GC Message Reload Update
Tonight some others (@ALeXaNdEr0712 , @Axtyn , @mysteriousClover) and myself had a long discussion on the update that allows you to reload previous messages in the group chats, with seemingly no limit to how far you can go back. I personally got back to Dec. 19 before giving up on trying to find and end to it. There is a lot of concerns that have been expressed by myself and by others. Some of these concerns are:
1. Lack of privacy/confidentiality- A lot of us display different levels of vulnerability depending on who is in the room at the time. As imperfect as it is, some of us have bad relationships and/or don't trust certain people on cups and do not want them to know everything about us. But with this update anyone can go back and see whatever you said at any day/time which removes the privacy and confidentiality in group chats.
2. Not feeling safe sharing in group chats anymore- As stated above, anyone at any time can see what you said no matter how long ago. A lot of us have really vulnerable and emotional moments in the group chats and now those moments are essentially permanently on display for everyone to see. It makes a lot of us feel unsafe about sharing in group chats.
3. Anyone being able to go back and access your previous links at any time- A lot of us send pictures whether it be of ourselves, art we've created, memes, objects we have/want. Those links are now always going to be accessible to anyone. I know that for myself personally, a lot of my artwork is very personal to me but there is a small group of trusted individuals within group chats who I'm comfortable sharing the artwork with. But now I cannot share it with even them, because anyone can reload the old messages, click on the link and see it.
4. Past triggering messages and conflicts never going away- With being able to reload old messages with no limit on how far back you can go, people will be able to go back to old conflicts which could re-spark the conflict if they see it and are upset by what was said. It makes moving on from conflict even harder and now it will never completely go away. Same for triggering messages, the wont go away which could cause a lot more people to become triggered in the group chats.
5. Trolling and harassment- There's always going to be trolls and harassment to some degree online. That's unavoidable. But the issue seems to be a lot more severe lately. And now trolls will be able to go back and see old conversations and better target other users. It also makes harassment much easier because there will always be access to things people have said.
Those are just a few concerns that come to mind immediately. I'm sure other people could think of other concerns as well too, though. I and many others simply do not find this update to be one that is comforting, safe or helpful. It instead is stress and anxiety inducing and causing a lot of us to feel like we cannot open up and receive support within the group chats anymore. I can't really find any reason for this to be more of a good idea than a bad idea. I'm sure the intentions behind it were good but the negative impact truly seems to be outweighing the positive intentions.
Tagging- @ASilentObserver , @Heather225 , @GlenM
I seriously do not like this change due to 1 privacy issues 2 members do not want what they are saying to a certain group to be read by otherssince they have trusting issues. I do not think change would be good for teen side of. Site since what they gone though and Also because of. Privacy issues.
I hope this. Gets changed fast.
@Mack and anyone else who is interested. The reason many of you likely do not remember any past discussion when an update like this was brought up was because it was 5 years ago.
You can see the threads here (voting) and here (planned update) if interested, and a later update.
Who are the powers to be to talk to about this? This change has changed the temperature of the chat rooms. The trauma room feels unsafe to people now. And maybe I shouldn't have told them about it but it felt wrong not to say something. I wanted to be upfront about it. Transparent. First question anyone asked was about a notice - Did we get a notice? No we did not. There was no warning. There was no choice. I don't know how many people will even come to the chat now.
@mytwistedsoul
i don’t think it’s at all wrong to be honest, and what you are experiencing is what we’ve been seeing on teen side, support room has been super empty and people aren’t coming online or saying things. This honestly needs to be changed because it’s awful.
@Astraeuss So many people had no idea that there was a change. I can see maybe in some spaces like @Jefferythebunny319 said. Maybe in chats when there's a discussion - It could be helpful. Or in the huddles they have. But some places - the places you share harder emotions and thoughts. Half the time it can be triggering enough but then to be able to have someone go and read what another person said in what is supposed to be a safe space - Idk. I'm so frustrated right now
@mytwistedsoul
i 100% agree. It’s plain wrong to me.
