Preventing Off-site Contact (Safety Tips and Resources)
Hi everyone, Happy Sunday! ð
While we are enjoying spending our time on 7Cups and having our lovely supportive community this week, it is also important to remember to be practicing safety on 7Cups, too!
On 7Cups, we maintain an anonymous identity to receive support and the community is moderated. However, when we choose to leave the safety of 7Cups and go off-site, 7Cups is no longer able to moderate what is said or any actions taken. Unfortunately, not everyone you meet online is who you think they are and may not be well intentioned, and going off-site may compromise your safety.
We have outlined some of the resources and tips to stay safe from off-site contact.
ðµ â« ð£
ðµ â« ð£
Group Support Rooms
In group support rooms, it is important to maintain safety. There any many people constantly going in and out of the rooms, and the most recent messages sent in the rooms are easily viewable.
Therefore, its important to avoid sharing personal contact information!
If you see someone requesting or sharing personal contact information in the support rooms and it is not being handled by a community moderator or moderator, a Mod Request Form can be submitted Here for Teens and Here for Adults.
These forms can also be found under the Group Support Room rules ð
ðµ â« ð£
Private Messages
If a member or listener asked for or has shared off-site contact information, you can remind them that for safety reasons on 7Cups, it is important that we do not share information that would lead to off-site contact. If they persist in asking or sharing, the report button (ð«) can be used to file a report and clicking the [Block] Requesting/Sharing Personal Contact Info button.
If they have shared any links to social media or personal sites, other than 7Cups websites or trusted sites, it is safer to not click on them, because we dont know where those sites could lead. ð
ðµ â« ð£
Profiles
If you spot offsite contact information being shared on profiles, including:
â« Social media, phone numbers, and personal identifying information
You can send the profile to one of our Safety Patrol members by clicking Here and sending them a link to the profile, along with a description of what to look for. Or use this form to flag yourself.
ðµ â« ð£
Forums
Sometimes, on our way through the forums we may spot some posts containing off-site contact information or links being shared in posts. You can report these by pressing the flag (
ðµ â« ð£
Let us know that youve read this post by participating in the post below!
[TEENS] I shouldnt go offsite with other users becauseâ¦
(Non- safety patrol member profile flagging form added 9/25/22)
Following these rules and guidelines is so important for everyone
@neverendingMermaid74 There's a lot of good information here, reminding people to be aware of the risks of off-site contact with people they encounter at 7 Cups.
But it's also important to be clear about exactly what is risky.
Anonymity at 7 Cups is an important option that helps to keep people safe, but it's an option and not a requirement. Some people at 7 Cups do use their real names, and using your real name is permitted. I don't know of anyone at 7 Cups who has ever come to harm by using their real name here.
Some people at 7 Cups have a profile image that's a real photo of their face. This is also permitted. I don't know of anyone at 7 Cups who has ever come to harm by using their real photo here.
This means that personal identifying information, specifically names and photos, is permitted in 7 Cups profiles. The thing that's not permitted is offsite contact information. It's important to be clear about what is and is not permitted.
Many people at 7 Cups do use other websites. It's important to understand that using other websites is almost always safe. 7 Cups is not the only safe website on the Internet. To say that "going off-site may compromise your safety" implies that all other websites are unsafe, and this is false. The thing that's not safe is offsite contact with people you encounter at 7 Cups. Offsite contact with people you know in other ways is not especially risky, and many people do it all the time.
Charlie
@RarelyCharlie
Hey Charlie!
If you read the post more closely, it never says you can
@CranberryPineapples thanks for the clarification.
I personally have experienced people that wanted offsite contact for harmful things for me. I like the anonymity feature. I like having my own little identity here at 7cups that the world does not need to know about. Here I can just be me.
@RarelyCharlie
Charlie you know how much I really respect your posts. I love reading them. I love their frankness and sometimes bluntness too but I have to respectfully disagree with these two points in bold.
Anonymity at 7 Cups is an important option that helps to keep people safe, but it's an option and not a requirement. Some people at 7 Cups do use their real names, and using your real name is permitted. I don't know of anyone at 7 Cups who has ever come to harm by using their real name here.
I have to say that I have!
Some people at 7 Cups have a profile image that's a real photo of their face. This is also permitted. I don't know of anyone at 7 Cups who has ever come to harm by using their real photo here.
I have to say that I have!!
Very sadly I can say that my blood runs cold and I shiver when I recall some of the things that have happened when a real name was traced or a facial picture was backtracked. I have worked hard with those on the Safety Team to support those affected. I wrote a post about this very thing here Profile Pics on 7Cups - Staying Safe Online
Thankfully 7Cups acted with speed to help those affected.
Listening .... One Step At A Time
@MistyMagic Ah, in the light of this information it seems that maybe real names and photos should not be permitted. Perhaps in future the rules will be changed to avoid the consequences that you have seen but I have never seen.
Charlie
@neverendingMermaid74 Great post! Thanks for raising awareness of how dangerous offsite contact can be!
Listening .... One Step At A Time
