Updated: Filing Behavioral Report Forms: All the information you might need
The information has been updated as on April 13, 2023
Hello, 7Cupsians,
It has come to our attention that some of our users are unaware of different report forms and they may feel nervous to report someone close to them. I understand reporting an incident isn’t a fun step for anyone, but it is a required step to keep our communities safer for each other.
7Cups is an inclusive community and regardless of anyone’s role, we are all accountable for our behavior in the community. We strongly believe in:
“Working Together For Community Safety: When You See Something, Say Something”
Please read this thread in full, bookmark it for future reference, and share it with others too.
Note: It is requested of you to please NOT triangulate any reports. We completely hear you might be distressed and need to talk. You can message to discuss your reports with only admins or ambassadors. This is to avoid further internal conflicts or breaches of confidentiality.
First, let’s know about different ways of reporting someone’s behavior in the community. Please review it carefully!
#1 Report Through HelpDesk: (Open the page here)
Visit the HelpDesk page and submit a new request to report any unsupportive/inconsiderate behavior in the community. Please follow these instructions:
Help Desk - > select Report a Listener
OR
Help Desk - > select Report a member (non-listener)
In the Description box, please fill answer these questions:
1. Your 7 Cups username:
2. The name of the listener you’re reporting:
3. The date of the incident:
4. Where did you encounter this user?
5. Reason for your report:
6. Attach any screenshots that apply to the situation you are reporting
If you're for whatever reason unable to access the Help Desk, please email your report to community@7cups.com
Read more about the process here
#2 Community Moderator Report Form: Open the form here!
Use this to report Community Moderators (those that have the username Communitymod<name>). This form is reviewed by the Community Management Team. These are paid staff, not volunteer moderators. You would use the form above for those.
#3 Group Support Chat Room Emergency Form: Open the form here!
This form is used to report and call a chat room moderator to take care of an ongoing event that violates the chatroom or community guidelines. The requests through this form are managed by the Chatroom Moderators, Global Moderators, and Community Moderators. It covers all the ongoing behavioral incidents in the Member Chat Rooms.
#4 Community Inbox
You may submit reports of all types to the Community Inbox by sending an email to Community@7Cups.com - The inbox is managed by site admins.
#5 Safety Patrol:
If you find an inappropriate username or user profile, you can report it to the Safety Patrol by using the Profile Flagging Report Form: HERE
#6 1-1 Feedback Button
You can use this button to share your feedback for the support chat you had with the listener in a 1-1 setup. Use it to share how the chat went for you with the listener. Was it good? Negative? Or anything in between. It helps us to ensure our listener's efforts to improve their listening and supporting skills to support our members better.
#7 1-1 Report/Block Button
You can use this button to report/block an inappropriate user that you connect with during a 1 on 1 private chat. For Listeners: If a member is inappropriate, abusive, and not supportive of you during a chat, you can give them a couple of gentle reminders to improve and change their behavior. If the discomforting behavior continues, you can report and block the user and add a detailed description of why you are reporting or blocking the user. It helps us when you provide honest feedback for those users, and to take necessary actions to ensure a good chat experience in 1-1 environments for both members and listeners. Some tips on reporting effectively are here!
FAQs
➡️Who manages or views the reports under these reporting forms? (All contacts listed below)
- HelpDesk - Community Management Team
- Community Moderator Report Form- Community Management Team
- Group Support Chat Room Emergency Form - Chat Room Moderators, Global Moderators & Community Moderators
➡️When should I submit a report through one of these forms?
Whenever there is any behavioral violation that you noticed, you can submit it through the relevant report form. Please review the Community Guidelines here
➡️What if the person I want to report is one of my close friends or acquaintances?
Not wanting to report your friend or acquaintance is a common occurrence. None of us want to negatively impact our relationship with them and that makes sense. But community safety and behaving as per community guidelines is our mutual responsibility. Mutual responsibility here means we are collectively responsible to foster a healthy culture and participation environment where all feel safe and comfortable to participate.
So you could do two things in this situation: Firstly, gently remind and talk about the importance of following community guidelines to ensure they also behave responsibly. Secondly, if the first step does not work and the behavior persists, please report the behavior. Because it is not only about you but for others' safety as well who are part of the community.
➡️What if they are one of the community leaders like Mentors, Peer Support, Mentor Leaders, Ambassadors, or Admins?
All are accountable for their behavior in the community. You could submit such reports through the Listener-Listener Report Form. Members can use the Member/Member-Listener report form
If you have concerns about a member of the Admin Team, you may contact the Director of Community @Heather225, or send a detailed email: heather.nelson@7cups.com
Unless you help us, we wouldn’t be able to help you. Community Safety is the result of all of our collective efforts.
➡️What if I am nervous that my name will come out and the reported person harasses or bullies me?
Your name will remain confidential. We appreciate the efforts one makes to report and to ensure safety and protect the interest of everyone, we do not share the name of the reporter of the incident. Your name will not be disclosed while taking action on the report submitted.
Also, if the user bullies or harasses you after reporting them, you can resubmit a second report to report the incident.
➡️How are the reports processed?
All reports are processed as per the Behavioral Rating System. Please read more about it here!
➡️How will I know if the report I submitted was processed?
All reports are processed within 72 hours to a week. If you include your email address for further communication, you will receive an email from the team. You can reach out to the appropriate contact (see above) to follow up on your report. If you do not hear back from us, then assume that the appropriate action was taken. We take the reports seriously.
➡️What if the reported person's behavior persists even after submitting the report?
