I have a bit of a concern 💙
Hey everyone 💜 I hope your all doing alright (:
I’ve been thinking about making this post for a long while now. It’s about a concern I have, about the forums/communities.
I have noticed that people can access the forums without having a member/listener account. It looks like anyone can easily browse the forums and see all kinds of information… and I thought this would be unsafe 😞 because anyone, literally anyone can access the forums without an account. Even though they can’t participate/make their own posts, they can still have access to everything in the forums. Even people’s diary forums… vents… and so on.
I understand it might help new members get a better idea of what the forums are like. They can have a look at different communities without having to make an account yet. But we could easily show images of what the communities look like 💙 instead of just… what we have right now. I thought that might be safer for our current members, but it would still be helpful for new users who just want to know what the forums are like.
Of course, this is just my opinion 💜 and you’re free to disagree. I’d love to hear what everyone thinks as well (:
Take care everyone 💙 and stay safe.
🌙 Ni 🌸
@LoveMyMoonflowers
Hi Ni!
Thank you for sharing your concerns about forum accessibility. I’ll do my address some of the concerns that were shared by you and others in the thread such as people being able to access the forums without an account, making the journals and diaries community more private, and deleting/editing your own forum posts.
Upon speaking with Jon, the decision to allow public access without an account like Affy said has always been the way it is and is aimed at increasing visibility and facilitating easy exploration for users seeking support through popular search engines. By enabling non-members to browse, we hope to provide a glimpse into the supportive communities available. The idea is to make resources readily available for those seeking assistance, allowing them to gauge the nature of discussions and support within our forums.
Regarding the ability to edit and delete posts, we've discussed this internally and weighed the potential benefits and drawbacks. However, implementing such features poses the risk of misuse and abuse, potentially compromising the integrity of discussions. As a result, we've decided not to enable these functionalities at the moment.
Affy mentioned the idea of privatizing the journals and diaries community early on in forum restructuring stages and the process of doing that would have to be discussed with the tech team to see what the best option is. If there are several users that have an issue with the journals being accessible for non-users, we will try to come up with a workable solution for everyone to feel more at ease when using that community.
@CheeryMango @Jon7cups
Thank you for your thoughts.
With respect, "it's always been..." is the worst reason to keep doing something. Think of all the rights and progression many people wouldn't have if everyone adopted that philosophy. I have heard this line used to justify many forms of abuse. I do not like hearing this line from people who are supposed to be providing a safe space for people with mental wellness issues.
Compromising user safety and privacy in order to get more users to join an unsafe forum - surely there's an option that doesn't compromise everyone's wellbeing. For example, a sample could be made, or a 'public' area just for new members. Numerous ideas have been presented. I am waiting for Glen and Jon to confirm to the community that they simply don't care about our autonomy.
Thanks for reading. This reply is not directed to you to personally but to admin at large. I appreciate you.
@wontwakewontsleep @cheerymango
thank you both! ☺️
@LoveMyMoonflowers wait! What! tw)Are you serious, the forums are accessible to anyone😰 oh no. I've put myself in danger. I thought this was a safe place😰I don't know what to do,
suddenly huge fear as come over me. I'm actually crying
@Tinywhisper11
*squeezies lola bean tight* awwe no please don’t worry. it’s okay 💛 i don’t think accessing forums is always obvious to everyone and it still takes some effort to browse and things like that. sending more huggles your way 💛 lola bean, do you think you could ask your carers about it?
because i think in your forum posts *TW* you never went into detail about the cult thing ): you never gave the name of it or anything like that. 💛 i think it will be okie, lola bean.
keeping you in my thoughts and prayers always! dw your safe and you will be safe 💛 it will be okie.
@Tinywhisper11 I was so sad to read your post. The first thing I would do is to change your pfp to something that is not identifying. I always advise this as it is so easy to search pictures on the internet nowadays, also reach out to @Heather225 or @CheeryMango or any admin urgently for more specific help
https://www.7cups.com/forum/safe7cups/IVSafetyResourcesEvents_1059/ProfilePicson7CupsStayingSafeOnline_192636/
Listening - One Step At A Time!
@MistyMagic thankyou ❤❤
This is the Privacy Policy that can be found at the bottom of website page:
https://www.7cups.com/Documents/PrivacyPolicy/
The Privacy Policy should be made more visible, a link to it should be added to the Cookies Consent pop up.
Extended informed Privacy and Cookies Policy should be easily accessible.
@Myosotis17
thank you for sharing that link