INTERNET: an online force to be reckoned with

Carrie Longton & Justine Roberts, Mumsnet

Is there a new mum who hasn’t logged on to Mumsnet? The site, launched in 2000, dubs itself ‘by parents, for parents’, and has become one of the most influential online forces in the country. More than one million visitors a month make it a phenomenon to be reckoned with.

Carrie Longton (right), 41, and Justine Roberts, 44, met in antenatal classes for their first children (they now have seven between them). ‘When Justine’s twins were a year old, she went on a disastrous holiday with awful childcare,’ says Longton. ‘Her idea was that it would have been great to ask the worldwide web, which was just opening up, where the good child-friendly holidays were. The idea for Mumsnet came from that. We wanted to pool the resources of all the hard-earned knowledge you get as a parent.’

From the early days of 250 members and pushchair reviews, Mumsnet is now consulted by Government on policy issues. ‘Our mums are much more Jeremy Paxman than Hello!,’ says Roberts.

The power of the internet has been key to Mumsnet’s success. ‘People ask for advice they could never ask for at the school gates,’ says Roberts.

‘There are small kindnesses that happen every day, from mums offering to replace a lost cuddly toy to sitting up all night talking online about a break-up,’ says Longton.

‘It’s quite humbling, because you realise how naturally community-spirited people are.’ mumsnet.com

What the judges said:
Sam Baker: ‘There are lots of social-networking sites, but Mumsnet is a real go-to for Red women who are mums.’

Laura Wade-Gery: ‘Mumsnet reaches a huge number of people and has become the definitive source of information and networking for a particular group of people.’