Blocking
If I block someone will they know? I have a listener that I need a break from for various reasons, but I don't want to offend or hurt their feelings.
Dear 7cups
Listeners should be more professional. Listeners should not be able to block without an administrative approval.
Listeners who block will eliminate the member/guest ability to leave a comment or response about the Listener and the listening experience. This does not help with the credibility of the services offered by the website.
I also believe this is the reason why some Listeners block a guest...It is a proactive move to eliminate any criticism towards the Listener.
An error code leaves the member/guest confused as to whether it's a website error or block? The guest doesn't know what error codes mean and navigation through the site is not as easy to guests as it is to others.
This blocking feature for Listeners should be updated and changed to promote a more positive experience and not allow any psychological power of the Listener over the member or guest. A block says to a guest you are not welcome on the website while someone else and their problems are. That is not the message the website promotes or should be promoting.
Please update and change this feature for the betterment of your guests/members, your Listeners and the quality of this website.
Also searching for another Listener after a block has occurred to a guest only leaves the guest more confused and leads to feelings of insecurity. The website constantly promotes that the Listener is a trusted friend. The Listeners need to act like a trusted friend and updating the blocking feature holds them more accountable to those statements of being a trusted friend. Anything else is just dishonest.
The dignity of the guest should be of the utmost importance to the Listener and leaving them with a positive experience... Not just blocking them cause they feel like it.
Also it seems like Listeners are using the blocking tool to be judgemental and hide behind labeling and the term "Trolling" to justify the bad behavior of the Listener. Listeners really should be more professional and understand that website requires guests/members to contact them to even initiate the conversation. The Listener should be welcoming ...not waiting for the guest / member to make honest misunderstandings and mistakes in communication to justify blocking. Listeners also should not ask inappropriate questions to justify talking down to a guest, blocking a guest, label a guest or more.
Ultimately the Listener in reality is the" troll" by offering their services as a non-judgmental, empathetic, caring trusted friend and then using actions such as blocking or ghosting to the guest/member. And it is even more unacceptable for a Listener to be upset if a Guest/member has messaged them to have a positive chat. The "Browse Listeners" tool requires that Guests/Members message them.
The Chat Now tool has taken hours before a Listener is available. This would cause the member/Guest to Browse Listeners and either Leave a Message or Chat Now. With the Chat Now tool available on the Listeners profile page...it will also take time to contact the Listener and sometimes the website will prompt the guest/member to leave a message or continue waiting for the Listener! So why would the Listener be upset if you messaged them!
Please encourage better attitudes and behaviors from the Listeners. Its not their job to search out Trolls...Its their job to be a good Listener and not to be a Troll themselves. That or they should not be a Listener at all.
In summary, blocking should be the last option for the Listener, blocking should require administrative approval, and the block should at least allow the guest/member being blocked to comment on the Listening experience and block/report the Listener if necessary. Also positive alternatives should be offered to the betterment of the Guest and the Listener after administrative review. Referrals to another specific listener or other postive options should be presented. Putting the sole responsibility of contacting another Listener on the Guest/member without any understanding of what went wrong in the previous conversation is just unresponsible. And the problems with the communication issues need to be legitimate and professional.
The guest/Member is told to think of the Listener as a trusted friend. For the LIstener to act anyway else lessens the credibility of the entire site. And to act like a block doesn't hurt the feelings and emotions of the Guest/Member when they are blocked by the Listener/Trusted Friend is unresponsible and ultimately dishonest. And for the site to say nonchalantly go find another Listener/Trusted Friend without addressing the issue is an example of being unempathetic to the hurt feelings caused by the Listeners actions.
The dignity of the guest / member should be the utmost concern.
Blocking takes the dignity of the guest/member away and encourages unfair labels of the guest/member. Blocking is the very example of judgemental behavior and if the Listener doesn't acknowledge or understand that then they shouldn't be a Listener or should require more training to be a Listener.
I understand also that Listeners are possibly volunteers..but volunteers are still be required to be professional. This happens with any other non-profit/charity service which 7cups is.
Please update and change this feature for the betterment of your guests/members, your Listeners and the quality of this website.
