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Charlie's notebook
RarelyCharlie November 6th, 2019

This thread replaces my feed, which I hardly ever used. No restrictions on commenting.

In future, readers might not remember what a feed was. It was like a Tumblr blog but within 7 Cups. You could post stuff and your followers would automatically see it, and you could repost stuff that other people had posted, adding your own comment. We were told it was only used by a few people, it had bugs, and it was expensive to run, and then a few months later, with hardly any warning, it disappeared.

On reflection, I realise this notebook is more private than the feed was. Everyone who looked at my profile saw my feed whether they wanted to or not. This notebook will mostly be seen by people who subscribe to it or who deliberately choose to read it. So I'm thinking I might post here more often than I did in my feed.

Anyone at all is welcome to read, to subscribe and to comment. Tagging everyone who was following my feed when its closure was announced:

@2JoDuTyJo1 @AbsurdBook399 @affableHouse4580 @AffyAvo @AiluraBlaze @AllAboutEmotions @alostsoul1 @Amadeo @AmalieAnne @ambitiousNest5807 @Amie7 @AmityLagniappe @Annie @Anomalia @Anonymous100o1 @ApatheticApple @ArtGirl513 @Ashu303 @AtheneNoctua93 @Avaray @Ayla @BananaskinsXx @beccacats @BipolaryetAlive @biskygirl @blossombreathe @blueoblivion96 @bouncySeal96 @BrightRedFlower2322 @BrooklynM @Butwhosavesyou @Cadence @calmSoul60 @CaloenasNicobarica @CaptEmerald @CaringBrit @Cathlisa @Cathy111 @CeeDee32 @Celaeno @CharlieHasArrivedd @Charliepeachey @Chillymine03 @cloudySummer @comealongpond1988 @Compassionatelistener108 @confidentMoment82 @conscientiousDay8459 @Crinklefreak1990 @Dancelover2002 @dancingStrawberry34 @Dandelion358 @Darkpelt11 @dbubblepuff @deadcrybaby @DeathNDecay @decisiveHouse5960 @delightfulDragon87 @DesireeDescalza @Dibly @Dishamotwani @dogswinenetflix @DysphoricMe @Eduardo1901 @ehChihuahua @eleesy @elfdog @Emily619 @emotionalDrum6717 @emotionalTown1440 @EmperorRusty @emsworld @Equanamous13 @Eunoia @exquisiteDreamer32 @fearthevindd @Fei @FinleyTews @FlowerInDisguise19 @Flycat01 @ForeverInvisible @FrlsTonks @funnyPlace4222 @Gcat3000 @GentleLily20 @GlassStar @Glue @Hakunamananna @HappyCycologist @helpfulDog3487 @HeyItsRoo @Hiris @honestCurrent1031 @Hope2502 @HumanEars @impartialPineapple9240 @incognitoknight0101 @IndecisiveClementine186 @intelligentWheel627 @intuitivePrune6869 @inventiveTortoise3477 @itsahellofadayatseasir @Iza1 @izzie3000 @Jakeeee @JakobLopez @jennysunrise8 @Juniter @Justbeyourself3 @Kahilum08 @Keewee0701 @kikachu @kindDay4067 @KrinkTheMellowUnicorn @Laura @lauren1999xx @lavenderMelon6325 @Lilania @Lilylistens @lonelyandsickFede @LovingSparkle @loyalPark3943 @Lucilleball @Lucy @Lyra @Lyraaa6 @Lyth @Maenadia @MagAlves @ManandaPanda @Maryjean @melonMeloncholy @MidniteAngel @MistyMagic @Mittymouse @Mtude @myth276 @N221B @Nobody4367 @Nononoyesyesyes @Nottikas @ocdMedstudent9 @OceanRest orangeBalloon2097 @otapato @PandaK @peacefulSoul8 @peacefulWords45 @PedroMAlves1992 @progdreams76 @quietCloud22 @quietKite1932 @RaCat @radiantstele @Rainbow15 @Raspberrycheesecake @rationalTangerine5279 @Reboot85 @ReclusiveDoge @RedMeeko @roseMelody95 @sadalpaca @scarletPlum6501 @Scourge @ShaneKyleForever2017 @shawwesley @shiningLove72 @ShubhendraPandey @Siba @SomebodyyouKnow @SongsOfNerd @SouthAfrica2019 @StacyT @StormySmiles17 @Strawberrycake23 @SufferingAsh @sunDog64 @SunshineCat @sunshineDew66 @SunshineOnYourShoulder @SupportiveTruth43 @ThankYouForLettingMeTryingToHelp @themainjane @TLC2U @turquoiseHuman4131 @UncleIroh21 @Uncomfortablegeek @undefinednikki @underthemoonlightdust @Ushatar @VeeStarr @viciimperium @VickyP @Wanderwoman14 @warmheartedPrune8612 @WaterfallLily @WhimsicalDancer @Wittie96 @wizeakre @wontsleepwontwake @yaindrila55 @YyuunKaiight

