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A Fresh Start for Chat
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
:wave:
Over the last few days we have been listening, discussing and planning all things chat. We're now ready to let you know what will change when we re-open on Tuesday next week.
We wanted to give you all the Easter Break to let it sink in and we look forward to a fresh start for everyone.
So - what's new?
1. Timing
Support Chat and General Chat will now run in parallel - both chats will run from 8-9.30pm.
Why? To encourage you to make a choice - what are you looking for, focused support or fun and distraction? Choose the right chat for you and stick to it. We'll actively discourage multiple switching between rooms. One switch is fine.
This timing also means that when SC closes the dynamic in GC isn't suddenly disrupted. Please also remember that GC is for light topics, fun and positive distraction.
2. Opening and Closing Rounds will be included in all Support Chats
8-8.15 Opening Round
8.15-9.15 Power Hour of Peer Support
9.15-9.30 Closing Round
Why?
The opening round is a question led by the mods to allow everyone to 'land' in chat, to help include everyone in the room and to get people on the same page before we start supporting each other. Chat works best when you're all working as a team. When you opt in to chat you opt into that team and this opening part brings everyone together :yes:
The Power Hour is over to you. This is your space to work together and support each other. We'll chip in where needed and we'll help quieter members join in when we can.
The closing round is a chance to unwind so that everyone feels grounded and safe. This will be a question led by the mods.
In time, you'll all have the opportunity to help out with opening and closing rounds just like you do the countdown :thumb:
3. More Support Circles
We will work towards putting on a Support Circle chat every month for a small group.
Why? The busy chats can be hard, especially for the less confident among you, to get your voices heard. These chats are a chance to get support in a small group of no more than 12 people and will be sign-up only.
The next Support Circle will be in May and the longer term aim will be to have these happening on a fortnightly basis once we build up volunteer capacity.
4. Monthly debate/politics chat
We'll run a monthly chat for debate and politics.
Why? We know lots of you enjoy these more in depth discussions but that they can be a little alienating in General Chat and sometimes bring heavier topics to what should be a light-hearted space.
We hope to bring more themed chats to the schedule in future too :yes:
5. Three breaks per year
From now on there will be three scheduled, 1-week breaks per year at Easter, Summer and Christmas.
Why? We think this break has been really productive. It's good practice for us all to have ongoing review and space for your feedback and a break is the best way to do this :thumb:
That's it for now!
We really appreciate all the feedback you have shared and we hope that these changes will address a lot of the issues that have been raised.
More than anything we hope that everyone has found the break useful and that we can all have a great fresh start next week :hyper:
Over the last few days we have been listening, discussing and planning all things chat. We're now ready to let you know what will change when we re-open on Tuesday next week.
We wanted to give you all the Easter Break to let it sink in and we look forward to a fresh start for everyone.
So - what's new?
1. Timing
Support Chat and General Chat will now run in parallel - both chats will run from 8-9.30pm.
Why? To encourage you to make a choice - what are you looking for, focused support or fun and distraction? Choose the right chat for you and stick to it. We'll actively discourage multiple switching between rooms. One switch is fine.
This timing also means that when SC closes the dynamic in GC isn't suddenly disrupted. Please also remember that GC is for light topics, fun and positive distraction.
2. Opening and Closing Rounds will be included in all Support Chats
8-8.15 Opening Round
8.15-9.15 Power Hour of Peer Support
9.15-9.30 Closing Round
Why?
The opening round is a question led by the mods to allow everyone to 'land' in chat, to help include everyone in the room and to get people on the same page before we start supporting each other. Chat works best when you're all working as a team. When you opt in to chat you opt into that team and this opening part brings everyone together :yes:
The Power Hour is over to you. This is your space to work together and support each other. We'll chip in where needed and we'll help quieter members join in when we can.
The closing round is a chance to unwind so that everyone feels grounded and safe. This will be a question led by the mods.
In time, you'll all have the opportunity to help out with opening and closing rounds just like you do the countdown :thumb:
3. More Support Circles
We will work towards putting on a Support Circle chat every month for a small group.
