Moderation and Guidelines

I feel a lot has changed in the past few months regarding moderation and the guidelines. I've been a part of this community for a little over a year. I get support for myself or just a general conversation, and I also try to help others. Sometimes, that can be a bit difficult, depending on how much I struggle at a particular time.

However, I feel there is a lack of communication across the board, and what one mod or PSW says isn't translated by the next person. Members such as myself and others can be "getting in trouble" when we haven't done anything wrong, but it depends on who is working. I think there needs to be a change around moderation and more explicit guidelines. I know I've had a lot of difficult conversations on here, but lately, I say something minor, and my post goes away. I get sent an email when, at times, it hasn't been needed. (I have noticed other members express why their posts had been taken down for no apparent reason) Then, to receive a copied and pasted email that it's validating or anything.

When receiving an email and you've been told to go away because you seem too distressed. It seems to take away the fact the person is trying to get some support, and when you are turned away, it can be incredibly triggering and hurtful. ( I understand that if a member is in immediate danger, then it's a different picture, but if a member is struggling and only wants connection and someone to talk to, they shouldn't be turned away). The SANE forums are a place for connection, meeting people, making friends, helping others and getting support. It's missing the point of saying that this is a safe place to talk about how you feel because if you say something "wrong", you're not allowed to, which can create a negative cycle for a person. I understand that, at times, you can't say things because it could be triggering, but there are TW tags, and you can put a spoiler in as well. Especially when a member has also said they are safe and know who to contact if needed. I don't see why an email should be sent in this circumstance.

I think more care, compassion and validation regarding risk would also be good. If I or someone else had posted the wrong thing or broken the guidelines, there is a way to be a bit more understanding of how a member feels at that time and what it would be like getting an email when either distressed or another thing is going on. Also, make them more genuine and not a copied and pasted email that doesn't show any emotion, only the fact you've done something wrong or if they need to make sure you are safe because of your post.

I think better guidelines would help, making it easier for people to see what we can and can't say.

There are a lot of things on the guidelines that are old and need to be updated. Some short sentences that are easier to read and understand would be good. It would also be nice to know what all the new roles are here. I've seen more people join and other staff members, but myself and others don't know what these new members' roles are and how they fit into the forum.

Could there be a time frame for when a particular post could assume to get a response? ( In an ideal world, it would be good, but the situation evolves and someone might not be able to reply) Sometimes, if a specific PSW is on one day, it might not take long to get a reply, but on other days, a person could be waiting hours to hear from a single person. It can also be problematic if you know that person you're trying to speak to and know they're around and talking to others, but they're not talking to you. Is there a way to make sure everyone is getting equal support and it's not all given to a group of people or individuals? If there could be a way to set an approximate time for a reply or even if the PSW are going to be busy and can't talk to that specific person for whatever reason that they say they can't talk instead of just ignoring them and making the person feel worse thinking that people don't care about them or that no one wants to talk to you. There could be a lot of factors as to why a person might not be able to respond, but it would be nice, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels it would be good to know if whoever is working that shift can say hey Laura I can't talk to you right now, but if you give me 30 - 40 min, I can talk to you then. So you don't have to be waiting around wondering why no one wants to talk to you, which can make a person feel a lot worse.

There seems to be less staff after 10 pm, and I know if I've had a night and I can't sleep or I've been on the forums after 10 pm, I don't think anyone is around or no one seems to be talking. I think a lot of people would find that time the hardest as being late at night can be triggering for people and make them feel more isolated at night time. So having someone to talk to at that time would be nice.

I'm not sure if things have changed recently, but I've noticed a lot of absences. It would be good if people could be upfront if they don't want to talk to specific people so they are aware.

Anyway, that's just my thoughts. I do look forward to the SANE forum's future.

i feel like im a little late to the party, but have had a read through alot of what other members have said and agree with most things.

In regards to moderation, there are gaps. Sometimes things are running smoothly, but at others times they arent and that can feel really obvious. Some areas that i feel need some attention/ improvements;

- consistency across the board. Sometimes what is ok to be posted by one member is not ok coming from other member. whether that appears as favourtism towards the one member, or different mods not having a proper understanding of the guidlines?

- having posts removed and sometimes there being no follow up in regards to why.

- it would be great to have some more support beyond the 10pm knock off time. i understand everyone needs rest, but i find that once the PSW end their shift at 10pm, its really hard to know who is around. Evenings can be really difficult for alot of people with mental health issues and just having someone to talk to can be really helpful.i think perhaps the purpose of mods beyond 10pm is more to simply moderate and not so much to engage with people like the PSW do. I dont know if there is the scope to adjust PSW hours beyond 10pm?

