Room Announcement
Hello everyone! I have an important update to make on group rooms.
Did you know that the first room opened at 7 Cups was a waiting room for members to wait for an available listener? Things have come a long way since then. Just as we did then we are always looking for ways to improve the support we provide. We have been investigating what parts of the group support model works and what does not through usage, moderation statistics, and general room health. What weve found is that having moderated discussions and open chats are the most supportive and safe opportunities, while unmoderated 24/7 chatting results in increased safety and experience issues.
As we move forward as a company with a free emotional support service we have decided on some big changes to elevate our group support experience for everyone who wants a safe and kind experience. Our intention is to do a few things well and focus on emotional support.
Member rooms:
We will have two adult member rooms and two teen member rooms open 24/7 for moderated support. One general support room and one community room. All other rooms will be pop-up discussion rooms. These rooms will all be badge locked to both listeners and members.
Listener badges: Tick Tock ( For reaching Ten 1-1 chats), Thankful Heart (For receiving 5 positive text reviews)
Member badges: Strong Bond 1 (5 chats with 5 Listeners, i.e. 1 chat per listener, 5 total chats), Helpful heart ( 50 Compassion Hearts)
Listener rooms:
In the adult listener community we will continue to have two rooms, Listener Support Room and Listener Community Room. Teens will have Teen Listener Room. The adult Listener Community Room will require the Verified Listener badge. The Listener Support Rooms will be open to all listeners, but will only be used for active chat support.
Timeline:
This change is anticipated to happen in the next couple of days. However if some rooms become unsafe and volatile we may choose to close them early or remove them all together.
Our goal is to focus on emotional support. We are aligning our community features to help us better achieve this. We realize this is a big change that may not suit your preferences. We know you may have questions, especially if you are on a volunteer support team (group support teams read more here). We understand if you decide our free services no longer fit your needs and we wish you the best. However you are feeling please keep our Community Guidelines in mind as you process and move forward with your day. While we always welcome feedback, we expect discussions to not only be civil but also on-topic.
I know dealing with change can be challenging. I appreciate the flexibility as we move things forward. As a quick aside, Im visiting my grandmother (she has been ill) so Ill respond, but might be a bit delayed. The community team will chime in and answer questions as well.
Thank you!
[MonBon added link]
[Jill replaced badge name for members- it is Strong Bond 1 and not 7 day streak)
[Lorraine added badge requirements]
[Tazzie replaced the second badge name for members. It is Helpful Heart]
[MonBon replaced badge name for Listeners. It is Thankful Heart]
[7CupsCommunity modified description of Strong Bond 1 for clarity]
@GlenM With so many Leaders leaving something more is going on... we do not know about .
I feel heartbroken that these leaders are leaving and all at one time... I do understand they have their own life issues and they do need self care and their lives comes first... but all at one time means something is not right at all.
I am sadden to see so many people leaving their roles and also as members..
The group chatrooms are staying active and we are opening up rooms but it is nothing like it was before at all...
I am trying to also understand if there is MAYBE a Money issue why hire 14 Paid Mods to be on the site instead of paying the ones that are Volunteer Leaders or the Mods who are already in place? The Community Mods are great mods and good at their job.. please know they really are but 14 paid ones when the site has at least 100 maybe more or less now who knows..
I am glad the site is here and grateful and I take my role serious and will continue I am just trying to understand WHY... I will sure MISS THEM ALL!!! Kate, Laura, Mr.Jacob, Lorraine, Fluffyunicorn, Anya, Emsworld and others I am sure I am missing.. You are losing some of the best here !!
@Tyedyedbutterfly65I am suppose to be on self care but have to take notice of this.
It is obvious that something is going on, In my opinion, this can be handled two ways.
1) Be secretive about it and not tell us what is going on. (and I am sure if they choose to take this path there is going to be even worse repercussions down the road)
2) Be open and honest about what is going on, so as a community, we can worth through this and get 7 cups back to providing the support it was.
The choice is there , and time will only tell...
- Back to self care i go.
@Peter1447 Thank you for your reply and I do agree ..
I am happy the site is here and glad to see it is staying open at least for now and based on what Glenn commented on someones comment is that He is hoping the site stays up for Decades to come..
I do know it cost money to a run a huge site of this magnitude and it would take staffing that would want to be paid and that is okay with me also .. I am A Volunteer and I am good with that also ...but what I am not good with is how this has been handled and how it as has affected soooooooooo many people ... Listeners and Members..
