Changes to Group Chat Structure to Foster Community
Hi everyone,
We have recently noticed a decline in support and participation in our group chats. While we appreciate everyone's contributions, we have found that the low activity level in different group chats has discouraged many members from engaging in conversations. Many enter the quieter chats and when they see it quiet, they tend to leave which is doing no good to offer them much-needed support.
To ensure that our group chats remain vibrant and inclusive support spaces for everyone, we are making a few adjustments:
- Group Chats’ Pop-up Status: The following group chats will temporarily return to pop-up status. This means these group chats will be open during scheduled discussions or as per your request. To request these chats to open, these requirements need to be fulfilled:
- At least 3-5 participants are willing to participate in a specific group chat.
- Or, they can become room support or discussion leaders for specific group chats and host at least 2 weekly sessions.
- If you meet either of the requirements, you can inform a community moderator on shift to help you open a group chat for a specific period (let’s say 60 minutes). After completion of discussion, the room will be closed.
- Re-evaluation Period: We will monitor participation and reassess the situation every month.
- The group chats return to popup chats:
- Relationship Support
- LGBTQ Support
- Listener Community Room
Also, we updated the rotation group chat schedule after assessing the participation & support levels. The new rotational schedule is as follows:
- Monday & Tuesday: Loneliness Support
- Wednesday: Anxiety Support
- Thursday & Friday: Relationship Support
- Saturday & Sunday: Trauma Support
We hope this change will encourage more active support and engagement and make it easier for everyone to stay connected.
Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.
Thank you.
@heather225
@Heather225
Thats pretty challenging to do when it seems all everyone wants is “Sharing Circles” (or the alike rooms that are just named differently).
I would love to volunteer to help with the lgbtqia+ room!
Thanks for making this official, Obs.
Was there any communication about the closing of 35+? I thought it would be mentioned here, retroactively, but it wasn't. Would be nice to get official communication about closing of all rooms that are being closed. People have been asking.
- At least 3-5 participants are willing to participate in a specific group chat.
How does that work? Do you want people in other rooms to chat about wanting a different room open?
@AffyAvo yeah what kind of confusing set up is this?
@ASilentObserver
that's cool! but why just one day for anxiety support? :(
oh no, no more healthy living 😭 @politeocean
@vivelespatates
I don’t even fully comprehend it 🤷🏻♀️
So basically we can no longer hold pop-ups for HL?
Do we still maintain group support mentor badges?
Do we still have doorkeeper status?
Not really much clarifications.
And not to mention HL finally got discussions rolling again!
But to apply for room supporter, you need to host 2 weekly sessions? isn't a lot? I think one weekly would make more sense tu attract volunteers and keep them on longer term..
@ASilentObserver This is an unfortunately decision. The Relationship Support room had a strong community and would get as busy as MCR at time (while actually providing support). By opening just a couple days a week, it loses momentum and its members aren't interested in other rooms. I hope the decision gets reconsidered.
I agree with @lightApple3875. I used to be there alot too. It helped me process my relationship trauma listening and talking. Right now I adapted to being in other rooms, and less inclined to return to RS even when it is opened. But I do miss the friendship made there. People have scattered or disappeared after the sudden closure. Alternatively, the room schedule switch could have been highlighted in the banner ahead of time so regulars in RS have a chance to counter propose something to alleviate the problem that the 7cups admins are solving.
@ASilentObserver This has so far made it worse for me to get support and stay connected to anyone. I am unable to get help or discuss lgbtq issues as I have no idea how to round up 2 other people... from where... from other rooms? What?
Instead of just having a room be allowed to open if one person really wants to talk about something of that topic, and others having a decent while to join in and maybe help.
The decision to turn the relationship support room into a temporary pop-up space is problematic. While it may at times be slow or a dead room, relationships are a central aspect of everyone’s life, and issues within them are often the root of many other emotional and personal challenges. The state of someone's relationships—whether with family, friends, or partners—directly impacts their overall environment and well-being. Having the support be limited to 2 days undermines this, even if the room is dead at times limiting the support space is not the solution.
While I understand the reasoning behind the decision, I must disagree with it. Regulars are the backbone of rooms, and pop-up rooms won’t have regulars, leading to even quieter rooms. Initially, regulars from the most active room will hop from one pop-up room to another, but eventually, they’ll lose interest and stop attending, or move on for various reasons.
Integrating regulars into other rooms rarely works well; it requires a lot of effort, and busy rooms aren’t very welcoming to newcomers.
Lastly, as mentioned earlier, RS is much more active than SR. So why was RS closed instead of SR? I vote to make RS a permanent room again before the regulars stop coming for good and we lose the chance to revive it.
@WickedSick This is very true. I mean you can't really push just anyone to go into Lgbtq+ room, and now it's not even open for when a person needs help with that topic.
@WickedSick I agree, unfortunately I think people are more likely to stop coming in to different rooms because there is no longer that community for support.
Different rooms provide a different atmosphere! And sometimes "off topic" conversations keep the room active between discussions that provide support
Closing the rooms without notice has affected everyone from the closed rooms. other than this thread there is very little information about what is going on, and that is only making the upheaval worse
Please reconsider the closing of so many rooms, especially relationship support
I really want the Relationship Support chat back as a regular chat. It felt like the best place to talk about my problems.
@chaoticcryptid
it’s open Thursday to Sunday now
