Reporting Effectively

@MidnightRaven999

Alright, thanks a lot for the info!

@MidnightRaven999

Thank you for this detailed explanation, it's great and I'm sure it will really help

@MidnightRaven999 This post makes it sound like blocking someone to enforce a personal boundary (when someone is making you uncomfortable in a way that might not be against the rules or even possible to put into words, for instance) isn't okay, and might even be against the rules. I would have thought there should be ample room for that on a site championing mental health; sometimes people just don't get along and it should be completely okay to decide that it is better for everybody if the interaction is stopped completely. If my stalker shows up, I can't prove that history for you, so... I should not block her? This sounds unsafe. Can you clarify?

@ikomiko

I just reread the post and didn't see that in there. Can you clarify what you read that made you feel that way? I think the idea is just provide information about the why. If you didn't fit that's perfectly fine and you can just write didn't fit or something like that. Did that completely answer your question?

@EvelyneRose It explicitly says not to write something like "inappropriate chat" because it is not very descriptive. This means you cannot just write "didn't fit" or something like that. I don't understand why it says that, but that's what it says.

Charlie

@RarelyCharlie

i think they're different concepts, at least in my mind. Inappropriate chats could be a variety of things and if they are reporting because it is a level of bad, extra info is always helpful. I see didn't fit is as simple as a romantic relationship that didn't work out- for whatever reason it didn't work out. An incompatibility, if that makes sense. No ones fault.

@EvelyneRose Here are some selected bits which make it sounds like blocking is highly discouraged, to the point that users should not do it unless actual rules are being broken, rather than as a matter of creating personal boundaries:

"We use this feature as a last resort, not the first."

"Please do not block first! We try to only block as a last resort."

"A good block looks like this: On Monday at X time, I was chatting to this listener/member and they did Y action. I did Z action in response, and then the resulting thing XYZ happened causing me to have to block as a last resort."

Speaking as a moderator on another site, these guidelines sound like you are intentionally discouraging people from blocking even when they are uncomfortable (and perhaps too shy, hurt or uncomfortable to speak up about it to ask someone to stop), instead of encouraging people to use it as-needed to increase their comfort and safety. Perhaps that's because blocking and reporting are bound together here, but then perhaps that should be an incentive to separate the two. :)

@ikomiko

Officially the words state that a reason is "required", meaning that 7cups requires you to give them information about you in which they state is used to "improve the site". Block reports are viewed by another human and that information is collected and used in some arbitrary way. As you see here, that information has been collected and arranged in a way that 7cups knows the "top 4 reasons" given for blocks.

Technically you are in-fact now forced to give a reason in order for the block functionality to work (even if you just put random garbage in, you must put it and it's still collected and used as you can see in the example above), which seems to be a relatively recent change. Interestingly blank reports being in the top 4, and the removal of being able to submit black reports doesn't seem to be a coincidence. In the past there was also an option to "not give a reason", which was also removed, more than once.

So clearly 7 cups is against you blocking anyone for reasons which you do not wish to share or be included in their data collection surveys, as they're taking, in my opinion, steps to frustrate the blocking process to that effect. Of course you're not forced to use the block function, and therefore you're not forced to take part in such a survey, and you can write garbage in the submission and nothing will happen to you. But it would still be nice to be able to block someone, for whatever reason, and that reason remains private and not be collected and used.

@DarkSoul2

just to clarify, they're not removing your ability to not give a reason. It's more of a list of the things people block the most with and an explanation of what could be done instead. It's not for surveys either. The idea behind the post is to give people more of an idea of what a block could look like. They're not stopping anyone from not writing anything if they don't want to put it in words or can't put it in words.

@EvelyneRose

Well I'm talking about what's happened in the past, not spercifically this post. They literaly did remove the option to not give a reason, and they literally have changed the functionality of blocking to remove the ability to leave a blank report. I know you can put whatever you want in the report including "didn't fit" or garbage, but that doesn't change the fact that you are required to put it and that the information you submit is collected and used, how else do you have a top 4 reason for blocking, unless you're making them up.

@DarkSoul2

yes i did notice that and i did report it to admin because that personally annoyed me. As for the surveys, i think our definitions of surveys are different. When I hear survey i think a survey of people, but what they did was probably just listed the types they received the most of.

@EvelyneRose

I understand, what I mean by survey is where information is collected and arranged in some kind of way, it can be an internal survey of data, or more commonly be like we'd think of an online survey where you tick boxes and I mean the former. I'm not personally against such surveys though, I don't think 7cups is doing anything necessarily harmful with it. I think the actual solution has been presented though, seperation of blocking and reporting, reporting then becomes an opt in process instead of a mandatory one related to blocking.

@DarkSoul2

ok Awesome! I made a few edits. Let me know if it's still confusing or if you have any more questions :)

@ikomiko Yes, I think you have pinpointed the problem Blocking and reporting are bound together here, but they are really different things. A better designed site would separate them.

This thread is really about effective reporting. It does not really apply to simple blocking. It would be better if the thread could make it clear up front that it's OK to block without reporting, but if your intention is to report, then you need to provide clear information in your report.

Charlie

@RarelyCharlie

i'll make it happen! Thank you.