@mytwistedsoul @Asilentobserver oversees the chatrooms. There's also the feedback form, but for something like this I think it's better to have a dialogue (or do both).
I'm confused why they choose to make it go back so far. Would be so awesome if each community had a choice on the timeframe but that's probably way too complicated. Maybe for popup rooms they could at least implement a clear all button so after a discussion they could be removed. Even if only admins/com mods had that capability, it would be something that could help.
@AffyAvo Thank you Affy. I'll have to send a message to @Asilentobserver. And I'll probably do the feedback form too just to make sure all my bases are covered. That's a good idea for pop up rooms. Because they're not open all the time and if a mod or admin has the power to do it that would be enough for me. I think it would set quite a few people's minds at ease. It would definitely help
@mytwistedsoul @affyavo
Obs is already well aware of our dislike for this update, I know a lot of people on the teen side have sent many messages, having more people message would not be a bad idea though.
@Astraeuss I definitely plan to add my voice to this - hopefully someone will come up with something we can agree with
@mytwistedsoul
i hope so as well, but I wish until then they would remove the update to let everyone be comfortable
I've given it a hint of thought still, and maybe a reload in the community rooms, (TCR/MCR) isn't a horrible idea. Well not as bad in Support rooms of any kind. I normally try to see both sides when dealing with something like this, and my only reason for sharing anything of this sort is..
Idk about MCR but TCR can be very chaotic, many times you pull away for a minute and the chat has already ran through the little scroll back option. This is not nessicarily a bad thing at all, but sometimes members get very frustrated having to repeat themselves.
When games are going on in TCR most times the host has a hard time keeping up with the players and vica versa.
I am in *no way shape or form* trying to defend the update, its still really unsafe, what am i trying to share is perspective. Maybe this way, when others come on this thread, it doesn't seem so 2 sided (the main posters against the update, and other people commenting for the update). I have previously shared my opinion against the update (both in rooms and a little on here) and i just feel like a little perspective may help.
@Jefferythebunny319
tcr is a point I guess? But at the same time things are often shared among certain people in that chat, for example I am on at many different times not everyone is on, such as between 1 and 4 am. That is a much different group of people I have come to know very well. And also a time that I will mostly know who is there and not many new people are joining in. During that time I will share certain things because I’m comfortable with those people. While those messages are gone by morning with more the 30 messages from the end now someone can easily load back twice and see those all, which to me is extremely uncomfortable.
@Astraeuss
Thank you for sharing. I honestly had no clue and it's very important that you shared that, because my whole perspective has changed.
@Jefferythebunny319
i think often times we only see rooms when they are super active which can cause many to not think it’s far to bad but as someone who is usually on when maybe 3 others are it changes what you share entirely. And also takes away the whole argument of lurkers because at that time there honestly is non.
Also like from a computer perspective, isn't like it like horrible for the backup drives of cups it's self. Can't it lead to site lag and a bunch of glitches, which just means more angry members
@Mack
I'd like to add on, that one part of one of the listener trainings states "At 7 Cups, we aim to create a safe haven for everyone who wishes to participate, whether it’s in our forums, chat rooms, or 1-on-1 chats. All conversations are on-demand, deleted and anonymous." This update, very much contradicts this statement. They are no longer on-demand. They are no longer deleted. And there is absolutely no anonymity. Cups has always aimmed at privacy and now that is gone.
Letting anyone who joins this now know that H has said this is a glitch and is getting fixed soon https://www.7cups.com/forum/SiteUpdatesInformationFortheCommunity_100/Siteupdatesandchanges_2007/HeadsupontheReloadMessagesfunction_295214/
I just wanted to thanks you bring attention to this.
I can tell you speak with thing matter the most.
keep it up.
@harmonyLearninghope
Of course. There’s nothing wrong with speaking your mind and giving feedback as long as you are respectful about it. And I find that forums are the perfect space because it allows everyone to continue. And if I have to make the first step so that others feel comfortable chiming in, I have no problem doing so.