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?

[Summer Rose]

Hi Sophie

Thanks for the update on the timeline.

A quick question: are improvement suggestions made now still able to be considered for the new forum or is it too late?

Kind thoughts to you

[Sophie_M]

Hello Summer Rose,

All feedback will be taken into consideration; however we recommend that all feedback be provided as quickly as you can. As we are in the process some things may be too late to include, however if the update is possible, it might be actioned. Of course, there are never any guarantees. 

Please continue to provide your improvement suggestions for us to review. 

 

[Harpbird]

Why when we need a online chat we have to fill out our personal details? I would rather stay anonymous, thanks

[Guest_1643]

Hi Harp Bird - I think BB's online chat is separate to this online forum... Lifeline is a good chat service that doesn't require any details. 🙂

[geoff]

Hello Everyone, I haven't read this thread for quite a while but I'm pleased I have.

There have been many excellent points raised by you lovely people, all of which I agree with and also thanks to Sophie for replying.

If I can say, and without any blame directed at anyone, is that for a long time these forums were meant to be changing when Chris was in charge of these forums, and each year, we are promised there will be modifications and/or improvements to these online forums, unfortunately, very little has changed over the years.

Occasionally the site is under maintenance and not quite sure what happens because nothing on own end seems to change and any suggestions mentioned we're told that these may/will be included in the new forums, but nothing seems to differ.

The other point I'd like to raise is that when we receive an email from BB/Modsupport there is no name mentioned, so we have no idea who has sent the email, I find this rather impersonal since we all take our time to volunteer on this site to help other people.

We should be addressed by a name of someone who sends us an email, then we feel a connection and if needed we can address a return email to this person.

We hope that when we reply to someone asking for our advice on the forums, we get a reply, disappointed when we don't, but understand if the thread has been going for a period of time, but perhaps not so if there are only 2 or 3 replies, that's another reason why Modsupport should include a name with any email sent to us.

Best wishes.

Geoff.

[Guest_1643]

Hello, i personally think it is worse to say there willl be modifications but not be able to specify them or when, and it would be matter not to say that. The process of being told things will change at any unspecified time for many years is probably a little hard to take at times and has made me separate myself from the idea that i have any input or say in how things happen here. I do my own thing, basically.

[Guest_1643]

i think transparency would be helpful on any or all issues of imroving the forum, and including ppl honestly as much as possible in the process. otherwise the promises feel confusing for me etc.

[geoff]

Hello Sleepy, I know how you are feeling and I'm the same now, we're told the forums will be updated by a particular month, but nothing happens and this has been happening since Chris took charge of the forums back in '14.

The online forums are a huge part of Beyond Blue as far as I'm concerned, so many different people read various comments in all the sections but don't reply, that's their choice, and we can accept their position as nobody has to make a comment, but those who do and want to be involved takes more than courage, they fear what they may say, and certainly don't want to be criticised in any way, that won't happen.

When figures were released by Chris each month, the percentage of people visiting the site had increased enormously, certainly making him very happy with the response, because people want to be heard, and that's what happens on the forums and why their importance has to be considered.

There are many decisions that I'm not happy with and am entitled to voice my opinion, whether or not any notice is taken also has to be taken into account, just as other people who want to voice their say need to be heard.

Sorry, that's what I need to mention.

Take care.

Geoff.

[Guest_1643]

the thing is that some of the concerns being raised are extremely serious

i raised concern about body image and adopted rules around body positivity on the forum.

I saw this on the ReachOut forum and thought it was a cool idea.

It's okay if it's not a cool idea and there are reasons they said no

However, what happened is that I was asked to give a huge amount of detail of my take on body positivity and opionions re implementing it on the forum

Then I was told that it would need to be accessed etc and passed on etc and who knows what will happen etc.
That for me was highly traumatic.
Because after that u hear nothing for years.

This isn't a dialogue, and the asking for the input, then "passing it on" to a person without a name, identity, role etc... feels cold, heirachial, pointless.
I feel powerless in that regard and would, going back, not have wasted so much time outlining my thoughts on body positivity. My approach would now be to talk about body positivity on the forums and do my own thing, not to try and improve or change the set up, which I was misled to believe I could do. I feel that we can't really do that at users, but a siver lining is we can always politely do so on the forums if we feel something needs to be brought up - and that's where the emancipatory potential is - to speak up with each other and learn and improve the forums that way.

[Sophie_M]

Hi Sleepy21, Geoff and the entire community,

Thank you for again giving your time to offer your thoughts as to how we can improve the community forums for the benefit of everyone. I hope we can help clear up a few of the concerns that you have raised.

Sleepy21 - Your suggestions surrounding the language used around body positivity and body image were indeed detailed and thorough. We appreciate you making such a commitment in terms of effort and time and we do not take this lightly. The process of making changes to our language and policy can feel a little slow, that is because we look to ensure we are operating within best practice at all times. This means researching the relevant literature and investigating what other leaders in this space are doing. It also means taking into account what the members of this forum think, so thank you Sleepy21 for sharing. Unfourtunately this does take quite some time when we are working to maintain the community at the same time. We apologise this hasn't been actioned yet, but we are working on it alongside a number of other projects.

Geoff - Thank you for your thoughts on having a personalised response when receiving an email from staff at Beyond Blue. The reason that we respond the way that we do is to ensure that we are consistent when we offer support to the community. Due to the nature of the work we do and the number of users we look to support, we do this as a team. As such, when we respond we do so as a team to make sure that, for example, if someone is sick, then the community will still be getting a response. We are sorry this can feel impersonal but it is a neccesary step to support as many people as we can. It also allows Beyond Blue staff to stay anonyous and safe when working with the forums.

Forum update - You have both mentioned some points about the upcoming improvements being made to the forums. We understand that this must be frustrating and we are trying to give up to date information about what we are doing when we can. We understand it is less than you would like to hear but rest assured we are working as hard as we can.

Thank you again for the feedback you have given and hopefully this has gone someway to explaining some of our decesions and processes. We hear the community when it says that it wants to hear from us more and we are looking to talk more directly to the community.

Kind regards,

Sophie M