Listener and Member Usernames Confidentiality (Guidelines)

Safety and confidentiality go hand-in-hand on 7 Cups. Confidentiality refers to the state of information being kept secret or private. Examples of this are chat details, your personal information, and—yes!—your Cups identities.

If you have a member and a listener account, you have two identities. This may not even have occurred to you, and when you made your second account you named it similarly to your own. Imagine if you had an account named CarebearListens7 and you named your member account CareBear7. It would not take much to connect the two.

Another concern is the revealing of your names to others.

It may not seem like a big deal to you. Maybe these people are your friends, but you can’t always be sure, so you need to prioritize your safety.

Here's why keeping usernames different and private is crucial:

• Privacy Power! 7 Cups doesn't show your real name, but if your username and listener's username are too close, someone might guess who you are. This is especially important if you're talking about something personal.
• Safety First! If you ever need to report someone, it's important to stay anonymous. Similar usernames could make it easier for someone to figure out who you are.
• Blurred boundaries: People who know you from the other account PMing you. It may seem fine at first but this can create big challenges with holding boundaries later on down the road. Switching between your listener (L) and member (M) accounts can blur the lines of what's expected in each role. When you’re under your listener account, you are to maintain professionalism. This can slip if you’re treating your L account like your M. Personal connections under your M can get mixed up if you’re using the accounts interchangeably.

We have outlined the following guidelines to help you secure your confidentiality:

1. Usernames must not have any links or references to each other. You will be asked to change your username by an Admin.

2. Do not disclose your other account under any circumstances. This includes, but is not limited to casual mentions in rooms and PMing someone (yes, even a friend) under your other name.

3. Profile photos: these too much be separate. We also strongly recommend not using pictures that can be connected to you in any way by image searching.

4. Bios cannot look the same or point to the other account. (e.g. L referencing M or vice versa)

5. Do not share through imgbb, imgur, etc. pictures (like drawings or photos) that have also been posted in other places online.

I hope these guidelines give you insight into the importance of safeguarding your online experience, especially here on 7 Cups!

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If you’d like to learn more about our safety best practices:
The Community Guidelines Series: Masterpost (written by @AnnaSilverberg)

My Experiences with Offsite Contact (Written by Safety Ambassador @Rebekah)

Please also add what you've learned to spread awareness in our interactive post: Safety is an Ongoing Conversation