Guest accounts are back
Hey everyone,
We did a thorough review of removing guest accounts and found it made no impact to site safety, as a result we have reinstated the ability to create a guest account in an effort to ensure we can provide support to as many people as possible. Thanks for being a part of this experiment with us, sometimes we need to try new things so we know what is best. We appreciate everyone's support as we continue to navigate how best to serve our greater community.
@Jill7cups
Thanks for the update jill
@Jill7cups
Jill - I have seen a really bad direction of the increase of guest accounts. Been blocking lots of people. Having to do way to many Peer Support 1;1 messages that Listeners aren't liking from these guest. Can we please remove guest accounts again? We need this place safe and these members have not been making folks feel safe. They are talking about things that shouldn't be on 7cups at all.
@DanaMH i agree chats with guests since there guests they can bypass any 7cups guideline and make people feel unsafe ive had bad experiences with guests which is why i avoided GRs when they wer gone i took GRs big improvement and now there back im not liking the idea
@DanaMH
I agree with your statement.
@DanaMH
I agree
@DanaMH
It's just as easy for a guest to sign up to be a member account and do the same thing though, so I am not sure if it matters which they go with. Although, perhaps guesting is technically more anonymous.
@Jill7cups
thank you Jill for making 7cups a lot safer by bringing back guest accounts you did the right thing 
any listener who does not want to deal with guests all you have to do is go and stay in offline mode its so very easy guests cannot contact any listener in offline mode anyone who has a problem with them you can easily choose to avoid contact with them by doing this
@jennysunrise8 but they can be in the GR list and last time they were around it didnt say who were Guests or who were M in thegeneral queue so by time you chose a request it was too late if it was a guest
@CaringBrit that would be a great thing for them to add next to each name in the queue whether they are a member or guest so the listener can decide
@jennysunrise8 ohmagod I've been thinking that for the longest time! yes yes yess, I think @Jill7cups, adding if they are a guest or member on the request so the listener can make a Informed descision could be Very beneficial!
@jennysunrise8 yes that would then be helpful if they can do that
ccing @Jill7Cups
could you get wether they are a G or M added next to their name in GR queue so for those that have bad experiences with guests can avoid them
@jennysunrise8. I agree it would be nice to be able to tell, one way or the other.
@CaringBrit
*clueless newbie pops in* For me the guests in the GRs have a pointer squared shape (with corers) while the members have rounded squared shape (with corners). Also members are the only ones able to make profile pics. I dunno if I explained this right or if this is a thing for everyone, but I hope that made sense.
@PaintTheStars
hey your right you can tell who is a guest and who is a member in the queue if before their name their square has pointed corners they are a guest and if their square has rounded corners its a member (im not sure how you learned about that while caringbrit and i who have been here for ages didnt know and so probabally many listeners dont know that it seems like it would be better to have a little m or g next to the name instead) but good to know so now listeners seeing this thread will know who is a guest in the GR queue
@jennysunrise8 as i pointed out not everyone reads these so using letters would be more beneficial for everyone
@CaringBrit i completely agree not every listener will see this until it can be changed there should be a notification for all listeners or maybe even temporarily add it to new listener training ? it seems like it would be easier just to change it but i dont know
Would it be possible to look into adding (M) (G) markers next to users in GR? @jill7cups @kate @laura @heather225
@PaintTheStars That is correct! A subtle, but distinguishable difference once you know what to look for. Perhaps a chatroom-style M/G letter marker would make sense there.
I'm glad the decision was reviewed and updated according to findings, not only because I've relied on and missed the guest accounts, but because it seems like a fair and reasonable problem-solving process. Hopefully other means of improving site safety will be explored and found.
@Sealionman
Great idea! Hopefully they can implement something like this! Or maybe even having it in divided rows, they have one for online and offline chat requests. Maybe have the ability to see All | Members | Guests. :)
@PaintTheStars its not very distinct though not easy to tell as not every member has a picture so could be super confusing still whos who adding a G or M next to it would be easier of course for ATLs though wed see Tm Tg the T is telling us who the teens are adults dont have anything but having a Letter specification is far easier to see than shapes and going by picture
@CaringBrit
I really only notice because my mind always tells me irrelevant details. I do agree that having letters/words in the General Requests would be easier. It would probably be more noticable and make more sense. Especially because I dont even think subtle differences in shapes are things everyone looks for, and if it wasnt something I randomly noticed I wouldnt have figured it out either. I do hope that with the next major app/website update they make telling guests and members apart easier, because I think then most might have a better time using the General Requests.
@CaringBrit i agree a g or m should be next to the name instead of having a different shape i did notice the different shapes but didnt think anything of it i just thought it was completely random how on earth would any listener know that it means its a guest if the square has pointy corners :/ yes if its a guest it should have a little g next to the name
@jennysunrise8 same thought nothing of it aswell but from time to time trying to tell the shape apart can play tricks on you
@CaringBrit
One can see guests in the general requests!
Guests are the square shaped icons, members are the square ones with "round corners"!
