of the club can blackball families they don't like. Unfortunately for the original poster, the answer appears to be "yes".