How can we improve the forums? Your suggestions and comments please

[Chris_B]

Hi all, this thread is a running commentary for all members on things for improvements to the forums. This can be anything from how it looks, the categories, to moderation, community rules etc.

While we might not be able to implement everything straightaway, or keep everyone happy all of the time, we'd like to hear about what you think we can do better.

This is not a thread for discussing the moderation or editing of individual posts - if you have questions about this please contact the team offline via email modsupport@beyondblue.org.au

To avoid repeating suggestions already received, below are some results from our last user survey giving an indication of which new features people would like to see on the forums. This survey was answered by 1,597 users:

44% - Email notification when I have a reply on the forum
39% - Access to the forums via an app
27% - Ability to block seeing posts by specific users
25% - Ability to contact users privately
25% - Ability to use emoticons
25% - Ability to follow posts by specific users
24% - Ability to share links
23% - Forum posts visible only to registered users
22% - A profile, viewable by others users, where I can introduce myself
21% - Ability to quickly access all posts by a particular user
15% - Ability to tag users in a conversation
10% - Ability to share images
6% - Ability to share videos
17% - None of these

Update July 2022 - This discussion has now been closed. Please go to the updated version below to share feedback and follow our updates:

How can we improve the Forums?

[Croix]

Dear Mb20lover~

I can understand why a lot of people may be uncomfortable talking about sex, and here we have young people as well as all other ages, including the more elderly

The young people who come here are often at that age where sex education is a need, unfortunately too many get theirs from porn, which is unrealistic dehumanizing fantasy having little to do with real people and their sex lives.

Similarly those that reach very much older years have assumptions made about them resulting as such things as nursing homes assuming separate rooms.

As a result sensible discussions are more important than ever. I'm not advocating going into any form of graphic detail, I am suggesting that a great deal of useful information can be imparted in a completely inoffensive manner that can provide many with more realistic expectations.

I'm aware that the above is not part of our core business, however failure to understand sex and the misadventures, mistreatment and unrealistic expectations which all can follow do in themselves lead to mental health issues. Thus when opportunity arises not skipping an aspect of a post but addressing it may assist a preventative approach which I would think appropriate .

I am aware this is just my view and others may think very differently

Croix

[geoff]

Hello Unbeliever, I understand what you're saying, another way is just to copy and paste the reply you have typed out on the forums, so you have it if for some reason it's not posted, then you can go to Outlook and press 'New Message' and address the email to yourself, then paste your comment, it's then sent to your email box which I have done many times.

Geoff.

[geoff]

Hello Mb20lover, there maybe an uneasiness of any talk about sex on the forums, but it's still part of our everyday life, but if anybody is suffering from any type of depression then it can have major ramifications to the spouse and/or partner in trying to understand why all of a sudden it's stopped or it has completely changed.

People can lose interest in what used to be pleasurable and can affect the relationship between a couple so then maybe the catalyst to having the lack of support, loss of trust or increase their irritability towards each other, so it is important to talk about, as long as it's within the rules of the forum.

This can happen with all ages, but especially with those who have just fallen in love.

Best wishes.

Geoff.

[Guest_1643]

hi all

i can hear what you're saying MB

I think the line can be drawn between productive talk about sex and talk which is triggering

i've seen some triggering stuff on here so I can understand what u mean

but if it's in context when ppl are seeking help with an issue related to sex i think it's generally pretty helpful and could help other readers to talk about it. Good question as it's a sensitive one.

[Summer Rose]

Hi everyone

Just weighing in to say ...

I understand MB’s concerns about “sex talk” and have also come across threads that have given me the creepy vibe.

I would like to think it’s possible to draw a line between productive discussion and triggering talk, (as Sleepy suggests) but I’m not convinced.

The challenge, as I see it, is defining “productive” and “triggering”, given both terms are subjective and lack clearly defined parameters.

I would never support banning the topic. I don’t think definitions are realistic. So, in my view, that places responsibility on community members to leave the thread or report it if they feel uncomfortable. And generally speaking I’m fine with that.

However, I share the concern about the potential impact of some such conversations on very young members. It kind of opens a can of worms, doesn’t it.

How can the community ensure young people only see age appropriate content?

Kind thoughts to all

[Guest_1643]

hi summerrose

it's probably really hard to distinguish between triggering and productive convos

i do think ppl probably wouldn't know or think to report a triggering convo

and it goes back to having a nervousness or fear around reporting and what's okay to report

i guess everything is okay to report - if you find it triggering or over the top chances are someone esle does too, and the mods can investigate and then decide to either allow it or remove it - no harm down.

[Summer Rose]

Hi Sleepy

I agree wholeheartedly, it is challenging to report a post. I personally have struggled with this, mostly because of a lack of knowledge of when and why to report.

But also because this forum is the only one I’ve ever participated in and I had believed that all conversations were monitored.

From my experience, I’ve found it takes awhile to figure out how this place works. And I’m still learning something new all the time!

Nice talking with you. I always enjoy your posts.

Kind thoughts to you

[blondguy]

Hi Everyone!

Hey Summer Rose

you mentioned 'I share the concern about the potential impact of some such conversations on very young members'

Kudos to you for the helpful post and highlighting the possible impact of sexually based thread topics to our young readers/posters. It would be helpful if the Online Forum Management team could provide some assistance/input on this matter

Thanks for the heads up Summer Rose!

Have a great weekend

Paul

[eight]

tayla mate i bloody wish there were people as young as 13 ive seen threads by preteens. and i wish i could name names of threads where sex was not brought up in a mental health context. and i care about that a lot too or maybe i just got sexually harassed yesterday and its going to be a lot for me for exactly two days. but i cant think of a way to regulate it without going against site values that isnt banning it

age locks? people are going to lie or not specify their age for so many reasons. really the only way you could make that truthful is mandate ID which violates the site's value of anonymity. if there's not the most high end encryption its an easy way to doxx your entire userbase especially when they are vulnerable people with health problems. especially youth. especially users in abusive situations

trigger warn or filter? i've seen like, 15 trigger warnings. and they never specify what theyre about they're just TRIGGER WARNING when it could be about abuse or suicide or drugs. its too much to mandate when every week someone complains how complex the rules or interface is

i dont understand what croix says about how sex talk is vital for sex ed when again you can learn that irl from school or doctors and if that's not feasible there's so many sites that do give comprehensive sex ed like scarleteen.com that aren't a mental illness forum where users who aren't even in high school can join. its such a can of worms when you have an age range from 12-80+ im surprised sexual content wasnt just banned outright

[Guest_1643]

well said eight

that describes it - sex being bought up in a non MH context.

This isn't the place for that really

It just doesn't help anyone.