It has recently come to our attention the issue of long threads (threads with multiple pages) in serious discussion. As moderators we have discussed this and some of our concerns are that other threads particularly those with low replies being bumped down or being overlooked. Conversely however if the long threads are no longer there it may encourage multiple threads to be made which may cause similar issues.
We have discussed various options but can’t see a clear solution so wanted to bring it to the community to get your opinions on this issue and your ideas about what you feel would work best for the community whether that be to keep things the way they are or to make some changes.
This is not focusing the blame on any one member but rather is an issue as a whole to all members. Just a reminder too that while this is a discussion thread please remain civil to each other and remember to adhere to the RYL rules. We are open to all your ideas so discuss away
RYL Moderators
When we lose twenty pounds... we may be losing the twenty best pounds we have! We may be losing the pounds that contain our genius, our humanity, our love and honesty. ~Woody Allen
Is a chocolate muffin loving glitter ball
I don't see how a long support thread is"pushing down" threads that don't have many replies just because it's long? Because surely the alternative to continuing to use one thread for support is to create another and thus, push down the threads? Would you mind maybe explaining that to me perhaps a bit more or in a different way so I understand?
Not necessarily you Cam, anyone who understands this point. I just feel like I can't make a decision because I don't see the proposed negative (well this one in particular).
I in fact often found when my threads got long people were less likely to reply. I've seen it with some others too. And so you may try and bring up something in the same thread because it's already going but only a few will reply (this may be an artifact of many members so looking at post counts when deciding where to provide support and giving it to those with less than five replies).
This is a concern that's been raised by a few people I think that because there are long threads people are posting in them things that wouldn't normally go in serious so the board is long thread heavy so to speak. If long threads weren't around people may post another thread but it could be in a different board.
When we lose twenty pounds... we may be losing the twenty best pounds we have! We may be losing the pounds that contain our genius, our humanity, our love and honesty. ~Woody Allen
Is a chocolate muffin loving glitter ball
A few people have raised concerns I'm going to leave my viewpoint out of it for now but hopefully others will come along and post!
When we lose twenty pounds... we may be losing the twenty best pounds we have! We may be losing the pounds that contain our genius, our humanity, our love and honesty. ~Woody Allen
Is a chocolate muffin loving glitter ball
I've belonged to forums that had sub forums specifically for long threads (called "Long Threads Forum" lol). Threads that stay active over weeks/months get moved there. I've long thought RYL should do the same and posted that a few times.
Sorry to say but a lot of threads in "Serious" are better bumped off. People should try to make better efforts and if a couple of threads die they can try to be more clear and get better replies.
In truth RYL desperately needs a forum makeover anyway. Activity has dropped a lot and there are too many forums with too many members and their energies dissipated over too large a space. In the past, more "serious" type forums were more engaging because there was a wider variety of posts, and replies from people with different backgrounds. The current version of Serious has been hard to sink teeth into. So many posts just amount to vague complaints that its hard to even know what the specifics of the problem are. Threads look like stock threads and replies become stock replies. "Hang in there things will get better" seems like the only reply to make over and over. Lots of times you get a young person who doesn't know how to articulate a question etc and then you get a reply from a young person who doesn't know enough about problem to say anything. You get all these loops of Ouchie/Hug threads. The old "Anything Goes" forum never read like that. If RYL had started out in its present form it would have died on the vine. Lots of these forums duplicate each other
General Support and Advice
Substance Abuse Forum
Grief and Trauma Support Forum
Mental Health Discussion and Support
Serious Discussion and Advice
Self-Injury Discussion and Support
Binging, Overeating & Related Issues Support
Eating Disorder Support
Abuse and Bullying Support
Moving Forward
Veterans Support
Veterans General
Surely with a forum even like General quiet as a graveyard there is no need for things like two veterans forums. I also dont see a need for a "Moving Forward" forum. It moves slow and its stated purpose was to inspire people. So move such threads to Serious were people need the inspiration. Such threads would also break up the unhealthy morbid mood of the place. In the past, positive threads, vets making general comments etc would have been circulating in with other things and it was more balanced and dynamic. Sure RYL was once busting at the seams, and new forums made sense, but that was a long time ago and RYL is a ghost of those past days.
I don't even like going to places like the "Grief Support" forum because I'll read a post about a death in the family etc that's 5 weeks old and barley had a reply. Such things should have been in Serious where people can see them and be more helpful.
