Home Community Announcements
If you need urgent support, call 999 or go to your nearest A&E. To contact our Crisis Messenger (open 24/7) text THEMIX to 85258.

What do you want from chat?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
:wave:

So as part of the chat break we'd really like to hear from YOU and get some feedback.

Attachment not found.

This thread is to share constructive ideas for improving your chat experience..you might like to think about what you enjoy about a good chat, when does it work best, what would you like to see more of?

You can also tell us if there are any topics that you'd like to see us do an expert chat on and we'll be sure to consider them in the schedule :yes:

Over to you...

Comments

  • apandavapandav Posts: 2,072 Boards Champion
    Only ever been to support chat.

    I'm definitely for closing round question, as it's a nice way to brighten people's morale after discussing difficult/ challenging topics.

    When I went to my first support chat, I was very confused by the opening/closing rounds. I was thinking- I thought this was supposed to be "support chat", so why are they generally chatting, am I in the right place? I don't think I was/ won't be the only person to feel that way. My suggestion is that you advertise the structure of chat more clearly on the "live chat" section.

    I think support chat is a great idea but it can be difficult to keep up when it's busy. Also, it might be difficult for some people to be heard by others. I don't have any suggestions on how to improve this, but maybe it's something to look into?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Try and make sure everyone get's heard; I know this is a really hard thing to do due to the length of chat and how busy it gets, but it's always the same people getting the same advice near enough every chat and there's always the same few people that never actually get the support despite asking for it and trying to reach out. You can pretty much predict who will get advice when you find out who's modding
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hiccup wrote: »
    Try and make sure everyone get's heard; I know this is a really hard thing to do due to the length of chat and how busy it gets, but it's always the same people getting the same advice near enough every chat and there's always the same few people that never actually get the support despite asking for it and trying to reach out. You can pretty much predict who will get advice when you find out who's modding


    I was just about to put this before i realised you've put it. I want to be able to get support, Sometimes I feel unable to because Certain mods are spending the whole time fixed on one or two people, I'm not mod bashing here and I know it's a 'peer led support' rather than supposed to be recieving support from moderators. but I do feel that if Bob is getting support from Fred. John and William. about a problem with his...Girlfriend, and then Alex has a problem, I don't feel like the Mod should be focusing on Bob, when Alex is speaking, If someone is already reciving support then the moderator should move onto someone else. Give everybody a chance. if someone is monopolizing the chat they should be asked if we could focus on someone else now? I don't know...Plus i think chat should be back to two hours..if you're going to do the opening closing round :P
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Just to supplement any work done by the mods to make sure everyone gets heard, I don't think it would hurt to revise and work on the ways you engage with chat. I'm not saying anyone is currently 'doing it wrong' or anything like that, but particularly when you've been part of a community for such a long time, it can be easy to lose sight of things like this. I know I'm guilty of thinking less about it than I used to. I guess just make sure you do what you can do get yourself heard as well as the mods doing their best. Don't be afraid to assert yourself if it's bloody manic, either. :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Petrichor wrote: »
    I guess just make sure you do what you can do get yourself heard as well as the mods doing their best.

    The point is that people are doing this and people are still being ignored? There's only so much you can do. People try so hard to get support but it always goes to the same usual people
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Then great. :) Just thought it was worth reiterating.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think Em has hit the nail on the head here too about peer led support- ultimately chat is your space so it's your responsibility too to help each other get heard and to respond to each other. If you're not sure how to or you don't know what to say and the mods seem busy with someone else then you can always say ' I'm not sure how to help x but hopefully someone else can soon - anyone got any ideas on how to help x with y? ' or something similar :chin: that helps bring someone's isssue to everyone's attention if they don't feel able to repeat it themselves.

    I also want to assure you that all of our mods are trained to be impartial and to do their best to include everyone in the room. I'm sorry to hear you feel in practice this doesn't always work out - sometimes it is just too busy for us to read every single comment but we never intentionally ignore anyone. You are all important.

