Moderation and Guidelines

I don't think going back to just moderators would be good at all, @tyme.

I didn't even know the forum was like the, as I only joined last year.

We have so much connection with PSW and members.

I don't even see mods around or posting, so it would be like no one is here, and then how would we get support?

It is a bit odd with the finishing time as well.

I understand you have shifts, but sometimes there can be conversations happening or talking about important things, and then it just ends because no one comes on at 10 pm to continue the conversation.

Peer Support I think, is very valuable.

You say mods are on 24/7, but do they just check and ensure people are safe? I don't see them post and say people post after 10 pm to talk to someone no know replies back anyway.

You're 100% right. The role of mods is to ensure safety and check-in on people if there is risk. @Birdofparadise8 @Zoe7 @Captain24 @chibam

This is what the forums were like pre-2021.

Some moderators would post if there was high distress etc to confirm safety and refer members to crisis supports.

So yes, that's why you don't see moderators around 'on the floor' as much. They are in the background.

On the other hand, peer support workers have their own lived experience of mental health and are to engage members in conversation using the recovery model, CHIME. They then allow members to interact with each other. At times, when peer workers are freer, they may interact more with members too. I'm assuming this is what you find most helpful? Correct me if I'm wrong. Unfortunately, with close to 500 posts a day, it's impossible for peer workers to get to everyone and hence we have a triage system that allows us to see those who need more support at times than others. As @Zoe7 mentioned earlier, this triage system is not perfect. We are working on this one. The forums have definitely grown exponentially in the past few years, so we are working on making improvements during this co-design project.

I definitely acknowledge that the above re mods/PSWs was not clearly communicated to members during the transitional period. At the same time, it was something SANE was 'trying out' as it would be the first time this has been done. Initially, peer workers only worked from 10-5pm. This was later extended to 10pm. We are hoping it can extend further in future, but as it stands, we are sitting at the 10pm mark.

If you consider other forums, moderators only step in if there is risk or a guideline breach. Their role is not so much to interact with people.

Hope this sort of makes sense.

I think having the peer support is very important @tyme

I wouldn't be where I am today without SANE and RO.

Sidetrack with the Co-Design: do you know what the time frame is for it?

So, you use a triage when people post.

If you consider other forums, moderators only step in if there is risk or a guideline breach. Their role is not so much to interact with people.

When I'm on RO, I talk to the team on there I'm not sure if it's the same with PSW, but I think mods sometimes post and talk to members on there. It can be a bit confusing with who you're talking to though.

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@tyme wrote:

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

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Reading this line, I can't help but recall a quote from some major report in to the mental health system that I read some time ago: "All the services that cover us opperate on regular business hours. But shit doesn't go down between 8-5 on a weekday, it goes down at 3am on a Saturday night!" (not verbatim; apologies for the language, but that's how it was phrased in the original quote).

I'm not implying that 24/7 forums coverage would be easy or even possible given SANE's resources. I'm just saying that the sort of issues that SANE deals with don't keep to respectable business-hours schedules, so that's just something to keep in mind.

Absolutely @chibam ! If resources stretched, there would certainly be round the clock peer support 🙂 One step at a time, eh? But I'm glad you have raised it. It's very important.

@tyme There used to be much more interaction from mods on the forums. As the forums continued to grow (and new policies were implemented) mods became more in the backgound - only posting when there was a safety issue or conflict on the forums. We also had a major change with our long-term Community Managers leaving. Over the coming years, we have seen many CMs come and go - and for most of this year, no CM at all until recently. As a result, a lot of interactions and 'running' of the forums have been left to mods and PSWs. Both have a valuable role to play in the forums but it has felt for a while quite disorganised behind the scenes. Hopefully now this will begin to improve.

On PSWs - such a valuable addition to the forums however most tend to stick to certain threads/conversations and often do not reply to tags. There may be a massive amount of posts a day but it gets really frustrating when one can see a long conversation in one thread and other posts ignored ...especially when it is a new member. There are also times that PSWs miss breaches of the community guidelines when in these longer conversations. I will add here - that they are not robots and things get missed so some of these things are inevitable.

I think the future of these forums (and others eventually) will be with PSWs. SANE is already leading the way with the Peer Guide program and having lived experience at the heart of all they do (including many roles within SANE being dedicated LE roles). This is all wonderful (and ground breaking in the MH field) but I do wonder how much of the 'old' is being ignored for the 'new'. CHAT is a prime example. It has been a way to reach out for a little extra support by so many and is very much missed. Whilst it is admirable that SANE is leading the way in so many areas, there needs to be more put into consolidating areas (such as moderation on the forums) along with introducing new initiatives.

@chibam @Birdofparadise8 @RachSANECEO

Sorry I’m late to this @tyme. I’m sorry if I have offended you in any way.

I wasn’t around in the only mod time. You were the first person I met on here.

I really appreciate what the PSW’s do. They help talk you through what is going on and give guidance and feedback. Their support is endless. In no means do I not think you guys are invaluable.

My only suggestion was a little more interaction after hours. As @chibam said ‘Saturday night and 3am’. If in crisis yes the mods step in. But sometimes it’s not quite at crisis stage and a little support would prevent it.

I do understand staffing levels and budgets. It was only a suggestion on my part. Just if the mods after hours could be a little more interactive to prevent crisis situations.

Im not sure im making any sense.

You are making complete sense @Captain24 😁

The after hours one is a tricky one as I would see it would be harder to staff after hours ....but the forums are 24/7 and we should expect the same moderation anytime of the day or night - maybe this is where the PSWs could expand into.

Absolutely @Captain24 @Zoe7 . I'm hearing you.

Are you referring to the online chat that SANE had @Zoe7

If so yes it was so good. I used five GS and could sometimes talk to the councellor I had on there as well. It was so good because she then knew me. I also don't like calling for help and with SANE its a different person each time. I like how with KHL you can have a regular councellor its so valuable. @tyme

Is that something that could be discussed I know it's not apart of the forums but if people could talk to someone regularly that isn't on the GS that would be so good.