So - I would add a "long threads" forum and get rid of a bunch of others. Not that I expect to see that lol
Could there be a time limit on how long a thread can stay open for? After this time the poster approached to see if they are still getting benefiting from the thread and if so a new thread opened with a link to the old thread so that the original poster is still benefiting from continued support should that be required but the thread is more accessible to users and as such the original poster gets more support.
I guess from reading some of the long threads in Serious it became apparent to me that they were kind of being used like a general update thread beyond the initial 'crisis' that lead to the thread being made. Kind of like a mix between a diary and an R/V thread.
I don't mind long update threads, it's just I'm not sure that Serious is the right place for them as I noticed that a few of the long posts were getting the majority of attention and replies, and new members and new threads were struggling to get more than a few replies.
I guess there are a few suggestions for this-
1) As Epic said to consciously try and reply to the newer threads with not so many replies
2) As Snow White said to make a thread in another forum if the issue is better suited there rather than keep updating the long thread in Serious (though this would only work well if there were not then TWO threads running concurrently that overlapped on the same issue)
3) As Jack said to get rid of a bunch of forums that don't get many posts/aren't very active as we have way less members now. It would help to create a stronger sense of community having only a few boards to post on and people would have more of an opportunity to get to know each other
4) An idea I had that would be to create a sub-forum of R/V that allowed replies and was specifically for a diary/update thread that could run on and on for people to check in with each other and see how they are doing.
5) Locking threads in Serious that get over X many pages (though don't think this would work well)
6) As tiptoes said a time limit on threads after which the OP could be PMd to see if they still require it, and if so a new thread started.
I'm leaning more towards Jack's idea/my idea of getting rid of some forums and having a new diary/long thread forum.
Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes but when you look back, everything is different…
you once called your brain a hard drive, well say hello to the virus.
The Supporters do try and make sure everything get's replied to, but obviously things do slip through the net.
Personally, I prefer long threads. I tend to find it pretty frustrating when someone makes a million short threads as it makes it hard for me to follow, I tend to be slow on the uptake with new threads, and it clogs up the boards more.
One of the arguments against long threads is people use them as RVs - to update with things when they are no longer seeking support - and also, that people can be intimidated with long threads and find it hard to chip in.
Personally, I'm pretty happy with how things are. My main pet hate at the moment is people posting everything in Serious - there's hardly anything in SI discussion now, even though it's the main reason we're all here.
It doesn't matter where you come from; it matters where you go.
No-one gets remembered for the things they didn't do.
We won't all be here this time next year,
so while you can take a picture of us.
We're definitely going to hell,
but we'll have all the best stories to tell.
The Supporters do try and make sure everything get's replied to, but obviously things do slip through the net.
Personally, I prefer long threads. I tend to find it pretty frustrating when someone makes a million short threads as it makes it hard for me to follow, I tend to be slow on the uptake with new threads, and it clogs up the boards more.
One of the arguments against long threads is people use them as RVs - to update with things when they are no longer seeking support - and also, that people can be intimidated with long threads and find it hard to chip in.
Personally, I'm pretty happy with how things are. My main pet hate at the moment is people posting everything in Serious - there's hardly anything in SI discussion now, even though it's the main reason we're all here.
Pretty much this
'Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like armor, and it can never be used to hurt you.'
['There is only one thing we say to death. Not today'.']
'We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell.’ – Oscar Wilde
‘It’s hard to dance with the devil on your back.’ Sydney Carter
I understand the intentions behind this thread and I think they are good. I want to give an opinion but I think my current emotions would cloud my response because I am afraid some of the threads I have had fall into this category.
I'll be back.
I've had threads in this category too. Remember it's not against rules to do it or even a "bad" thing, this thread is just finding out out people feel about these threads and how these help with support. So just in case you were feeling bad about having long threads (I can't tell if you were or not) but if you were you need not.
The Supporters do try and make sure everything get's replied to, but obviously things do slip through the net.
Personally, I prefer long threads. I tend to find it pretty frustrating when someone makes a million short threads as it makes it hard for me to follow, I tend to be slow on the uptake with new threads, and it clogs up the boards more.
One of the arguments against long threads is people use them as RVs - to update with things when they are no longer seeking support - and also, that people can be intimidated with long threads and find it hard to chip in.
Personally, I'm pretty happy with how things are. My main pet hate at the moment is people posting everything in Serious - there's hardly anything in SI discussion now, even though it's the main reason we're all here.