Seeing so many members leave and people with Positions is Heartbreaking..
I do also know that some rooms could be Toxic , One that was really bad and needed something done but those people are slowing making their way back to the 2 rooms that are modded thankfully by Paid Mods..
I just want to see nothing major happen thrown out so quickly and then so many people leaving it has been heartbreaking this past week.
I am thankful for a Free site and I totally admire Glenn for setting up this site.. Not many would do what he has done.. But we need something more letting us know before hand..
Today I seen someone say something about some rooms opening back up ?? No clue if this is true or not..
@Tyedyedbutterfly65 Omg fluffyunicorn has left?!?!?!? What?!?!?!!?
@fearlessWriter78 Yes she did her Farewell .. You can find it in the Farewell section..
@Tyedyedbutterfly65 Not to mention it's extremely clear to everyone who are the paid mods.
@Dawn04 Yes that is why they have Community Mod by their names lol.. which is why I think it is a good thing.
I have only just logged on to see the new system and I just wanted to add something to this thread whether people read or not I'm not really fussed haha.
For me, it was the group chats that really impacted me on 7cups. I was much more attracted to them than the 1-2-1 chats (and I know for others it was the opposite). I understand the reason for limiting the group chats but just down to 2 seems so extreme to me? I know a lot of the chats were quite empty (Which maybe before getting rid of them, encouraging more pop up sessions in those chats could have improved the traffic in those areas but maybe cups tried this and didn't work?), but I also know that I started in the 2 depression chats, when one became too hectic I would hop into the other one and then more recently I moved to relationship support.
In all of these group chats I found a little community of people, where yes originally we were there for emotional support for one another, talking about our personal issues and such but it turned into talking about different interests, the things we had done that day, random conversations about movies and food. It was almost the equivalent of stepping outside for a breath of fresh air, it became a good distraction of mostly light-hearted conversation for when life for everyone was just a bit too much and instead of talking about everything going wrong in our lives, the stress relief came from talking about everything but.
I know it's good to talk about things and the people on cups are mostly supportive, great listeners and just people looking out for eachother (which I think is still possible with just the 2 group chats - although with more people in these it will be harder to focus more on individuals), but what I'm really going to miss is the light-hearted, take your mind- off-everything-and-have-pleasant-wholesome conversations with people from different walks of life. I know 7cups was never made to be a distraction and more just support, but I think even in real life support systems, it's good to have things to focus on other than the real stresses of life. Unfortunately, I feel like these little, wholesome, hilarious, random chats where you really get to know the person behind the screen, the person that is more than just their stresses, will be harder to have and enjoy as these group chats are so limited and are moderated.
I hope I'm proven wrong as I will stick around just to see and also hope these changes aren't permanent and perhaps a few groups will come back but I feel like these groups will now be more like the guided chats about specific topics that you could choose to go to. I do understand the trolling and the packed group chats vs the completely empty ones are an issue that needs to be more regulated and I do appreciate everything 7cups do for people, but I just wanted to share how I feel about the situation. :)
@moonlightdaydreamx I agree it did help to be able to have lighthearted and interesting conversations and be there for people when they came in for supoport. I hope you are able to do that when those rooms are opened as popups or in the two new rooms in time.
Alright, so I've read the original post and I'm still a little confused.
Have these changes already been implemented? On my phone, I am currently unable to access any of the group support rooms. There aren't any listed. This defeats the entire purpose I installed the app - I generally don't enjoy 1-on-1 conversations. Is this a glitch? Will I just have to wait? Apologies if this has been answered already, I didn't want to dig through 7 pages worth of messages.
@honestDay580
So, having just browsed a few threads, my current understanding is now that specific badges are required for every one of the rooms? These badges require you to talk to listeners which I do not want to do. Guess I've reason to use this app anymore. This wasn't my first account, but it will be my last. Bye...
@honestDay580 Specific badges for the two new rooms - Support 24/7 and Member Community as well as approval and badges for LGBTQ and Disability. If you had access to the other rooms you still can access when they are opened up as a Popups by a Mod.
@honestDay580 yes they were implemented on the day of announcement.
TO ALL THE WONDERFUL PEOPLE IVE CHATTED WITH:
I HOPE YOU CAN FIND A SAFE SITE THAT CAN RESPECT YOU AND PUT YOUR NEEDS FIRST.
