Forum housekeeping - threads with 100+ posts

[Chris_B]

Hi everyone,

Regulars may have noticed that some of our long-running threads from different sections have been moved today to the BB Social Zone. We've been reviewing threads over the last few weeks and have noticed that threads that go past 100 posts have usually drifted away from the original topic and have become more about checking in on a daily basis on any number of aspects to do with wellbeing, as well as the social interaction that has become such a great part of our community here. In some of these threads, the journey is quite incredible, where a person has started out feeling suicidal and has moved to a place where they've recognised how well they're coping and are putting those skills into practice every day.

Although the BB Social Zone is billed as a place for discussing topics other than mental health, anxiety and depression seeps into every aspect of our daily lives and it's not realistic for those of us using the forums regularly to put up walls and make compartments for what's going on.

So from now on, we'll be reviewing threads that go past 100 posts and seeing whether they are suitable for moving to the Social Zone, in order to keep our subject sections focused on specific topics where members are looking for a resolution or support in moving forward in the short term.

Hope this makes sense.

[Guest_5218]

Another quick question for you Chris, if you are still there this evening. Otherwise tomorrow.

I note that you have said that all posts now count, including the Social Zone. This decision shows fairness and consistency, so good move. However does it also apply to the newly created Long Term Support section? I know last time you did a reshuffle of threads that the newly created ones did not count, which was later rectified.

And I also will be interested to hear your answer to Carols question above. (-:

Sherie xx

[Emmy.]

Great question Carol

[Clues_Of_Blue]

I'm a bit interested in the answer to Carol's question, too. I imagine a lot of people have wondered about it.

[blondguy]

Hey everybody

When I joined the forums there was no way I would have had the energy to post on a long term thread bulky thread. Way too overwhelming for a 'tired' mind.

There is a bigger picture here.......its the people that are scared big time by even the thought of posting on the forums. When they muster the strength to post we dont need to have bulky 100+ threads to make it even harder for their tired minds to absorb.

3 million Australians are living with depression or anxiety. Maybe we can focus on the less fortunate than us and make sure the Forums are less 'bulky' which would enable increased functionality and ease for people in pain.

My kind thoughts

Paul

[Chris_B]

Hi everyone, hope everyone is feeling a bit better this morning.

Post counting is now consistent across all forums, but this has opened up another issue which needs resolving - that of post counts being connected to badge levels. Some of our members put a great deal of time and thought into their replies and posts, particularly those that are focused around providing support for others, yet under our current system, a long post detailing someone's inspiring recovery and resilience is counted the same as a post in one of the word game threads in the Social Zone. This is why we initially turned off post counts in the Social Zone. It's time to review the entire hierarchy and devise a system that is more reflective of community participation and contribution, and there'll be another thread on this soon.

With regard to private contact, I'm sorry but we have no system currently for facilitating this. The forums are very busy, and our staff don't have the time to manually manage email requests from members wanting to contact each other privately. It would throw up all sorts of privacy and consent issues as well. These forums are anonymous and are clearly signposted as such, in fact our user research tells us this is one of the primary reasons people come here. In the future, we may have a system that allows users to contact each other with mutual consent, but not right now.

[Guest_5218]

Morning Chris, and thanks for your enquiry as to how everyone is. Me personally? No ... I'm not feeling any better at all unfortunately. But I'll be working on that over the next couple of days, which is why I want to go off-line for a couple of days.

Just quickly checking in this morning though and saw your post above and wanted to comment.

Firstly, the post counting is not yet consistent throughout. Your new section for Long Term Support created yesterday is not currently being counted. But presumably you will be working on that?

Your long term members are no less important than short term ones. And every bit as vital to maintaining a worthwhile Forum here at BB. Some of your long term members, although not Community Champions, contribute as much and often more than many of your Community Champions. Your long term members are the ones who are making these Forums the wonderfully warm, welcoming and helpful place they currently are.

Post counts - I totally agree with you about the Social Zone, and I dont believe that they should count in the post counts. What I disagreed with was moving long term threads to the Social Zone and you have now fixed that. I also disagreed about the inconsistency of some Cafe threads counting and others not. That has also now been fixed. So thankyou for that.

