Members: I Have A Question For You!

@Heather

I suggest perhaps maybe like a mock chat final exam after a person finishes the necessary steps on becoming a listener.

I remember back about a year ago, the average listener quality score was higher. And this option may be one of the ways to increase it back. This can also serve as some sort of graduation exam that the new listener have to "take".

I'm not going to sugarcoat. But the fact that anyone can be a listener can lead to some bad ones and potential trolls. Or even maybe the new listener doesn't know what a conversation would be like.

So what I propose is to have a group dedicate to mock chatting new listeners.

- Mock chat "graduation" - By offering mock chats and feedback, the new listener can have a feel of what is going on.

- Someone to reference to - That perhaps maybe if the new listener is stuck, they can ask the people in this group for help on what to do. And that because they are new, this group can help out with information regarding forum, posts, and all the other good stuff.

- Prevent certain things - Perhaps there maybe a troll or some sort. This can help with the people that may be trolling people by telling them to "go kill themselves". In addition, maybe help out with a new listener from saying the wrong thing.

- A real human is better than tips - Yes, there are tips. But I feel like having some sort of guidance by a real human will help out in case if the new listener has any possible questions, concern or any comments.

- So people know it's SRS - Yep. This is a serious thing, and by involving with talking to people. It should be noted that things are taken seriously.

It is also be possible for the mock chat graduation to be known prior to the listener or not. That means they know that a mock chat will be coming or they think they are talking to a "real" venter. Then at the end, the venter will tell the new listener that it was a mock chat and be given the seal of approval. Any of the two case is fine, but I personally think not telling would be the best option.

Thanx for reading, you beautiful soul.

I think it'd be an amazing idea if we had something called a member captain. So for instance, a member captain wouldn't take chats or have to be a listener, but they'd have a special room that was monitored by listeners/mods and was only available for listeners/mods/member captains so that in the event that something is happening in the group chat, a member captain (the title name is just for example) could come to this group and ask for a mod or at least a listener to come help squander a group discussion gone awry. At this point, it is sometimes difficult to get a mod to a room in time or it is just hard to find a listener that can cleverly calm the tension. But member captains can kind of hold the fort down in chat rooms and help find a supporter when necessary. We have a lot of group discussion rooms and it is understandably difficult to get someone in all the rooms to keep the peace. It can also take time to jump from room to room to find a mod or at least a listener, whereas this room and this special title can be like a safe haven and could save valuable time where an argument or an inappropriate situation can escalate. And it could simply mean just opening up a current listener room to someone with a member captain title. Or it could be it's own room. But I think this would definitely help when it comes to trolls and also heated situations and inappropriate content. I feel like it could be more efficient and effective as far as timewise and also with those who enjoy keeping the peace and making sure that they can help keep others comfortable when a mod or listener isn't available currently. Versus if they were readily available in a separate chat.

Offering free on line courses, whether to help become better listeners or dealing with anxiety, how to make positive changes etc?? Just a thought x

It is daunting to learn everything when you are new to the site, especially if not as technology minded. It would be nice for new members, if they want, to be paired with someone who could help them learn their way around.

Maybe you can add a button that would connect members straight away to the suicide hotline if anyone is experiencing suicidal thoughts?

I have an idea for chat rooms! A fun thing to do in chat rooms would be a display picture theme day. We did it once in Thinking Space. Everyone was a goat! (dont ask.. ) We could do a theme of our favorite singers or bands... Animals..birds..dogs... (No cats!! thats practically every day hah. ) Quotes..Etc.. Within the pic rules. We could do it once or twice a month. Maybe on Fridays. Its totally optional. Also, guests can add their pics if they want to, as soon as they become members.

The joker of 7cups. Someone to tell jokes to cheer people up.

Hi Heather.

I sometimes wish there was an Art Chatroom - I have found art of all kinds to be very therapeutic, and therapeutic to talk about in these rooms. There are incredibly talented people here and I don't think they have any real idea that the world would almost certainly welcome their work - and I've learned a lot lately about the artistic process and all the right-brain stuff you have to master to get your left-brain stuff into the world.. I have always found that people who have trouble in certain conventional areas in "real life" are incredibly powerful in some realm of art, and it's really empowering to share their art and artistic thoughts with other sympathetic people.. Sometimes I need a roomful of supportive people to help me face the next step in some artistic process that I'm afraid of, and know that if I visit a chatroom here, I might not find any artists there who understand what I'm dealing with. Thanks again!

i would like to be able to private message members in the future.

determined pear

Maybe we could do something involving someone teacheing a language to others.

Or we could make a video contest, and make it so the video has to be related to mental health, then you could post the video somewhere to make others more aware of mental health.

Maybe we could add some sort of game to 7cups, like hangman, crosswords, or something else.