How to act in various areas on 7Cups
There are a variety of ways for members/guests and listeners to interact on 7 cups of tea. The original and most common way is the 1-on-1 chat. In this setting, the role of a listener vs the role of a member/guest is very clear and there are certain guidelines to be upheld. I have summarized them below.
A Listeners Role in a 1-on-1 chat is:
♦To Listen
♦To remain non-judgemental
♦To remain professional
♦To be empathetic
♦To make the member/guest feel important and heard
♦To help the member/guest feel validated
A Member/guests Role in a 1-on-1 chat is:
♦To seek support
♦To get something(s) off their chest
♦To share their story
♦To learn from the chat
What this means is that while a Listener is an empathetic person who will truly listen to what the member/guest is saying, they are limited in that they cannot share their own trials and tribulations as a means of getting support themselves. Can they share their stories if they feel thats what the member/guest needs to hear? Yes, but they cannot share their problems solely to receive the help and attention that they themselves are supposed to be giving.
Another way is in group support, a newer component of 7 cups of tea but the premise is about the same. The role of a listener, moderator, and member/guest are a little less clear but there are still certain guidelines to be upheld. I have summarized them as before.
A Listeners Role in a group support chat is:
♦Be welcoming to those who enter the room
♦Be supportive of those who are sharing their story
♦Be non-judgemental
♦Be professional
♦Gently remind others of the chatroom rules if necessary
♦Keep the room in a relatively positive environment - that is, keep things respectful, help everyone feel involved, etc
♦Help others feel validated
A Moderators Role in a group support chat is:
♦Be welcoming to those who enter the room
♦Be supportive of those who are sharing their story
♦Be non-judgemental
♦Be professional
♦Enforce the chatroom rules if necessary (Still Gently)
♦Keep the room in a relatively positive environment - that is, keep things respectful, help everyone feel involved, etc
♦Help others feel validated
A Member/guests Role in a group support chat is:
♦Seek support
♦Lend support to other member/guests in the room
♦Respect others
♦Follow the chatroom rules
As you can see, a moderator and a listener have the same role. They are there to support, not to seek support. Again, while the moderator and the listener are there to be a supportive person who truly listens to the members/guests, they cannot seek support in a group chat setting.
Most people are aware of how to act in these two settings; however, there is a third way for listeners and members to interact where the guidelines and roles are even less certain: the forums. As before, I will summarize below.
A Listeners Role in the Public Forum:
♦Support members
♦Be empathetic
♦Remain professional
♦Help members feel validated
♦Answer questions
A Members Role in the Public Forum:
♦Seek Support
♦Ask Questions
♦Support other members
♦Share their story, thoughts, or feelings
♦Be respectful toward others
In short, while in the forums the same roles still apply as everywhere else on the site. If you, as a listener, need support or start sharing your story for the sole purpose of getting attention and support, please please log onto your member account. A note to members, while your role is a lot less strict, please note that in the forums and in group support you need to be respectful to your peers just as the listeners do. We are here to help lift each other up ♥
I refer to this and it always takes me a while to find - finally commenting on this useful post so it will show up when I search by my threads.
What is the protocol for a listener who signs in on their member account? Do they ever reveal who they are as a listener, and vice versa? I'm beginning to explore my member account a little more, and it feels awkward to run across someone in a room whose profile I know as a listener and not say, "hi!" Does anyone ever use the same name for both their member and listener accounts?
@MonBon
@sunDog64
Hey sunDog! Thanks for asking.
Listeners should not reveal their member accounts and vice versa. It is a little strange running into somebody on the site, but I've found it's best to try to keep them as separate personas. This helps protect your confidentiality as a member and protect your boundaries as a listener.
With regard to the same name, since 7 cups has changed to 7cups.com/@username format for both members and listeners, it is impossible to have the exact same name. However, there are users who have similar names (with a number or letter change), and that is not prohibited (although I personally would not recommend it). I hope that answers your questions! Let me know if there's anything else I can do to help ^^
@MonBon
Thanks for your speedy answer! I just hope I don't get confused and ask myself for a one-on-one. :D
Does anyone know how many 7cups members are also listeners? The percentage of members that do not have listener accounts compared to members with listener accounts?
@sunDog64
It is possible that the site has stats on that, but it wouldn't be a totally accurate number since the system treats member and listener accounts completely separately. In order to see how many listeners have member accounts, they would likely have to pull all of the email addresses for both types of accounts and tally the matches, which wouldn't account for users with separate emails for those accounts. You could probably ask info@7cups.com and they would know more about whether that data is available or not.
@MonBon
Fireworks, sparklers and party horns. I celebrate your concise, very much needed and appreciated post!
@MonBon
Someday when I am more comfortable navigating around this site and have spent some more time on here I think I would like to be a chatroom moderator;)
@Darwin14
We do not have a chatroom moderation role for members at this time. However, you can learn more about becoming a room supporter as a member when you are ready.