So if you'd like to avoid guests, don't pick the square icons from the general requests list!
@suBSea if you read up 2 others already established that however not everyone knows this fact especially if new and you get a bad chat with guests nor is it easy recognizable where as a G or M would be
@suBSea Ive been here for Years and had no idea! So Im sure a huge majority of listeners dont know either, as being a guest is obviously more anonymous and mostly all of the prank chats Ive received back when I took chats Were from guests.. thats *NOT* to say all guests have bad intentions, of course not! But, a listener should be able to make a informed descision on whether to take a member or guest chat and I think Ms and Gs would be a lot clearer, Although Im glad I now know why some have rounded corners and some straight! 🤔
@MissMeghan
Well yup that's why I thought it can't hurt to mention it, hoping my post would be seen by some ppl and and in turn a few more listeners would know about this fact 
.
In fact it was one of the first things I figured out back when I was a newbie... as I saw there were two different icon shapes in the GR section. So after chatting with a few "squares" and a few "squares with round corners" I had my answer.^^
But yeah, was more like a coincidence thing I suppose. But as long as there's no other way to tell members and guests apart, I'd say it's important to spread the info about how one can see that. Of course that doesn't mean all guests are idiots or anything. But it's nice to know that in advance, before you start the actual convo. Plus those listeners that decided for themselves not to take chats with guests anymore can identify who is who. Cause it might not be the most obvious thing, but at least there IS some way to see who's a guest and who isn't. 
@Jill7cups no more GRs for me anymore then when no Guests were on site i found the GRs to be more positive and safe for the volunteers Guests can bypass the harassment rule since they can get a new ID each time they need to chat but thanks for letting us know
@Jill7cups yay this is exciting news
@Jill7cups I do not know what the nature of the chats are but there are many more chats (34 in GRs) when the last week or so was around 10. Could be the holidays to some extent but I think it has increased volume.
I think allowing quests to be on the site is more postitive than negative. Honestly, I've dealt with more abusive or sexual people who were members rather than guests. Majority of my successful chats came from guests, and those guests would then go on to become members after seeing how helpful the site is. Whether or not guests are allowed won't impact the safety or negativity of the site, sadly. But that's why we have a block button :)
@MalignantLove
true that
@Jill7cups @Jill7cups I think it was a Good decision for suspending existing and new Guest Accounts. Since 7cups is almost 5 years old and have a better understanding in Serious and Mature people.
Though I've a suggestion, IMHO, A Verified Listener should be involved to send a recommendation of having a guest account.
Since there are many trolls and target oriented users here, who just come to 7cups for bullying others "Anonymously".
Having a Verified Listener Recommendation(s) would not just help in dealing with such bullies but also 7cups services and Internet traffic would be utilized for the Right Purpose.
@LeoisListening I'm curious about the recommendation system. What do you mean by listeners sending it? To whom?
@AiluraBlaze
seconding, also curious
Guest accounts were never suspended. Anyone who had a guest account kept it, and still has it. All that happened was that guests could not chat with listeners, and now they can again.
I agree with your suggestion, however. After a new guest or member completes a constructive chat with a verified listener, the listener would be able to upvote (recommend) the guest or member account. Then those listeners who are fearful of difficult chats would be able to avoid guests and members who have no upvotes.
@LeoisListening
@RarelyCharlie I like the upvote idea.
@AiluraBlaze
it is a good idea i like it too personally i think it would be more effective if it was extended beyong a one time verification that the guest can fake through and a status they had to maintain and if more than verified listeners could do it and it affected other account holders as there are problematic listeners and members as well as guests
but you can read more about the idea here on the verification idea > https://www.7cups.com/forum/KitchenTable_133/SuggestionsandProblemSolving_383/Verification_186840/
and here is another thread for anyone interested in getting involved in brainstorming solutions to the obvious problem of bad behavior here from people having listener member and guest accounts > https://www.7cups.com/forum/KitchenTable_133/SuggestionsandProblemSolving_383/CulturalChange_188748/
@EvelyneRose
@RarelyCharlie, That's exactly what I intended to float the Idea. I believe in "Quality of Work than Quantity of Mess" i.e. Less But Real Users.
That's why I shared my POV, if 7cups or rest of you agree to this. It would be Really Helpful for everyone, particularly those who Genuinely seeks Help.
Questions and disagreements are also welcome.
@RarelyCharlie The way guest 'accounts' are done would have to change. Currently I think as long as cookies are removed there is no possible way to come on with the same guest information. A device change also means starting over.
I think of guests as people on the site without an account.
@Jill7cups thak you for the update
@Jill7cups
Healthy Living room doesn't look great as it's once used to be because of the increase of troll accounts. Hope you guys can find a way to allow only one account per IP address.
But that would mean only one account for an entire family using the same wifi, or one account for an entire college library! Meanwhile, the person you were hoping to block could wander down the street and connect from a different place with a different IP address.
@Zombie2018
@RarelyCharlie
Haven't heard about a whole family using 7cups 🤔 they should just comfort each other then if that were the case.