Charlie

325
RarelyCharlie OP September 24th, 2022
Forum restructuring
About a month ago there was an announcement about restructuring the forums: Forum Restructuring Timeline and Updates! (Community Version). Here are some thoughts on that topic, but not specifically a reply to that thread.

Technically, a post like the one you are reading now exists in a thread. The thread is in a forum (a collection of threads), and forums are organized in categories (collections of forums). A category happens to correspond to a community, although it hasn't always in the past. Sometimes people use the word "forum" to mean a post, a thread, a forum or a category/community. Sometimes people add "sub-" to some of these terms.

There is work in progress to simplify this structure by removing the forum level. So, in future, a community (category) will be a single collection of threads, not a collection of forums containing threads. The term "forum" will probably come to mean category, so that a forum will continue to be a collection of threads, and a forum will correspond to a community.

Dropping the "sub-" prefix
In my opinion there was never any need for "sub-", and it makes for ugly terminology. I hope "sub-" can be dropped throughout 7 Cups as part of the restructuring.

How I use the forums
Personally, I don't use the community structure at all. I mostly use the Recent view to see all the latest threads, and I've embedded it in my dashboard where it replaces the feed. I also use my Subscribed threads view a lot, so I've bookmarked it.

I agree that the simplified structure will make some things easier to find, but I still won't use the communities myself.

In general, use of the communities seems to be declining. For example, members get a Teammate badge when they join their first community, and about 1,000 a week were being awarded a year ago, but this has steadily fallen to about 550 a week recently. Historically, the peak (just after the new app launched) was more than 2,000 a week.

Finding the right forum
When someone wants to create a new thread or to read other threads relevant to their own life, finding the right forum is a problem. This is why I made a map (although it gets out of date): Find a forum

In future, finding the right community forum will still be a problem.

For example, suppose you find you're often having a weird spaced out feeling and someone tells you it's called dissociation. You're an anxious 38-year-old woman in a difficult relationship, with a stressful job and a family history of schizophrenia. Where would you ask for support?

Each of the factors that make up your situation has a separate community. The only community that explicitly supports dissociation is for victims of trauma, which isn't a factor in your situation!

7 Cups' community structure forces you to self-diagnose, and the diagnosis is often wrong. If you ask for help in multiple places, the duplicates will be deleted.

These problems are not going to be fixed by the current restructuring. I don't think they have a simple fix.

Filtering
It's feared that, in the new structure, a community forum will just have a big indigestible pile of threads that will be difficult to navigate. One idea that could help users make sense of it would be to add more information to each thread, in addition to the title and author. Added information of this kind is common in forums, and it's known, technically, as metadata.

However, there are two completely different kinds of metadata in use in other forums. They can both be helpful. One kind tells you the purpose of the thread, and the other kind tells you about the content of the thread.

The purpose, or type, of each thread could be something like check-in, resources, icebreaker, advice*, support needed, journal, opinion, idea, announcement, open problem, solved problem.

*(By the way, unsolicited advice is a common type of thread, in spite of a rule forbidding it that quietly snuck into the community guidelines fairly recently.)

I think the list of types should be fixed and consistent across the whole of 7 Cups. Each thread should have one and only one type.

It would be good to represent each thread type visually with a distinguishing icon.

It would be good to provide filters that show or hide certain thread types. (And the filters need to persist as you move from one community forum to another.)

The other type of metadata is often called a hashtag or category. It provides information about the content of the thread. There's no reason to restrict the number of hashtags in a thread, and different communities are likely to use different hashtags. Communities could provide hashtags that do much the same thing as their forums do now.

Overall, I am mildly optimistic about the restructuring, but I'm not confident it will address the more challenging problems of declining community membership, difficulty finding the right forum, and our unhelpful reliance on self-diagnosis.

My thanks to @HealingTalk whose comments inspired this post 😀

Charlie

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