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 This is great news! I am relieved to discover it was only an experiment 
The problems we have with guests, members, and occasionally listeners who behave inappropriately remain unsolved, however, although maybe this thread is not the place to have the discussion we need to have about that.
It might now be helpful for those listeners who don't want to chat with guests to have a setting that simply hides them in the general request queue and prevents personal requests. Then those listeners would be able to go online in perceived safety.
@Jill7cups
Hey i think that it did helped me in some way. And i think it was a good idea to remove guest accounts.
@Jill7cups
Removing guest accounts didn't increase safety and they're being brought back? Okay, that's cool. I don't see a problem in bringing them back if that is the case. I myself personally can agree with this simply the fact that individuals who are here to create issues just continuously create member accounts instead of just getting a brand new guest account. Sure it slowed them down just a little bit because of the verification process but the behaviors are still happening either way. Thanks to admin team for letting us trial this for a couple of months to see if it would work. Hopefully we can continue to brainstorm together and find different ways to increase our safety here.
@Jenna
agreed
@Jenna oooo thats a good perspective! And yep, often times those wanting to start trouble will just make more and more member accounts (ahem ahem a issue in itself) but for that reason Im OK with guests! Its just the fact that they have a bit more anonymity that ehhhh slightly worries me at times!
Personality I am happy to see them back, having a guest account is so helpful for me because it allows complete anonymity whereas my member account people learn who you are quickly
I prefer guest accounts. Sometimes I have the urge to vent. So I dont want to log in etc.
The only thing I want is a listening ear and then to vanish again with my problem.
It has a symbolical meaning to me. As soon as I am gone (with my guest account); my problems and my anger have also vanished.
I don't want to be remembered what happened back then, and why I talked to a specific listener.
@popesHomie This is a really good point. When you feel safe and anonymous you're able to talk more freely.
@Jill7cups Im on the line with this one! I do think now that guests are back weve had a influx of GRs, which of course means it takes longer wait times to connect with a listener.. I think if everyone took that extra step (to become a member) it would be a lot easier to report abuse in chats as guests are of course more anonymous.. So ehhh, I dont of course have a problem with guests, but if everyone was a member we wouldnt have that anonymity aspect we do with guests....
Lots of really great feedback, everyone!
The 7 Cups team is focused on increading chat quality and will be working towards this goal over the next few months, while we will never be able to fully control who comes in for a chat we will certainly do what we can. The internet is full of great people, but as we all know there are those who seem to enjoy being disruptive too. Continue to let us know if this spike in inappropriate behavior continues or if it dies out after the novelty of guest accounts being back dies down.
Please remember that as a Listener you are not required to continue a chat that makes you uncomfortable. If someone is clearly trolling let them know they are violating our guidelines and block them. If someone wants to talk about something you are not comfortable with let them know kindly and encourage them to find another Listener, then end the chat.
We will continue to work on this to help improve the experience on both ends.
@Jill7cups
And when they just keep coming and not stop after we ask them to and then give us a bad review due to that not wanting to talk to them and blocking them are we then allowed to remove those bad reviews that knock are rating down?
@DanaMH
Everyone can email community@7cups.com if they feel a review was received unfairly :)
@DanaMH yup email community@ and we can look into it
@Jill7cups I agree that when a listener is not comfortable with a chat something needs to be done. To avoid unnecessary , and possibly hurtful blocking, I use the 4 step approach that includes warnings, and if those are not heeded, ending the chat and if they come back again blocking them. The link is here https://www.7cups.com/forum/ListenerLearningJourney_149/MockChatTranscriptLibrary_109/MockChatUncomfortableTopicorRudemember_60115/
Here is an extended discussion of avoiding harmful and unneeded blocking https://7cups.com/forum/ListenerSupportampFeedback_149/TipsampHelpfulHintsforListening_61/HarmfulBlockingBanningandAbandoningChats_26680/1/
@Jill7cups
Thank you. The guest accounts are a really important part of 7 cups.
Thank you to everyone who fought to keep the guest accounts!!!
@Jill7cups
Oh, good news!
Im glad to hear guest accounts are back, I think they were a great way to spread our reach and let people know what we do. I think people feel safe with the guest account, they fee they can get the essence of our work and back out any time if they feel like it.
@Jill7cups
Thank you for your consideration! As a listener, I actually have some nice clients on 1:1 chats, who have only guest accounts. They would need lots of support from 7cups, so I appreciate your decision. I wonder if we can still reccomend them creating their member's accounts? I think we don't have to make limitations of what they can do, but being an official member of 7cups would be benefitial for both of us.
@aquaPine54 I think it is a great idea to let them know they can sign up to be a member and to let them know about the different resources available (discussions and rooms, forums, etc).