    I will feed back your concerns to the mod team though, in particular about air time and perhaps if someone has had it for a while just adding a gentle suggestion to the room to ask if anyone else is waiting to share something. I'm sure if we all work together we can help everyone to feel heard :thumb:

    Ultimately it's a team effort - mods are there to oversee the whole group and keep it safe - they won't always be able to reply to every single person but you guys can really help each other to feel heard too :yes:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    apandav wrote: »

    When I went to my first support chat, I was very confused by the opening/closing rounds. I was thinking- I thought this was supposed to be "support chat", so why are they generally chatting, am I in the right place? I don't think I was/ won't be the only person to feel that way. My suggestion is that you advertise the structure of chat more clearly on the "live chat" section.

    Thanks for this apandav - we'll definitely think about how we can make this clearer for new members :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Jo7 wrote: »
    I think Em has hit the nail on the head here too about peer led support- ultimately chat is your space so it's your responsibility too to help each other get heard and to respond to each other. If you're not sure how to or you don't know what to say and the mods seem busy with someone else then you can always say ' I'm not sure how to help x but hopefully someone else can soon - anyone got any ideas on how to help x with y? '

    Ultimately it's a team effort - mods are there to oversee the whole group and keep it safe - they won't always be able to reply to every single person but you guys can really help each other to feel heard too :yes:

    Okay but if it's our responsibility to help each other out and get each other heard, Surely mods should stick to just watching and making sure it all runs smoothly and then get involved when things get out of hand? Idk it seems like a lot of mods just pick and choose who they listen to/offer support to and it's always the same few individuals.

    Also, on another note, with the chat rules/guidelines, it's almost like they pick and choose when to enforce them depending on who the individual is. For example; we all know that chat isn't a place when you're in crisis, some people come in and say they want to die and they get signposted to somewhere else but then other people come in and say the same or worse and they get support and nothing mentioned to them?? or when someone gets kicked for swearing at an individual, but then another person starts swearing at someone else and being completely rude to them and they just get frozen or get a warning? Surely it should be one rule for everyone not just having the rules in place when the mod feels like it
  • louisa982louisa982 Posts: 294 The Mix Regular
    [QUOTE=Hiccup;n3527465
    Surelyit should be one rule for everyone not just having the rules in place when the mod feels like it
    [/QUOTE]
    In business studies we learn about quality and quality control . It's about setting the same standards in all departments and all areas. I feel like we need to ensure this is in chat. So like if someone says "f***k off" directly to another member you need to decide weather this is a freeze and warning or if it's straight to a ban. I know all situations can be different weather it's out of the blue or if it's been built up but I dunno it might help.

    Also I know it is about peer support but there are a lot of people that give loads of support to others and struggle to get even a little bit of support back for themselfs. Likewise there are also members that have support all the time in almost every chat and they NEVER give support back. I'm not directing this at anyone but I think it should work both ways. If you have an off day and need support and simply can only think about yourself , why not come back another day when your better and support. I'm not saying this should be a rule or anything but I think it would be a lot fairer.
  • apandavapandav Posts: 2,072 Boards Champion
    Jo7 wrote: »
    If you're not sure how to or you don't know what to say and the mods seem busy with someone else then you can always say ' I'm not sure how to help x but hopefully someone else can soon - anyone got any ideas on how to help x with y? ' or something similar :chin: that helps bring someone's isssue to everyone's attention if they don't feel able to repeat it themselves.

    I think this is a valid point, thanks for pointing that out Jo.

    Personally, I tend not to say anything if I don't know how to support someone but I will take this on board!
  • apandavapandav Posts: 2,072 Boards Champion
    louisa982 wrote: »
    In business studies we learn about quality and quality control . It's about setting the same standards in all departments and all areas. I feel like we need to ensure this is in chat. So like if someone says "f***k off" directly to another member you need to decide weather this is a freeze and warning or if it's straight to a ban. I know all situations can be different weather it's out of the blue or if it's been built up but I dunno it might help.

    Also I know it is about peer support but there are a lot of people that give loads of support to others and struggle to get even a little bit of support back for themselfs. Likewise there are also members that have support all the time in almost every chat and they NEVER give support back. I'm not directing this at anyone but I think it should work both ways. If you have an off day and need support and simply can only think about yourself , why not come back another day when your better and support. I'm not saying this should be a rule or anything but I think it would be a lot fairer.