I do not know why you turned the Social Zone threads back on. I personally dont believe they should be counted in an individuals post count. My suggestion would be to turn it off again like it was before. Long Term Support posts should now count and continue to count.

Your comment about length of posts and the amount of time and thought involved that we put into our replies to both new and old members here. So many times my posts run out of words and I have to go through posts to shorten and abbreviate in order to fit it into the word count. Have you ever given any consideration to increasing the allowable character count within posts?

I look forward to your new thread about hierarchy. But my initial thoughts would be:

1. Turn off the Social Zone count

2. Turn on the new Long Term Support count

3. Leave the hierarchy system as it currently stands, there isnt anything wrong with it

Thankyou for the opportunity to comment and have an input into these very valuable Forums.

Sherie

[Guest_5218]

Paul - We are all in pain, we longer term members as well as prospective new members. However, new members do not need to go to the longer threads if they dont wish to. Most new members start with their own intro thread anyway, so I dont see why having a few longer threads elsewhere within the Forums would in any way deter some new poster.

With regards to longer threads - I'm sorry I dont agree with you on that Paul. Some people are very happy to sit and read through some longer threads if it is relevant to themselves. Sometimes reading a day to day account of someones experiences in dealing with specific issues is more beneficial to someone than an occasional 'one liner' that you are so good at.

I would love to focus on those who are less fortunate than I am, and have every sympathy and understanding for them. Dont forget that we also, are one of those less fortunate 3 million Australians suffering from anxiety and depression.

I have every respect for you Paul, but I do not agree with you on this issue. But I still love you buddy. (-:

Sherie

[Lost_Girl]

Thanks Chris

[Chris_B]

Sherie said:

Your comment about length of posts and the amount of time and thought involved that we put into our replies to both new and old members here. So many times my posts run out of words and I have to go through posts to shorten and abbreviate in order to fit it into the word count. Have you ever given any consideration to increasing the allowable character count within posts?

Hi Sherie, considerable thought and research has gone into this. When I started managing the forums 3 years ago, there was no limit. People would write pages and pages of material, which few would read or respond to, and then they'd get upset at not being heard. It wasn't conducive to conversation. It made the forums extremely difficult and time-consuming to moderate. So, we came up with the idea of limiting contributions. 2,500 characters is roughly equal to a full typed A4 page, which seemed like a fair amount. Imagine talking to someone in a face-to-face support group and speaking for longer than it takes to read an entire page of material... it wouldn't happen. 🙂

We then researched our users in both 2015 and 2016. 23% of users in 2015 requested that we actually cut the limit down further, to 1,500 characters. 25% said some posts on the forum are too long to bother reading, which has reduced a little in 2016 to 21%.

Only 5% of users say they are dissatisified with the length of posts. 53% rate length of posts as good, or extremely good.

So on balance, our research is telling us we've got this one about right.

[white knight]

Blondeguy, I tend to disagree. Its subjective. One can't assume most tired anxious or depressed members won't read long posts/threads. Some will. Some won't. Some will read half, have a nap and look forward to reading the rest. Which means a long post could be more beneficial than short posts.

As for Sherie's comment about the hierarchy..."no need to change it". Currently a new member has zero idea of the experience or knowledge level someone has that is responding to them. In every job I've had, all 90 of them, levels of badges prevailed. Every defence force in the world has several levels of badging /rank. They can't all be wrong in terms of effect and efficiency.

And there are branches of expertise. Transport, medical , combat etc. We have many sections in the mental illness world. You know, PTSD, depression, dysthymia, bipolar and on the list goes.

Example: an Army veteran writes in talking about five things bothering him. Army bullying, depression, seeking work in the corporate world, alcoholism and his failing marriage.

I'd be eager to tackle the bullying due to my defence service and being on the receiving end of bullying. Rosslyn might tackle depression blondeguy might chip in with his corporate experience and the anxiety with it, Geoff might swan in over alcohol issues and Sherie you would be great to chat about marriage from a females viewpoint.

That's the vision I have with the badge thing. It would see better structure.

Regards Tony WK