My thoughts on the mod AMA discussions in the community room
Hey guys, Im Lizi... So Im making this forum post regarding a certain type of discussion that has been arising this past week called the mod AMA, or really AMAs in general. AMA stands for ask me anything, and it is good for certain times, like if there are a lot of people who are actually curious about something, but at other times, it is just inappropriate, and can cause drama. The first time I went into the community room and there was one being held, I just saw the people hosting it avoiding questions because they were rude. Others were annoyed because it was taking up the community room for a whole hour, so if people wanted to have a fun, light-hearted chat, there was nowhere to go because the other rooms were for support and this room was filled with drama. First off, an hour just to ask questions to a mod is too long. If they want to know something, they can ask a mod directly, but its not like people come up with questions for the discussion here. Secondly, there is not that much that we need to know about mods that could possible take an entire hour. Finally, some mods decided to make this a recurring discussion where now it is happening weekly. I find it a complete waste of time and overuse of a kind of discussion that should not be used constantly. I also feel like the fact that it is trying to be held every week is just mods trying to show how they are better than us by trying to block out an hour just for people to ask them questions about their higher title. I can tell you now this is not directed towards all mods because I am very fond of many of you and I have grown close to many, but some others are simply taking advantage of what they can do, and I find it quite annoying. I feel like now there are more mods than listeners who are not mods now, and it honestly makes the title less special than it was before because many mods like @prayfortheheartless @IreCat @Cielxblu (who should still be a mod) @Amazingrea @mark5 @emily619 @melallyouneedislove and many more definitely deserve what they have where now I feel like its almost meaningless. Anyway, back to the AMA, I think it is also just an excuse to cause drama because I know that there are people who have something against certain mods and when they see that, of course they are going to take the opportunity to try to fight back in a way. Honestly, whenever I see the discussion up, I just have to leave the site till its over because I know what is going to come out of it, and I would prefer not to get involved. At least, put the discussion in another room and let the community room stay they was it normally is. This just makes me feel like people who leave because of drama and such are completely right and that I should just follow. @akaalex @kaylee @Iara @Laura @krinkthemellowunicorn @noasu @glennM @amelia
Thank you for taking the time to read this,
Lizi (ImLizi)
@ImLizi
That's interesting, I look forward to seeing what the moderators point is. I'm a CR regular mod but I've never been to one of these discussions and I'm curious to see how they turn out, maybe they could only last 30 minutes or they can happen every 15 days. Not really sure. Cool post anyway (:
@Ila
I think they are on wednesdays in the afternoon or at night, and yeah I agree with you or they could at least be held in another room. Thank you
@ImLizi
I understand your frustration with this. I see your point with not having a lighthearted discussion room to go to when there is a discussion happening - but isn't that always the case when there is a discussion happening in that room? I do not think it is fair to only single this discussion out as causing problems.
Perhaps once a week is too often, but I disagree with you that there is nothing to be learned from these discussions or that they are mods using their power to take over a chat room.
There is a huge divide between the mods and the members/guests and I see these discussions as a great way to ease some tension - to get to know who your moderators are and to see that not all mods are the same, nor are they all power-hungry.
Maybe it could be more of a community AMA, so that the mods are also getting to know the members/guests/other listeners and it is not solely focused on the mods.
Overall, I do see it as a community bonding discussion (just like all discussions held in support rooms) and do not share your belief that it is abusive of power or disrupting the community by "taking over a chat room".
@Mark5
Well when all I see is the discussion causing drama, it steers me away from wanting to participate, maybe another room can be opened up for the discussion to take place so those who do not want to participate have somewhere to go, and I feel like other discussions are planned out so it can stay focused and happy, where this is kind of the oppisite and it is more disorganized which I dislike, and I find that an hour for this is a lot longer than what is needed for it because though people may have questions for a mod, I don't think there are enough at a time for it to take an hour for this to go on.
@ImLizi
I have never been part of these discussions, so I do not have the same experiences as you do. I respect your suggestions and I think that they are definitely valid. It would make sense to have another chat room or to decrease the time allotted. I also think that if there is only one mod, that seems a little less necessary to host an hour long discussion - if there were maybe 5 or 6 mods, maybe it would be easier to fill that time.
Or if there was some sort of announcement that [these mods] would be participating in the discussion this week, so any questions for them should be sent to [this person], which would allow for more of a moderated discussion. Or maybe even a topic for the questions. "This week we'll be discussing [this topic] with the mods, please bring questions".
I agree with you that there is need for improvement.
@Mark5
Thank you
Hey! I can see where you are going with this. I'm sorry that you feel that the mod AMA is just a way to stir up conflict, and we've noticed that. We are currently planning to change the mod AMA into more of a community event. Instead of having a full hour of members askind mods questions, we decided to split the time and into where we have:
-30 minutes of moderators asking members questions on how they feel about mods and the community
-30 minutes of members asking moderators questions / concerns
So basically we are going to have a half member/half mod AMA. In this way, it would be more equal. It will be renamed Community AMA. In addition, different mods will be hosting so members can get answers from all moderator perspectives. As usual, any questions that are disrespectful won't be answered. And thanks for speaking out and letting us know how you feel. :)
@Kaylee I love this explanation, it's perfect! This is exactly how it is planning on working for now, and we will test out a bunch of things that could potentially work and we will see which works and which doesn't!