    Good point Louisa. But I think maybe it would be difficult for some newbies to start giving support straight away, yet they shouldn't feel unwelcome because of this. Perhaps with time though they will feel that they can give support.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Agree with the above. I don't think there should be an obligation to either give or receive support, no matter how new/long term of a user you are.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Another thing, I think users need to keep things in one room, for example if shit goes down between you and someone else in SC so you leave to come to GC, don't come in and start bitching about people/the situation, come in and chill by all means but I think things really need to be dropped when you leave that room. Or if you're being ignored in SC or you've been banned from SC for whatever reason, don't come in to GC and bring up support related subjects.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hiccup wrote: »
    Another thing, I think users need to keep things in one room, for example if shit goes down between you and someone else in SC so you leave to come to GC, don't come in and start bitching about people/the situation, come in and chill by all means but I think things really need to be dropped when you leave that room. Or if you're being ignored in SC or you've been banned from SC for whatever reason, don't come in to GC and bring up support related subjects.


    :yes:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hiccup wrote: »

    Okay but if it's our responsibility to help each other out and get each other heard, Surely mods should stick to just watching and making sure it all runs smoothly and then get involved when things get out of hand? Idk it seems like a lot of mods just pick and choose who they listen to/offer support to and it's always the same few individuals.

    Also, on another note, with the chat rules/guidelines, it's almost like they pick and choose when to enforce them depending on who the individual is. For example; we all know that chat isn't a place when you're in crisis, some people come in and say they want to die and they get signposted to somewhere else but then other people come in and say the same or worse and they get support and nothing mentioned to them?? or when someone gets kicked for swearing at an individual, but then another person starts swearing at someone else and being completely rude to them and they just get frozen or get a warning? Surely it should be one rule for everyone not just having the rules in place when the mod feels like it


    Hey Hiccup - I really take what you're saying on board and again, we will pass on a summary of all of this feedback to the mod team. Mods all go through the same training but they are all also unique individuals with their own styles and strengths and weaknesses, that's something we want to embrace rather than having us all be like robots ;)

    I do get what you're saying though and clear breaking of the guidelines should result in a freeze, kick or ban depending on the severity and the situation - there are a lot of variables so it's tricky to have really strict rules as sometimes people swear and it's not aimed at anyone in particular. Our main aim with any conflict is to only kick people out as a last resort and to encourage everyone to move on quickly and to help people stay in the group if they can.

    I appreciate what you're saying about suicidal feelings - judging whether someone is in crisis or just needs to express the pain they are in is also an art rather than a science! It's not always clear straight away so sometimes we may give someone a bit more time to explore what's going on. However, we agree, chat isn't a place for crisis support or intense suicidal feelings and mods should be signposting to relevant services in these clear cases.

    Mods ideally should be sitting back and letting you guys support one another, however, we also need to step in to fill in the gaps and our role is a supportive one too - as apandav says, people don't always know how to respond and mods are trained to be able handle most things!

    Really appreciate your feedback everyone, I hope it helps to get it off your chests. I'll be gathering it all up at the end of the break and we'll be refreshing mods on any key areas that are coming up as well as talking about things as a team.

    Keep it coming :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    P.s Thoughts on improving GC as well as SC welcome too :yum:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    GC. I think there needs to be a clear line that general chat is NOT Support chat, Fair enough coming into chat and being like "I've had a bad day" but it's not the place you get support from, I know a few people and I'm not singling anybody out, Will come into GC after SC is "Busy" and use it like SC as theres less people, I find GC is a place to be a goof and speak about random shit as long as its not support related. I think it needs to be clearer boundries "I'm sorry you're feeling this....can I just remind you, SC is open till 9:30 if you wanted to speak about this"
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Emmalee wrote: »
    I find GC is a place to be a goof and speak about random shit

    And literal shit occasionally ;)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hey everyone :wave:

    I just wanted to summarise your feedback to let you know the points we have taken on board and also some immediate changes we have made since the break.

    It's also worth noting the next chat break is in January 2016 (3rd - 7th).