@ikomiko

100% understand now thank you. I have updated the post to reflect the feedback from everyone's comments. Let me know if it's less confusing or if there's anything else I can answer :)

@MidnightRaven999 This was really helpful. Thank you for sharing 😊

@MidnightRaven999 Thanks for the awesome post! It really helps to clarify how blocking functions here. Keep up the amazing job, and have a lovely weekend. :)

This is so helpful! Thanks a million. : )

There should be means to block a listener even when the intention isnt to report them. Listeners get to see when member is online WITHOUT OUR CONSENT. This violation of privacy should be balanced with appropriate tools that enable members to provide text their privacy.

The premises of the functionalities described here and those linked should be thought through. Assumptions and expectations do not meet the reality. This is internet, not a daycare for 7 year olds.

@lilmango i agree with you, i have edited the post to reflect this (since i see a few members in this thread saying the same thing as you); if you are a member, you are allowed to block a listener for any reason, even if they are not breaking the site guidelines. if they pm you when you dont want them to? you can block them! if they are making you uncomfortable in a chat and you dont know how to ask them to stop? block them.

basically, your comfort, and feeling safe here, is our number 1. Listeners comfort and safety is important too, but there are other ways we can try to deal with a situation besides blocking first; but for a member if blocking first is what makes you feel safest, go for it.

i also agree with the online/offline status, I think i will give Glen this feedback as it has been annoying me for quite a while as well. we will see if we can work to change this!

@MidnightRaven999

Raven, thank you for making me feel heard. This is close to first time anyone with staff or community leadership role has done so at the forum. Hence the increasing frustration and directness with the feedback.

Thanks for this information MidnightRaven999. Are there any risks to blocking listeners? Can they retaliate? If you blcok listeners too often does it get back to 7cups admin? Could they terminate your member account for that? Not that I expect to block listeners often. Those I've met here have been awesome. But just while the topic is being dicussed, I thought I'd ask. Many thanks!

@FrozenGhost i dont believe anything bad will happen!

@MidnightRaven999

Thanks, useful information!

@MidnightRaven999 I have no experience of blocking a listener from my member account, so this is useful information, but I have a few questions:

• How would I know which button is the block button? I wonder if it might be possible to add a picture of it.
• After I click the block button, is it still possible to screenshot the chat? I wonder if the screenshot possibly has to be done first, before clicking the block button.
• Does all this, including the screenshot, work in exactly the same way in a browser on a mobile device, and also in the app?

Charlie

Oh, and there's another one I forgot:

• If a listener is acting inappropriately, so you request that they stop (as recommended above), and the listener immediately blocks you, can you still screenshot the chat and report the listener using this procedure?

Charlie

@RarelyCharlie also wanna add this: as long as you dont leave the screen of the chat, you can still screenshot it. a lot of times when im on my members account, i can see the chat disappear off my list on the left, and i know that i've been blocked. so i take screenshots if i feel its necessary, upload them to a site like imgur or imbb, and then block the listener back and add in the screenshots

Additionally, f a listener has blocked, you're unfortunately not able to leave a review, but you can still report them through blocking

@MidnightRaven999 Has there been an update? In the past, when I listener has blocked me my ability to block them was removed.

@RarelyCharlie

the block button from the member side is at the top of every listener chat. It has a little circle with a slash thru it.

I believe you'd have to screenshot before blocking, but I haven't checked. Blocking is different on the app- it's three dots on the right side of the chat. You click and block this connection pops up.

@MidnightRaven999

Nicely explained. Not too much detailed but having efficient funtional info.

Thank you! I think being more detailed would be helpful to the people who check on reports. I think this is important for them to know too

When I was bullied by hateful people and perverts,all I got after reporting them is banned listener account,so there isn't point that people protect us against trolls and these kind of ☕

And as I know, people who are mods should be supportive,not opposite

Thank you for the information. I tried to report a listener once. I treid to do as you recommend, give details about what happened and even had a screen capture of the chat as proof. Of course doing all that takes time and before I could finish, the listener had blocked me and so I was unable to report them. I don't know the solution to that,

@FrozenGhost

if they block you first, you can email in to community@7cups.com and explain exactly as you did here :)

@MidnightRaven999 You guys should also tell us what happens after we report the concerned party if our report was ok to go ahead. I feel this should be beneficial even some people might not agree...

@Irishcat

Are you asking what happens after you submit a report?

@EvelyneRose well it would be ideal for 7cups to tell us if our report about the 3rd party was successful to go ahead or not

I didn't find this to be all that helpful to be honest.

1) This is for 1-1 chats although this isn't explicity stated. While this is the only place where blocking can be done on the site, people coming here for information likely don't know this. There are various reporting options on 7Cups depending on the area, and muting is something that would be related for group chats.

2) It's confusing what situation this is for. Near the beginning it's stated - Blocking is a feature that allows you to stop a listener from messaging you and generates a copy

I assumed at first this was for members for blocking listeners, later down we discover it's primarly written for listeners. So for listeners to block listeners? Isn't this more appropriate for the listeners' forums then and not general ones? Especially when there is no link for members, who do not have the training that listeners have.

3) Information is missing. How do I send a screenshot I have taken? My understanding is this cannot actually be sent via the block feature, another option is needed. What happens if I was blocked by the other person and they were inappropriate? Can they still message me in the future? Etc.

@AffyAvo Also, I was alerted to this. As a member though it's not really intended for me. This further confuses who this information is intended for.