You can resubmit the report and all reports will be processed as per the Behavioral Rating System. But please ensure to give one week, before you submit your second report against them. Because it is possible that they may have received the feedback and are working on improving their behavior.
➡️What if a false report is submitted?
Before taking any action, we investigate our best to verify the authenticity of the report. It is also highly recommended that the reporter submit all relevant details and ensure they are correct to the best of their knowledge.
➡️What if I am also involved in a violation and filing a report indicates my involvement too?
First of all, we appreciate your support and efforts. It takes courage to submit a report where we know we are partially responsible too.
Some of us may feel scared or nervous to report such incidents but please do not be afraid or stressed. We would admire and appreciate your honesty and openness.
If we find your involvement too, we would give you a gentle reminder to refrain from such behavior in the future. If the report requires us to assign some behavioral points, we would be required to do that as well. But we will be gentle in our approach and you will get the benefit of reporting the incident. All action will be taken in the best interest of individuals and the community.
➡️What should I do if I get a warning email or report?
Learning is the key to growth. Feedback is part of the 7 Cups Community Culture. If you received a report, it is encouraged to refrain from such violations and behavior in the future and ensure you are following the community guidelines.
Please do not engage in triangulation or discussion about these reports with anyone else as it might lead to unwanted rumors.
➡️What if I am unsure about which report form to use to submit an incident?
You can write to Community@7Cups.com or submit the best form you feel is most related to a specific incident. Please avoid submitting multiple forms for one report as it will consume time for yours and ours and could delay or overlap the action on such reports.
➡️Some resources you might like to check and find helpful!
- Internet Safety and your role as a Listener- Open here!
- A-List of Forms You might need - Open here!
- Safety FAQs! Did you know? - Open here!
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact any one of us:
Community Management Team:
@Heather225
@Hope
@ASilentobserver
Quality Specialist: @EvelyneRose
Content Specialist: @SoulfullyAButterfly
Communities / Forums: @CheeryMango @tommy (Ambassador)
Group Support Ambassador: @BrilliantTurtle89 @Suryansh
Chatroom Ambassadors: @Amy @EmmaE @hopedreamlove @Suryansh
This is our community and it is our responsibility to help each other to keep the community safe for everyone.
(Last updated by Asilentobserver 4/13/2023)
@ASilentObserver ty so much obs<3
@ASilentObserver this is so helpful thank you sm!
@ASilentObserver
A really helpful post obs thank you so much!
@ASilentObserver
Very helpful, thank you
@ASilentObserver
Thanks for this helpful post!
@ASilentObserver Great post thanks Obs! I will add it to the Listener Primer and mentor bookmarks too!
Listening - One Step At A Time!
@ASilentObserver its a lot of different forms, and complicated and hard to find. I'm sure that this forum post will be lost in forums right in a few days, making it hard for newbies and the community to find them back.
and i know the reports against community moderators are not ready seriously. i dont see a volunteer ambassador blaming a paid staff.
in your post you said "What if they are one of the community leaders like Mentor, Peer Support, Mentor Leader, Ambassador, Admin? All are accountable for their behavior in the community. You could submit such reports through the Listener -Listener Report Form. " Though a MEMBER can NOT use a Listener-Listener form, since its not the appropriate form for the situation AND they are NOT listeners. so it totally makes non sense.
@TortueDesBois If you have any questions about 7cups,please pm any one of the people,in the post, and I am sure one of them would be happy to answer any questions or to address anything,you have issues with.
I hope this helps.
Have a great day.
@TortueDesBois Hi Tortue, I hear your concern. To ensure this post does not lose in the forums, I added the link of it in each form so, anyone can revisit this post anytime to check the filing information or ask any questions related to reporting as well here!
@ASilentObserver Could it also be added here?
@AffyAvo sure!
@TortueDesBois I agree. Listeners have training, members do not. When giving information like how to report in public forums, the member perspective should come first. Listeners have places to go for help to get info quickly, like the LSR. Members do not have that.
In general, things are often written keeping in mind with listeners first and then adjusted for members (for another example, see the behaviour point system). With using a service leadership model, I would think it should be in reverse.
@7CupsCommunity
@TortueDesBois I also agree with this. The reporting forms are too complicated, and there are too many, and they are hidden in the website. Also, placing the burden upon the member to provide proof of the incident (taking a screenshot, uploading to imgur, adding link to the report) is wrong on 7cups behalf. If 7cups is serious about reporting behavior, they would have a button directly attached to each message in the group chat.
There is actually already a mute/report button for each message in the group chat, but it links to none of the formal reports. My suggestion would be to use the mute/report button to report an incident, and when clicking the button, a chat log of the chat is automatically saved and attached to the report. this would shift the burden of proof from the member to 7cups. its more streamlined and will actually help to better solve any issues since they would have the chat log.
@TortueDesBois absolutely! When i've expressed this to a mod, they told me "the messages disappear after a certain point". When i'm told this, its clear that my suggestion is getting dismissed. Up until the messages disappear, they are displayed on the screen, which means they are either saved on 7cups server, or on cache on local machine. The data already exists, all that 7cups needs to do is to save the data and submit it to admins. Its extremely easy in this 2021 age of technology, and the fact that this is not the standard is simply laziness.
@ASilentObserver
@ASilentObserver Very helpful! I've always wondered where to look for particular forms on the site and your post consists of the perfect resource for them. Thank you🙏🏽
@ASilentObserver Thanks for all you do,to keep us members informed.
@ASilentObserver
If there is someone role playing in a room, What form would i use to report?
@AdylynS For issues in the (member) group chat rooms in general, the first step is to call in the mod, using the Group Chat Room Emergency form (one for adults, one for teens).
