Best Of

Re: question

I get you here and whilst this isn't the exact same, where I live we have two towns side by side so there's a street near me where one half is one town and the other is the other town. However, there does have to be a divide/border somewhere to differentiate between the two, and even though you can walk between the two, they're recognised as being two different towns (two different countries in your case!).

Faolan wrote: »

So in theory, id have to do a quick 5 min walk over the border and stand there like a melon to write a reply or to post a thread and then walk back to ROI

In theory, yeah I guess that's all you'd have to do. And your answer to the pop-up question relies on an element of trust and whether you're telling the truth about which side of the border you are

Faolan wrote: »

It’s just a bit silly 😂 I understand why though it’s just funny how it’s all changed. Is it due to investors ? Or was the mix previously breaking rules by letting others use the website

It technically hasn't all changed - we've always been UK based, however we are moving towards a model of checking people's locations now via Geo-Fencing to update our practices. For funding purposes, we do receive funding as a UK-specific registered charity, so it's important we have measures in place to check that those using our services are in the UK. For example, previously this would rely on our conversations with community members and if they told us where they were based, but it was important we put better practices in place so we could start checking whether our community members are located in the UK. Furthermore, we're not wanting to isolate those who are living on the border, however in cases where we need to contact other services (such as emergency services), or signpost to other organisations, we can only safely and legitimately do this for those located in the UK.

I hear you that it's a bit silly though and I can imagine it feeling a little strange knowing whether you can use our services or not is based on if you've walked 5 minutes across the border. However, that's how the UK has been defined, and we're just following what areas are classed as the UK.

Katie

1

Re: Existing is hard

@Rose113 avoid listening green day, my chemical romance, Linkin park and the cure b4 bed 😀

ellie2000

1

Re: Welp. I guess its time...

I remember you @JJLemon18! Even as a moderator, I have seen some rather relatable posts and comments from you, even when they have felt 'rambly' to you. You have made a huge impact on the community.

Is there anything which might help this to feel more 'the same' and a safe space to be? We believe in you but we also recognise how scary and overwhelming things feel! especially when you feel you have to start over. Age is a number and does not ultimately define how you (do or 'should') feel.

We are all so proud of you and your growth! We really care about you and are here for you

Laura_tigger82

2

Re: Checking Your Location by Geofencing

Hey @Loz , thank you for your posts, and I hear you. We're sorry that it's been popping up each time, but unfortunately, that's how the system is working at the moment. I appreciate it's really frustrating.

I don't understand this new thing at all and how this pop up proves you're in the UK. Someone could press yes to that and they're not from the UK.

We hope for people to answer honestly!

Sian321

1

Re: Age Verification - Upcoming Change

I wonder what things we've all agreed to in the very necessary consent form for the merger

I thought it was interesting you said this @JJLemon18 . I always feel a bit freaked about small prints.

I tried to read some about SHOUTS policies and found a really insightful article, if any of you are interested. I’ll link it here -

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/feb/19/mental-health-helpline-funded-by-royals-shared-users-conversations

So it looks like SHOUT and MHI have a history of being absolutely brutal at communicating changes, especially when it comes to what they’re doing behind the scenes with our data.

I quoted this bit here because I find it kinda funny 😅😂

“More than 10.8 million messages from 271,445 conversations between February 2018 and April 2020 were used in a project with Imperial College London aimed at creating tools that use artificial intelligence to predict behaviour, including for instance, suicidal thoughts.”

The flipping love AI😂 it’s actually kinda scary.

TL;DR

Shout guaranteed that they would NEVER share individual conversations

THEN

Shout secretly 🥷 deleted their policy and decided to hand over over 10 million FULL conversations from vulnerable users to researchers / AI training

When they were called out for being unethical they basically said

Well actually … 🤓☝🏻…. Users technically agreed via our t&c’s

…….

There’s also a whole section on there about how MHI is linked with a ‘for profit’ organisation. It makes for an interesting read.

Anyway, there’s a great bit in the article which says

“Trust is everything in health – and in mental health most of all. When you start by saying in your FAQs that ‘individual conversations cannot and will not ever be shared’; and suddenly move to training AI on hundreds of thousands of ‘full conversations’, you’ve left behind the feelings and expectations of the vulnerable people you serve.”

They released their own statement there so you can form your own opinions

Faolan

5

Re: Age Verification - Upcoming Change

@Faolan I’ll give the logo thread a read too, as a screen reader user I’d completely overlooked it

FWIW, this is the thread I am on about: https://community.themix.org.uk/discussion/3597167/the-importance-of-being-genuine/p3

It was the big issue at the time and the elephant in the room, and at the time many didn’t feel it was being dealt with perfectly, but nothing is perfect. But it’s an example of how communication used to be. If anyone feels they don’t want this linked for whatever reason (perhaps one of your own posts)) please let me know. But it does feel important.

Edit: looking again, the first 2 responses on page 1 illustrate my point perfectly.

independent_

1

The mix logo

I just noticed the blue in the mix logo is now purple? Is that meant to be like that

Rose113

2

Re: Today cinema

@shannon_164 @Laura_tigger82 @Katie12 at certain cinemas now they put gigs/concerts on tht hav already been edited for ppl to watch on a screen. I last saw babymetal with sabaton and lordi at Wembley
The film genre I enjoy is horror or a light film would be 'the holiday'

ellie2000

3

Re: The Mix and Mental Health Innovations come together to supercharge digital mental health support

I wonder if the emoji thing is to do with the “data driven” model that shout use for their service? Former shout volunteer here, but we weren’t allowed to use emojis either. Partly because they can be misinterpreted, but also partly because they can look different on different devices. It’s fair enough in a 1-1 support setting like shout, but it feels impersonal in a community setting like this.

I have to say, as a shout volunteer I was very well supported. Their volunteer support team were incredible. If shout (which is part of the same charity) can do it, why can’t the mix? I have also looked at the volunteer recruitment page and seen there’s no openings to become a mod, and there haven’t been for a long time. This is not new either. But we were once told (possibly pre merger) that new mods were being recruited when there was no opening on the volunteer page.

independent_

2

Re: Today cinema

I love going to the cinema! what did you watch? i recently watched the new Bridget jones film which i thought was amazing!

Katie12

2