-I think its been mentioned a bit, but PSW to do tend to have their threads that they stick to and when perhaps someone posts that they arent doing so ok, there can often be a delay in getting any response from anyone, only to find lengthy casual chats going on elsewhere. So i think it would be great to see some of our PSW venturing out of their comfort zones a little and engaging with other members.

- I know mods get busy. and i dont know how this can be addressed. but there have been many times where members have been allowed to continue to have conversations that are very obviously inappropriate, despite posts being flagged for inappropriate and trigger content.

Guidelines....... i really struggle with these because i find them so unclear alot of the time. and even after numerous email communications about them i still feel very unclear around what i can and can not post about.

I know the forums are a safe place for people to come, but we are all adults and i think to a certain extent we need to be taking responsibility for our own triggers. There is no way that a place like this can account for absolutely everyones triggers because we are all individuals with complex mental health and trauma backgrounds and it would just be impossible. it can feel like you are constantly being targetted when every issue that you have is too trigger to be discussed on the forums, yet for someone else who has a different background to you can talk about their stuff cause its not as trigger and not a no no in the guidlines (i hope that makes sense).

its really invalidating when you be really vulnerable and open up and share parts of your story and your life on such an open place, only for it to be removed. You are in essence being silenced. which in itself is really triggering, especially for someone who was made to be silenced after their abuse.

I think the TW and spoiler alerts could be used alot more and making it available to use when accessing the forums from your phone. Perhaps there needs to be some more built in details to the spoiler alert, like listing what is being spoken about.

Obviously there are things that just cant be talked about and that should be listed in the guidlines and made very clear, but i think some things need to be relaxed.

I think the guidlines need a serious overhaul. They need to be simpler to read and understand

I agree with @Bow over the consistency of the guidelines amongst mods. I feel that there is different understanding amongst mods. If they all understand differently, how is it possible for the members to be sure?

That's great to hear, @RachSANECEO. Thank you.

I'm a little confused with the first part of your post about pro-support, pro-therapy, and anti-treatment. I'm unsure if I've missed anything from other posts or not @RachSANECEO.

What do you think would be the boundaries if we adjusted the guidelines?

The boundary, again, would be whether a post is safe enough and not too triggering for people. I like the idea of the journal space or crisis support over a one-on-one chat ( with the chat, there would need to be specific rules so people don't abuse the support and start to rely on it too much) that could be the place where you can be more open about what's happening so it doesn't interfere with the guidelines and affect the whole community.

What would be ok vs not ok in a post?

I would say talking about methods or SI and SH, expressing clear plans. It's a tricky one with a person once they have attempted because I know it would be nice if we could talk about it, but then it's hard because I don't know if that will trigger anyone.

How would you and others improve them?

These are a couple of general things I'm thinking about.

I've just been reviewing the guidelines; how they are set out can make it hard to understand. I think short dot points would be good as there is much information to cover. I find the usability is also hard to navigate by having so many different subcategories.

It would also help if mods and PSW are all on the same page with what is classed as risk, a breach in guidelines and what would be considered for when a post needs editing. Many times, it's been something minor and taken away or something serious, and it's not been followed up with.

I'm a bit unsure how to put them, but that's a few things I've thought about.

The foundational principles I would see as top of the list @RachSANECEO are (in no particular order):

1. connection
2. support
3. consistency
4. equity
5. respect
6. dignity
7. access
8. safety
9. humanity

@Zoe7 @Birdofparadise8 @Captain24 @chibam and others following,

I'm interested to hear your views and understanding around Peer Support Workers and Moderators.

I'm reading that the 10pm 'knock off' time for PSW can be difficult for members.

I'm not sure if members remember that in the past, we only had moderators on the forums. This meant there was very little community engagement on the forums.

I'm wondering whether members prefer it to go back to moderation ONLY, or have you found Peer Support valuable? This was introduced onto the forums just shy of 2 years ago. I believe we are one of the few forums who have paid peer workers working on the forums, and hence you experience a 'knock off' time even though moderators are still online 24/7.

I'm sure there are gaps with peer support workers as this is only very newly introduced. I acknowledge that the introduction and role of peer support workers wasn't as clearly communicated to the forums as it could have been, even though there was an introduction thread.

I'm interested to hear your thoughts.