Although I dont have much of an issue with long threads generally I do think that after a certain amount of time/pages they tend to just turn into an update thread which a lot of the time doesn't have much link with the reasons why the support thread was in serious to begin with.
There are some threads in serious which never seem to sink any lower than the first page and it does bump down other peoples threads which I think can seem quite disheartening. Also these long support threads can make people feel like the support they are getting is a very small amount compared to these threads.
It can feel quite competitive at times although that isnt the intention and I feel that sometimes there have been some issues that may have been exaggerated so that the poster can continue to use the thread and bump it to the top when it is in danger of falling off the front page. Im not sure how healthy these very long threads are.
I think perhaps a time scale before a closure could help. Chances are that the issue which started the thread a month or two months is going to have either evolved into something which may need different support or have become less serious in that time and therefore doesnt need to be in Serious anymore.
I am hoping that those members who do feel intimidated by the long threads will post their opinions too as its an important thing to discuss IMO.
There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you.
But there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself.
I aint no abacus but you can count on me.
I don't mind long threads for the reasons Sophia gave.
That said if I don't see a thread initially and it becomes long I generally don't tend to venture into them as I don't have the time to read pages and pages.
I know a while ago we had a good clear out of serious where the mods moved any thread that we thought would be better in another board there. In my mind serious should be barely used rather than the most popular board.
When we lose twenty pounds... we may be losing the twenty best pounds we have! We may be losing the pounds that contain our genius, our humanity, our love and honesty. ~Woody Allen
Is a chocolate muffin loving glitter ball
^I remember that and we also had a clear out of the 'support for...' threads as those generally run for pages and pages.
I always thought serious was supposed to be for kind of 'emergency' type help, so someone who needed replies ASAP for a really serious issue and then the threads would die off. Serious never used to be as busy as it is and I think maybe the direction the board is going isnt really working well.
There are times to stay put, and what you want will come to you.
But there are times to go out into the world and find such a thing for yourself.
I aint no abacus but you can count on me.
I think they are some very good points about how serious is being used at the moment. In the past it did feel much more like a board you would go to when it was an emergency and needed responses very quickly which was good because it means people could get those urgent replies but now it seems like most things end up there that might be better suited elsewhere.
I like long threads over multiple short ones, but I agree that some of the longer threads have turned into update type threads. Perhaps this in encouraged [unintentionally, I too have asked this as well] by other people saying 'how are things now?', thus encouraging the OP or the person the thread is for to come back to post reguardless of the level of need to do so in the realm of 'serious discussion'.
It's hard because these changes are subtle and sometimes gradual, but the serious board is far more active than other boards and we need to somehow find a way to balance out the activity across boards, or consider the option of having less boards. I see Jacks argument. In ED land we have the option of *postive recovery post* so surely we could have that in SI, general, substance abuse and serious. It would be nice to see postive posts interspersed throughout the whole site. But then I would like to hear how people would feel posting their positivity within the boards I proposed; if this would discourage people then of course it would be counter productive and pointless.
I'm really glad someone (sorry, I forget who) mentioned being mindful of being sure to reply to threads that don't have many replies. Speaking personally, I use the boards a fair bit when I can (internet access only from my phone and so sporadic) but mainly just browse. I used to reply to threads with support a lot but do it a lot less, so this was a good reminder that we do need to be supporting.when we can and not just acceptinf support. But that is probably a separate discussion.
My worry with having a separate board for long threads is that it's mainly more well known members who have long support threads and I'm concerned that most people will stick with a board that.mainly well known people use and that newer/quieter members will be left without support on a lesser used board.
My worry with having a separate board for long threads is that it's mainly more well known members who have long support threads and I'm concerned that most people will stick with a board that.mainly well known people use and that newer/quieter members will be left without support on a lesser used board.
I quite like the seperate board idea, it would be more 'popular' people, but it means that those wanting to help the shorter threads also have them in one place and not being bumped off. It may also make it visually less upsetting if someone is struggling with lack of responses and they're next to a 6 page thread? I don't have a problem with long threads (easier having everything in on place) but I can see how they could bump off smaller ones, and this would be better if they are indeed updates rather than an urgent issue.
It could be that after say 4 or 5 pages they got moved so they have a chance to be in the intended place. Just a thought.
There will always be a happy ending. If its not happy then its not yet the end.