THIS SITE HAS TO MANY CHEIFS AND NO COMMON SENCE.
THE CHAOTIC CUPS HERE ONLY ADD TO OUR PAIN SO I WILL NOT BE STAYING. GOOD LUCK & GOODBYE
@FuturesRise
I've changed my mind and will stay on 7cups. I've gotten rid of my member account and will put my focus on helping Glen and Heather with some projects that are in their infancy right now, and I'm hoping we all can take a step back and remeber how we found 7cups on that first day.
For me, I was suffering very badly and doing searches on the Internet for crisis, depression, idiation, PTSD, and I had just been released from the hospital after one of my lowest points in my life.
I found 7cups, and signed right up, and I could afford this because it is free! I was waiting for the next click to bring me to a page that asks for money, but it never came.
What did come was a chat with an uderstanding human being that really cared enough to chat with me over an hour; I got through the night, and the night after, and the next😊 This was all so new to me, and I may have come across a few bad listeners along the way, but I was happy to keep looking and chatting. I learned ways to fight my anxiety and idiation and then I was motivated to teach other people how to defeat that filthy joy-stealing theif!
So I became a listener, and I picked out members who had anxiety or self harm as their main complant. I spent countless hours helping and this helped me at the same time in many ways. I found a much needed distraction, while becoming very good at defeating anxiety, and I now had a purpose!
Things are changing on the site and many people are frustrated, but I cannot leave because the most basic most important part of 7cups still works when you put in the efforts.
Reaching out for help in your time of need is what this site is truly here for. Chatting to help others is mutually benificial. Wisdom shared, and hearts caring for eachother is what this world full of suffering needs the most.
Thank you @GlenH for creating a safe place for the world to come to when things become out of focus or painful.
I hope you find what you need tc be safe
With the new changes, I think it may be a good idea when opening a chatroom to specify which room it is ( ex: 35+ open chat). Some Members are asking to verfify the room that is open so they have a choice if they want to go in.
just my opinion.
@GlenM Have been associated with this site for so long and have seen many people come n go. Today after visiting a long time got to know about this change & it just made feel so disappointed. Most of the people found relief in the group chats more than they do in 1-to-1 chats. Cos talking in group give them opportunity to connect to other people who have been struggling through similar things. Therapy doesnt have to be one to one, talking to a bunch of your friends is also a much loved therapy and thats what those group chats use to do for people. Upgrading is good but it doesnt mean that you have to change systems that have been working perfectly for so long. Sorry to say but seems like you guys just kinda commercialized the site. It lost its purpose of providing free and friendly atmosphere to people who are dealing with some really dark times in life. Your job is to make these people's life easier and not put hurdles in their path. Is there a specific reason you guys decided to this?
I personally think the chatroom changes are the best idea . I've witnessed the worst kind of bullying in those rooms with no mod in sight. People do need to be vetted to go in there. I for one am so glad these changes are taking place.
@karenw
I'd rather just have the ability to mute somebody than not have the rooms at all. I understand that bullying was an issue (dealt with it myself, more from listeners than the group chats though) but this is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
That said, requiring badges for the LGBTQ and Disability rooms is a very good idea. Problem is that the change to that got so little coverage that both rooms are dead now. Every time I log on the LGBTQ room is empty, and from scrolling up it looks like there were only a very small number of people in the chat.
@TheMadQueen420
Yes, I guess it's part of the experience to be bullied on the internet. And I would rather deal with it than lose my room altogether. But it's too late for that. My room is gone.
And apparently the claim that this was done so all rooms could be moderated 24/7 isn't even true.
So as far as I can tell, no good has come from the changes.
@TheMadQueen420
I knew about the badges required but hadn't realized the rooms were actually up and running so hadn't even considered trying to get in yet.
@karenw
It's still going on. I was just in MCR and saw some bullying. No mod in sight. One person said they summoned a mod. I did as well. Still no mod.
I'm still wondering when the positive changes are supposed to take effect.
@DarkSquirrel
so much for safety, and having mods available very easily with only two rooms.
I'm still waiting to see how this change is a good thing for the members who keep it up and running...
@essdee
I think we will be waiting a looong time for that...
I think so too. No charge yet. Never been in my life right now. With everything. Work etc