What does a badge really mean?

We get a lot of badges on 7 cups. I tend to group them into three categories.

First category, the atta boy badge.

These are the badges you get for completing a training, doing so many posts, and what not. I tend to see these badges as merit badges from the Boy Scouts. You got your knot tying badge, your arrow shooting badge, your "congrats you didn't drown or start a forest fire" badge, and so forth. They represent a small or large achievement that was completed by the holder.

Second Catergory, Nominated badges..

There are badges we can request for ourselves or others. These are badges for various activities and are generally not so easy to get. These bring the value of distinguishing the effort of the holder of the badge in a special sort of way. The rarer the badge, the more value it has due to the difficulty of attaining it.

To me these badges have a lot of value due to scarcity. Specifically the badges that we are nominated for by others, which requires the effort of another to be taken on behalf of you for something you did that was unusual and had a positive impact on the community around you.

Rank Badges..

Mentors, peer support, and others hold a badge that designates them of a specific job title with a set of duties. This title comes with responsibilities and very few benifits.

You have to apply and do training to earn permission to display these types of badges. You re required to do a certan amount of work every month to keep their badges. The system is far from perfect in regards for tracking the work being done, but the idea itself is quite solid in my opinion.

In days old when knights were bold, the were busy trampling the serfs beneath them. When not doing this, they had a set of duties and obligations that were a social currency of sorts. Their titles and ranks created kingdoms that functioned because those who held titles satisfied the duties required of them.

Service to the community is the only reason these badges exist. Once upon a time there was a need for the role, the role was created and given a badge so that listeners could serve others in that role. When the listener is on point, keeping up with their duties, things run more or less like they are expected to run. Support sessions happen regularly, listeners get trained, applications get processed, and so on and so forth. It that work doesn't get done, if it is done poorly, the members are the ones who suffer.

Communities go stale and the team withers and dies almost to nothing, leaving the members looking elsewhere for the support they need to get through their day. Thos support sessions that don't get done hit the members. The trainings that don't happen end up hurt the members when they are dealing with confused listeners who are stumbling along the best they can. The saying that it's just the internet doesn't really apply when its real people looking for real support for their real lives.

We listeners who hold these badges must remember that we get them to serve, not to have it just to have it. If we can't serve, we need to move out of the way and let another serve in our place. Sometimes the highest form of service, is admitting you can no longer reliably do it and finding someone who can.