Thank you and please consider these suggestions.
@independentYard4586 Hey there!
Thanks for your feedback, it's greatly appreciated. All in all, I can understand where you come from, that a blocking feature can feel like a barrier between yourself and the "close-friend" mentality that you can have with your listener. However, we have this blocking policy in place for a few reasons. The first is so that just in case a listener is acting inappropriately (which should never happen!) and/or the member feels uncomfortable for whatever reason, a member or guest needs to be able to sever connections from that listener for their own self-care. In addition, Listeners should have the option to block members or guests who are also acting inappropriately, or triggering the listener after the listener has asked multiple times for the member or guest to stop. This is again, for their own self-care.
If we require admin approval for all blocks, that could take a while, and we do not have enough admin power to make this possible. For this reason, we have this option open to everybody to utilize at anytime.
Blocking can make the person (whether that's a member, guest, or listener) feel not so wonderful. And that's something that's common. However, sometimes, the self-care of the blocker needs to be taken into priority. In your thread you constantly refer to listeners blocking members, and that sometimes does happen. But listeners are trained to know when it's appropriate to block a user. Also, members and guests have the option to block listeners as well, so in regards to that, it's definitely a two-way-street that doesn't limit to just listeners blocking members.
Before blocking (from a listener-blocking-member perspective), there are multiple things that generally happen if a chat goes south. If applicable, the listener asks the member/guest to stop their behavior kindly. If that doesn't work, they may ask that the member connect with another listener, which is totally okay and encouraged, as not all members and listeners click on their first chat. If the chat continues to go south from there and all other reasonable alternatives have been attempted, then there may be a block. But just know that blocking doesn't happen first. There's a series of other things that should happen before a block takes place. If a listener is blocking immediately without trying other alternatives, then that listener may need a bit of coaching on when it's appropriate to block, and we can do that.
A lot of listeners are really professional, and I am truly sorry if you didn't have the greatest experience with a listener in the past. I hope that you have many other positive experiences with other listeners who do show that level of professionalism that we expect in listeners. We do train listeners in professionalism and establish a standard, and hope that they hold up to that standard.
I hope that I've covered all of your concerns! Feel free to ask any of our forum mentors or respond to this post if you have any other questions <3
Tagging a few people: @Anomalia @Monbon @Laura @Amelia
@Alex cc @independentYard4586
I would like to note that if you or any other member or guest has felt that a listener has blocked you inappropriately (so that they would not get a bad review), you are encouraged to email community@7cupsoftea.com with your review and their username so that their bypass is rendered ineffective.
@TreeRoot37
if you block a listener , you wont be able to talk to them , provided you come from another account . yes of course they will know bout it . the best is to refrain from msging them or asking them that you need a break . i know the listeners will understand and will refrain from contacting you further till you initiate the chat :)
@ececho Hey!
Thanks for clarifying. I also want to just point out that creating a second member or guest account is prohibited, as per Community Guideline #12 that states:
"Never create second accounts on the site.
Each human in the world is only allowed one listener and one member account. There are no exceptions."
If you have any questions on this policy, feel free to ask a forum mentor <3
@Alex
I meant if a guest comes in from another device , the account changes not the member kr listener account :)
i by mistake blocked one member. can i unblock that member? and how? please someone help me?
@sparkelurlove Email community@7cups.com
Well i am listener and i was blocked by a member , I need to know if any way i can talk to that member and know the reason why they blocked me
@FlyingBOY Hey fly! I'm sorry to say that once a member has blocked you, it would be in the best interests of you and them not to communicate anymore unless they decide to unblock you. There is not much you can do, as any means of forced communication could be looked at as stalking or harassing a member. I hope this makes sense.
I must have somehow clicked the block button for someone that I really enjoyed talking to, does anyone know how to unblock? I would really appreciate if someone could help
[removed] never block a fellow member like [removed] ever again !he was there just for help and you blocked him for fun ?!
Names removed by AffyAvo
How do I block someone? This one person (or robot I think) will not stop messaging me, its been alost everyday.
@calmthemindfillthespace In the conversation with the person, click on the circle with a slash through it. A popup box will open where you can put why you are blocking them.
