For Members - Reporting & Blocking from a 1-1 Chat

Not complete, more information to come!

The following information is written for Members, for more generalized information on Reporting 1-1 chats go here.

There are 2 ways a member can report a listener they have been chatting with using the 1-1 tools - Writing a Review or Blocking

The information on what each does, limitations, and how to do them are described below.

Writing a Review

*Note - Both a review and block can be done, but a listener cannot be reviewed if you have a block on them, so if you wish to do both it's easier if a review is done first.

To write a review, click on the star - it says Leave an Anonymous Review if you hover over it:

*star

this will bring up a pop up box. This box will also appear after a certain number of messages are sent or if one of you clicks to end the chat.

*box

You can rate the listener out of 5 stars, and there is a 15 character minimum for the review. Once the review is sent, there is a team who looks them over and approves or rejects them. Reviews are only approved if they provide useful information with some detail has to how the chat went. Something like 'bad chat' will be rejected. See further below for more details on tips for giving a report within your review. There is also a post here that is a bit out of date regarding the rating system, but the tips on writing reviews in general still applies.

Limitations:

A listener needs to send you at least 2 messages in order for you to review them. So if they never respond or only send 1 message, this option is not available.

If you have already reviewed the listener you cannot write another review for them for 48 hours.

If a listener has blocked you, you cannot review them

How to Block

To block a listener, click the general prohibition sign - it says Block this Connection

*block

Blocking can be done at any point during a 1-1 chat with a listener, including if they have taken your chat but not responded. Blocking prevents the listener from sending you more 1-1 messages as long as you leave it in place.

If you do not wish to report with the block, select 'Other' from the drop down reasons. In the text box, you can type random characters or writes something like

- not a good match

- blocked for personal reasons

- felt uncomfortable

If you do wish to report, select the most appropriate reason from the drop down menu and give details in the textbox as to what they did that was inappropriate, see below for more tips on writing the review.

Limitations

This does not prevent the listener from responding to you in the forums or group chats.

A block does not affect the star ratings a listener has, and when blocked you cannot give a rating.

Reasons to Report an Inappropriate Listener

- It can improve your personal safety at 7 Cups

- It allows for listeners who wish to improve to get feedback on things they need to change

- It can encourage a listener to get more help if they need it

- It improves the overall quality of listeners and safety for everyone on 7 Cups

When to Report (via a review, block, email, help center request or 1-1 to admin)

- A listener acts in a harassing manner

- A listener asks for offsite information

- A listener refuses to respect your boundaries

- A listener asks for nude or provocative pictures or sexts

- A listener interferes with your ability to get support from other listeners

- They are using more than 1 listener account

- A listener is in crisis

- A listener is in the wrong age group or is under the age of 15

- They take on a role outside the scope of what's expected from a listener, for example they advise you to use half the dose of a medication you're currently taking

- A listener is breaking a community guideline

When to Block

- You don't want a listener to have the ability to contact you (temporarily or permanently)

- Staying in contact with a listener threatens your wellbeing

- You feel more comfortable if a listener cannot send you messages

- A listener is interferring with you connecting with other listeners (for example, picking up your chat multiple times when you try to get paired with a listener via Noni)

Blocking does prevent a listener from sending you 1-1 messages, so if a chat just didn't go great you might consider just sending a review if you are open to trying again with the same listener. If you think preventing private messages is the best option for you though, go ahead and block! While all blocks are reviewed by a team, the team understands that all blocks aren't intended to report a listener, sometimes members just do so for their own personal reasons and these do not have to be shared.

Tips for Writing a Report

In order for a report to be useful to the team who reviews them, it needs to have enough information to make it clear what inappropriate behaviour was done by the listener. Quoting something specfically they said can be useful at times. Quantifying repeated inappropriate behaviour or your requests can also be helpful. It is not necessary to share details about what the issue you were seeking support for, but you can if you're comfortable doing so. It is also possible to share screenshots via linking to imaging sharing sites or by uploading when using the chat or help center request (see further below for these 2). Here are some examples

Not enough detail - The listener was mean

Better - The listener called me names

Good level of detail - I was called a lazy slob

Not enough detail - The listener was too young

Good level of detail - This listener is in the wrong age group, they told me they are 16.

Not enough detail - This listener didn't care

Good level of detail - I was told I just need to get over my issues and other people have it much worse

Not enough detail - This listener was a jerk

Good level of detail - The listener called me Honey, even after asking them twice to not call me that, they did so 4 more times

Not enough detail - The chat was inappropriate

Good level of detail - They kept asking me about details from my sex life like when I last had sex, my favourite postion when I was seeking help about school and my grades (or if uncomfortable sharing this detail say about something unrelated to sex)

Not enough detail - Useless

Good level of detail - My general request was accepted, but I waited for 10 minutes without a response. I sent out another general request and they took it and again there was no response.

Not enough detail - Didn't help me

Good level of detail - They barely responded to what I told them, they kept telling me about problems they were having.

If a listener has blocked you

You might be able to block them to report inappropriate behaviour if you do so while the chat screen stays open. Personally though, I have not been very successful with this capability. If you close the 1-1 chat and attempt to go back to it, you will be unable to use the block option to report. See Reporting Outside of 1-1s to see what your options are if you wish to report the listener after you have been blocked.

Listeners Initiating Chats

Listeners who have met minimum requirements are given the capability of initiating chats with members ie. they can send messages to members without the member sending out a request for a chat or having sent the listener a message first.

If you do not want listeners to be able initiate a chat, in your settings, under My Profile, check the box for Chat Requests - Do not allow Listeners to initiate chats.

Listeners that you have messaged before will still be able to send you messages, this only affects listeners you have not chatted with before.

Removing A Block

Report Actions

Reporting Outside of 1-1s

email *listener name

help center request

admins

flags

safety patrol