    Here are the key points we'll be taking away and sharing with our volunteer mods too:
    • Clear info on opening and closing rounds for newbies would be helpful
    • Would like mods to make more effort to make sure everyone gets heard, picking up on quieter members and encouraging give and take
    • You feel there is inconsistency on how conflict is dealt with at times depending on the mod
    • Concern about people being kicked from one room and going in to another and talking about it
    • Make sure support topics are kept out of GC
    Immediate changes as a result of your feedback and feedback from volunteers:
    • Refresher training for mods on managing conflict (to make sure we're all on the same page as much as possible) we'll roll this out over the next month or so.
    • Kicks will be replaced with short-term bans - if you are kicked from a session you will not be able to join another room. You will have to wait to come back to the next chat. You will be given a verbal warning or freeze in the first instance unless it is a clear and serious break of the guidelines e.g you come in and abuse other members or post spam links (then it's just a straight ban).
    • Update in the guidelines about sharing of personal info and photos in chat - check out the 'How do I stay safe in chat?' part of the guidelines: http://www.thesite.org/chat/chat-guidelines We have added the following:
    We also ask that you avoid sharing any personal contact details in the chat room such as your email address, phone number or facebook page. If you want to share a link to a photo of yourself then you do this at your own risk. Don’t forget that once you post something in the chat room it can’t be deleted; photos are easily saved or shared.

    Thanks for all your feedback - we'll keep working on responding to the longer term suggestions! :yes:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    We should make gc more fun like have quiz on some days boring sometimes. Or games
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    angel wrote: »
    We should make gc more fun like have quiz on some days boring sometimes. Or games


    Nice ideas :)

    I'll pass them on to the GC mods
  • AuroraAurora Posts: 11,722 An Original Mixlorian
    angel wrote: »
    We should make gc more fun like have quiz on some days boring sometimes. Or games


    I'm someone who doesn't really 'fit' into General chat, so, I avoid it at most costs, but when I have been it, the conversations have been active and interesting, it's fitted around communication from our peers. I'm aware that I don't actually feel comfortable with General chat. I prefer the aspect of general banter in the support chat, as long as it isn't overflowing, etc.

    But if you were to go with the idea of General chat, including Pop Quiz, and all that m'larky, you could do one every two months or so, and rather than consuming the time of moderators, (I'm sure they have a life to live) - Get users to try and come up with something in there spare time and let users have a go at hosting that specific part of chat, obviously, with the moderator at hand.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    angel wrote: »
    We should make gc more fun like have quiz on some days boring sometimes. Or games


    If this does become a thing, it needs to be optional because some of us go to General chat to just chat and ldk about others but I'm not comfortable with quiz's and games sometimes, but even if this does happen I'll still use GC as GC and hope people don't get crappy when me and others carry on having conversations rather than participating
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Hiccup wrote: »


    If this does become a thing, it needs to be optional because some of us go to General chat to just chat and ldk about others but I'm not comfortable with quiz's and games sometimes, but even if this does happen I'll still use GC as GC and hope people don't get crappy when me and others carry on having conversations rather than participating



    I agree with Hiccup here, I like to use GC as GC...Mucking around random crap type thing, Quizes and stuff become too heated and thats not what GC is all about, Maybe a monthly 'Quiz/Games Night' could run along one of the SC's....
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Emmalee wrote: »



    I agree with Hiccup here, I like to use GC as GC...Mucking around random crap type thing, Quizes and stuff become too heated and thats not what GC is all about, Maybe a monthly 'Quiz/Games Night' could run along one of the SC's....


    Or if there's enough mods they can do it on Tuesday when there's only SC running, just a thought
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Quiz night... :chin:
  • plugitinplugitin Posts: 2,197 Boards Champion
    I remember on an old forum I used to frequent, we had weekly quizzes and a leaderboard. The advantage there was though it was on quite a niche topic whereas here it would have to be more broad!

    If we (as users I mean here, to make it clear I'm not speaking with my mod hat on!) were to take it in turns to write quizzes on, say, a monthly basis it could be quite fun?!
  • HannHann Posts: 3,434 Boards Guru
    plugitin wrote: »
    If we (as users I mean here, to make it clear I'm not speaking with my mod hat on!) were to take it in turns to write quizzes on, say, a monthly basis it could be quite fun?!

    I agree with this, a bit like how we do with the Summer quiz and Christmas quiz when people run a round, that would be a great idea.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Liking the idea of a monthly quiz night and you guys taking it in turns to host mini rounds - sounds great :D

    Hiccup - we're hoping to have GC on Tuesdays in the future, just not enough mods/volunteers at the mo! We're working on it ;)
Sign In or Register to comment.