Why? The busy chats can be hard, especially for the less confident among you, to get your voices heard. These chats are a chance to get support in a small group of no more than 12 people and will be sign-up only.
The next Support Circle will be in May and the longer term aim will be to have these happening on a fortnightly basis once we build up volunteer capacity.
4. Monthly debate/politics chat
We'll run a monthly chat for debate and politics.
Why? We know lots of you enjoy these more in depth discussions but that they can be a little alienating in General Chat and sometimes bring heavier topics to what should be a light-hearted space.
We hope to bring more themed chats to the schedule in future too :yes:
5. Three breaks per year
From now on there will be three scheduled, 1-week breaks per year at Easter, Summer and Christmas.
Why? We think this break has been really productive. It's good practice for us all to have ongoing review and space for your feedback and a break is the best way to do this :thumb:
That's it for now!
We really appreciate all the feedback you have shared and we hope that these changes will address a lot of the issues that have been raised.
More than anything we hope that everyone has found the break useful and that we can all have a great fresh start next week :hyper:
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Comments
I adore all of the new rules etc. but just out of interest, do you know when the break around christmas will be? I think the majority of us tend to struggle the most around that time of year so when that break actually does arrive in the month, I reckon there might be some controversy from some members. It would be good if we were aware of the estimated week or dates, so that we can prepare for it properly from now until then
Agree with all of this. Looking forward to seeing how it all works
Say if we start off in support chat, but the subject being spoken about is triggering for us and instead of staying in the room and just taking a break we decide to go into General Chat, are we able to come back into support chat after when the subject has changed or we feel we can handle it better and to talk about the stuff we need to, or not because it'll be more than one switch?
That's fine Hiccup
Good point butterfly, we'll have a think about the dates and let you know
Question BTW Jo does that mean GC be closing the same time as sc u need make that a bit clear
Yes, both chats will run from 8-9.30pm
Another thing by doing smaller groups bit silly it be first serve, thats not going to fair on other people or u going make sure other people getting a chance too
It'll be a regular thing though so I'm assuming everyone has the opportunity to sign up and then if they don't get into one, they'll more than likely have a chance to get into the next one
And Hiccup's right, as it's a regular thing if places fill up we can make sure people get first dibs on the next one and so on.. don't worry, we'll make sure everyone that wants to, gets the chance to go.
The questions I wanted to ask is, I know u have a live chat on Relationships already with Support Chat and General Chat but when does Relationship Chat open on there? Interested because I would like to be involved in that and I know from the message boards a lot of people ask for advice on the topic so wanted to find out when Relationship Chat opens? Also I dont know if u and the other mods thought about starting up a Stress Free Chat because I know other sites like urself do a free Stress Free chat and thought it may work for u two. Its only a idea thats all. I sometimes on Chat alot of people can talk about something they have on their mind and others try and help but dont know how to then chat gets confusing with everyone feeling stressed and overwhelmed.
I also thought it was a good idea that u put another chat group alongside those it being Politics. There are also people on here who like to talk about it and will be interesting to hear. Everything involving about The Election is a good time to talk about it.
Would look forward to seeing the new changes
CrazyCat x
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" So I say thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing, thanks for all the joy they're bringing, who can live without it, I ask in all honestly what would life be? Without a song or a dance, what are we? So I say thank you for the music, for giving it to me "
'' It's a beautiful day and I can't stop myself from smiling "
It's great to see that support and general will run parallel to one and another, rather than see everyone rush into general as soon as support was over. Me being on of them. However, I often find that I go into asking for support, when and if I need it, by starting off with a general chat in support chat, it's often one of my coping things, having that aspect of not feeling alone (Because others are discussing issues) but also knowing I can engage in general banter and not have it solely focused on support alone, because I would generally feel rather uncomfortable if we were in an environment where everyone was discussing issues, even if real life, we have the differ between general and rants.
I love this idea!!! I like the aspect of a closing round comparison to an opening round though :chin: The early 15 minutes tends to be the quiet moment in chat, where it's just easier to ask for support, and actually be heard, before chat starts getting busier and more intense.