I'm not a teen, so I have never seen these, but from what you have shared this does seem a bit excessive.
I do check the calendar often, and have never noticed one of these sessions there. It sounds like having a shorter time frame and putting them in the calendar so people are at least prepared with questions would make them more efficient.
It actually sounds like the forums would be a more appropriate place, but the issue becomes getting people who are primarily chat particiipants into the forum sections.
@AffyAvo
I agree with you completely. It has happened twice so far, both which were pop ups I believe and then they said they were going to make it a weekly thing, but I feel creating it ahead of time would be a great idea, and making it a more forum-based discussion would also be great because then it is open for questions any time people need and there is no need to wait for it. Thank you for those suggestions.
Hey Lizi!
Thank you so so much for expressing your concerns about AMAs. I have heard lots about some complaints that have come up similar to your observations and I would like to correct this to make an AMA experience comfortable and beneficial to all participants, whether a listener, mod, or member of our lovely community.
Soon, we're going to be introducing a new type of AMA called a Community AMA, which is similar to a Mod AMA, however, very very different. Community AMAs will not focus on moderating in group support, rather it will focus on all aspects of our website that are worth discussing. Members and listeners, unfortunately, do not really connect often which is a real shame and is something that myself and a few of my listener partners have been trying to fix. A Community AMA should fix this to a certain extent. Now, members and listeners will be able to get to know each other for an hour each week in a calm, relaxed, lighthearted setting which will make this connection between listeners and members much tighter. I think that you will like this because it's much more lighthearted than conflict-drawing.
I'm personally very excited about this brand-new type of AMA, and I hope that you will be too! They won't be starting up just yet because the process is still in its planning stages, but we will definitely keep out community updated on our progress! If you have any questions, please never hesitate to PM me!
~Alex
@akaAlex
I feel like maybe a week is still a little much for the topic. And I cant pm you. our connection is blocked because of the last time we talked.
@ImLizi if you would like our connection unblocked you're welcome to submit a support ticket and they can take care of that for you. Our AMA processes are never complete, they're always ongoing, changing, and evolving, which means that there's always room for improvement. Remember that this is also a relatively new idea for our community so we're going to test out a bunch of ideas and see which one works. You're welcome to leave reviews with myself, @Kaylee, or @MayaRainbow2 with any questions, comments, concerns, or reviews that you may have!
Thanks for this post! I think having it 15-30 minutes is a much, much better idea, and s lot less frequent. Maybe hosting a Member AMA, Guest AMA, Listener AMA, Mod AMA, and so on, would be a better system (alternating each time)
@Emily619
i completely agree
Thanks for all of your reviews about the AMAs! I would love for all feedback to be directed to myself, @Kaylee, or @MayaRainbow2 so that we may properly address all concerns. Like Kaylee and I have said before, we're currently working on a Community AMA rather than a Mod AMA, which our entire team is very excited for. We don't have much details for you right now but will keep everybody posted with our progress when we have information. I hope that all of you will walk into our new AMAs with an open mind and heart to get to know your fellow members, listeners, and mods!
@ImLizi
Firstly, thank you so much ♥ Secondly, well done for speaking out, it can be so tough, and I feel like you've done really well at being critical, but constructive. ♥
I've never been to one of these discussions, but I must admit, the idea confuses me a little ♥ I'm a mod, and I can't fathom many would have much to ask me? And especially not something that would last for an hour ♥
I agree that something more forum based, or as @Emily619 mentioned, 15-30 minutesish could be better suited ♥
I'm really saddened to hear that what must have been good intentions has caused drama and people to be upset, I really hope we can figure something out that makes everyone comfortable ♥
@akaAlex well done for being so open to feedback, it takes guts! ♥
@amazingrea Thanks so much, Rea! :)
In regards to the times of the AMAs, we have received lots of different feedback regarding this issue. Some of the feedback we've gotten has said that AMAs have to be shorter, and some have even said that the whole hour is less than enough time per week. So, I have a solution to this:
When we start rolling out our new AMA system, we're going to have time trials. The first AMA we're going to do will be for an hour, the second AMA for 45 minutes, and down the list until fifteen minutes. Then, we will gather the information and feedback from all AMAs as well as the Team's own observations to determine the appropriate time length for AMAs.
Remember, AMAs are a new encounter for 7Cups, and there is always room for improvement. Please continue to send feedback to myself, @Kaylee if she reactivates:(, and @MayaRainbow2. We love your interest in making AMAs the best they can be!
@akaAlex
have you not gathered anything from the past two mod ama's though?
@ImLizi Well, our Team has not been looking out for any information during those AMAs, we were more focused on hosting. However, now that we're going to generate a team of mods to do the hosting for us, we are able to look out for some detailed information and take notes on how we can improve AMAs, if this answers your question<3
Just also pointing out that we are looking into having another space to do AMAs in rather than the Community Room. Although we do not know if we will host them in an existing room or create a new room to be opened and closed solely for AMAs, I can announce that we understand that lighthearted chat is important and that we are going to try and find another space for AMAs! :)
@akaAlex
Thank you
@ImLizi I hope all of this information about upcoming changes is helpful! :)
