August 3 - Update to the Reviews Feature!

@TortueDesBois

You agree that the management of the site is going down hill? This is hurtful to hear based on one update that was designed to address some important problems with the review system. Im sorry you feel this way.

We will continue to make changes and itterate on the update to reflect the communities feedback.

I look forward to hearing from more members regarding this change.

@Laura

This update was to aide the listeners in receiving a more just rating, so I would assume that you would have liked to hear what they had to say over the members here, but as you wish...

I find that this update has been discouraging me from reviewing listeners, especially those who were helpful and deserving of a high rating. I'm rather passionate about this site and I've been a member (and a listener) here for years: so when I come across a listener that I find is doing more harm than helping, I have more than enough energy to write a paragraph about what they've said, in the hope that something will be done about it, that being said, those whom I would honestly give two or three stars; I have trouble finding the correct way to describe why the listener wasn't pleasing to talk with, and I feel like it's unfair that my rating isn't going to be counted if the terminology that I've picked doesn't meet your rating reviewing team's expectations for telling them about the listeners abilities. Now, even if I give a listeners five stars I have to justify myself, most of the time the listener should be glad if I remember to rate them when the chat is going well, I now have to think up something to say that is more than 15 characters too so that the rating will even go through. What would I say? Was a good chat, enjoyed talking with so and so: well that meets the required amount of characters I guess, doesn't really tell you anything about the listener's abilities. Do I still need to tell you about the listener's abilities if it's a good chat? I honestly wouldn't expect so. If it's what I expected and the reviewers take into consideration the good ratings more than the bad ratings, as in the bad ratings need to be justified more than the good ones, then everyone here is going to have pretty good ratings. Great! Right? That was the intentions of the update. No? Well, now I guess you've pleased some listeners, but since I'm on my member account and you wanted the member's opinions, I'll give you mine on that. I'm now going to be connected with people who have four, maybe even five stars, and here and there, despite their rating, they're going to be a horror to speak with. Before when this did happen, as it does once in a blue moon, it annoys me, almost because I feel like I was deceived by the rating, and that the ratings are inaccurate, but I can also imagine someone who is new here and speak to a few five star listeners and give up on the site altogether because "the best" aren't even helpful.

Also, I dislike that the categories have been taken away, most of the time when I'm speaking with a listener I'm doing other things, so I really couldn't care less about response time, but I'm someone who values professionalism in the people that I talk with. As there aren't categories anymore, the person who had five stars in professionalism and one in response time has three now, right? If I were browsing listeners I probably wouldn't even consider this person, because there are always people with five stars available. (This is more the listener me speaking, but I feel that makes the ratings even more of an unjust portrayal of the listener, more than the occasional someone giving a bad rating.) In addition to that, when I'm rating someone and they were the sweetest persons I've met here, but they weren't helpful in the least, I feel guilty giving them three stars, when in reality they deserved the five in empathy and one in helpfulness. Their true quality as a listener isn't reflected well, because they wouldn't be just a mediocre listener, they would be an empathetic listener that can support you emotionally more than they can understand your reality. If anything the site should have more catagories and I've thought that for a long time now: someone's quality can't just be measured so easily in one category, especially since they are going to be judged on so much more than "did they listen", because a listener's role is slightly more complicated than that. I feel very strongly about this and I haven't even made enough of an argument to make justice of how strongly I feel, but I can't think of anything further to say on the subject, except that there is so much more about this update that I find irritating, I'm just having trouble finding the correct words to explain that displease.
I've been loyal to this site for a long time and log on almost every day, this site has changed the course of my life, it really is sad, but I'm sorry to say that if updates of this quality continue to be put in place, I don't think I have the patience to continue using both my member and listener accounts.

@Laura i think thats a great idea there are constantly new members and with a site like this which is so unique and different new member expectations about what this site is for and a better understanding about the limitations of their chat experience i think even before a chat a popup of some kind like a new member orientation of sorts to explain to members what this site is for and reasonable expectations would help a lot i recently had a member get very very upset with me because i declined to talk down an actively suicidal friend of hers who was wanting to talk to a listener on 7cups instead i gave her the suicide hotline number and suicide.org site and said id love to talk to her friend later when shes not having an emergency but she wanst happy at all with that or me or 7cups no matter how much i tried to nicely and simply explain in different ways that i wasnt trained as a crisis counselor and listeners here are non emergency and wasnt confortable in my ability to talk to someone who was that serious about suicide she spent a lot of effort and time trying to debate it with me and talk me into it so especially when time is important it should be made clear from the start reasonable expectations and limitations and just find a way to get everyone on the same page somehow would lead to less confusion for new members coming here with all sorts of different expectations it seems from trying to engage in sexting with listeners ( i know a lot of listeners would love for new members to be made aware right away that this is not a site for that ) to thinking this is a suicide crisis text line to everything in between i think most are genuinely confused what this site is for and what they should expect . Doing this would help with unfair ratings and just help make both new members and listeners happier sorry such a long post