Have to agree with Rosebud on this, despite having no life what so ever and being that 'typical students' it can often be difficult to attend these chats due to it being mostly Tuesdays as its the active day for more students, when soc's and socials are on. So would be great to see more of a wide spread of days when it comes to these chats.
Love this!!! Would be great to get other things going on to though, on the similar lines obviously.
I was talking to Butterfly about this and had mentioned that it looks like you've gone for times that are often more difficult for people, for example Christmas, it's difficult approaching a new year, and often when it comes to the Holidays, I tend to have the aspect of feeling more alone and vulnerable, less so during the week, but again, I guess it would vary on dates you actually choose, and where about in the Holidays you go for. But it's reassuring knowing we have the message boards here if needed.
Can't wait to see these implications added to chat, I do hope chat starts to run a lot smoother than it has been, despite me being the one causing most of the drama, MOST of the time, haha!!!
I disagree - I think the opening round tends to settle everyone in and ease people into the thought of even attempting to open up about something.
I guess that varies on person to person. I expected people to disagree with me on that matter and I'm aware that people prefer the opening round, despite liking the opening and closing aspect, I often find it easier opening up in the first 15 minutes and getting more support, than having a battle to get support, and getting ignored when chat becomes an awful lot busier. But I thought I'd share my views either way.
I agree with this, it's a lot easier to get support when there's a smaller amount of people in there because you're more likely to get heard than when it gets busier.
Personally, I quite like the opening round. It's very inclusive and seems to bring the room together nicely. Both that and the closing round are pretty good for starting and finishing sessions on good notes too which I really like.
However, agreeing to disagree sounds like a good idea - people's opinions are bound to differ sometimes and that's okay. At the end of the day, the moderators do know what they're doing.
Hey CrazyCat,
Relationships chats happen roughly once a month. At the moment, the dates change depending on the availability of the advisors who run them. We usually put up a thread announcing the next one a week before it happens, so keep an eye on the Live Chat Announcements thread
Can you tell us a little more about the idea of a stress-free chat? Is that like general chat where there's a more relaxed, fun kind of atmosphere?
Hey Whispers,
Seems like you raised 3 points here. First of all, I hear what you're saying about needing to settle into a room first before asking for support. That makes a lot of sense
Good point about always having support circle on the same day (you too rosebud). We'll have to have a think about this.
Finally, the chat breaks. We do realise that those 3 times of year can often be tough periods for people. We'll make sure we pick our dates carefully and make sure we let you all know as far in advance as possible
A quick point around the opening and closing rounds. Butterfly, Whispers and Mike - I can understand where you're all coming from, and they are all valid points
I disagree with this. I think general chat is vital in support chat and shouldn't be limited as long as it's part of a conversation. I don't think people should be made to feel like they are doing the wrong thing or making the room 'unfocussed' by talking about more light hearted things. It's natural after all - often if we have a serious of upsetting conversation in person we tend to try and end on a positive note, or to cheer people up with fun comments.
Yes general chat shouldn't have support topics in, but I don't think the same should apply vice versa.
Again, I think the problem lies with people becoming irate when there comments are missed. It isn't anyone's fault - it's just what happens. Chat is too busy for everyone to bring stuff to the table, sometimes there is more urgent stuff that people are already engaged in conversation about and sometimes the person wanting a response goes about it in the wrong way.
:yes:
Personally, I would quite like to see something in the guidelines about this. If people don't have realistic expectations of chat then it makes everything ten times harder. As Butterfly said as well, people choose who they interact with at the end of the day.
Can't even edit to correct d'oh
Think that's a really valid point yellow. As with most of these things, it feels like there's a balance to strike. I think Mike hit the nail on the head by talking about expectations:
I agree that some general chat shouldn't be limited when it's a natural part of the conversation, so can happen in SC. The key thing here is deciding what you're looking for when choosing a room and knowing what to expect from that space. That's one of the reasons for making GC and SC run at the same time: providing a clear choice. So some general chatter in SC is absolutely fine (and can help lighten the mood as you say), but if someone's main purpose for being in chat is to have a GC-style conversation, then GC is better suited for that. Hope that makes sense.