Message from the Supporters: 1234.
 

Hey Guys,

Those of you who've been around for a while will probably remember the 1234 scheme which was a weekly scheme for making RYL a more supportive place. We've decided to relaunch it, and for this, we need as much support as possible; and every little counts.

The scheme works as follows:

1 day - such as Sunday
2 forums - try and give your best replies in 2 different Forums
3 replies - try and reply to three threads
4 smiles - three people you helped, and yourself

This may not sound like very much, but if thousands of people replied to 3 threads, it would make a very obvious difference. We don't want you to do more then you can - but hopefully we can keep this thread bumped every week and remind ourselves of the support community we can be... the support community that we are and help our friends and strangers!

Please consider forums or threads with fewer replies, such as Veterans Support or Eating Disorder Support and respective subforums. We've also included some tips for how to reply to difficult posts below. They won't be for everyone, but they might just give you the confidence to start replying:

Tips for replying

• Read through the post properly.
  This helps you understand the situation from the members point of view.
  Get an understanding of what the member is asking or wanting.
• Acknowledging their situation/feelings.
  Even if you don't agree with what they may be feeling, it doesn't take away from the fact that they *are* feeling it.
• Main point(s)/problem(s).
  Try not to assume what their main problem is unless it is obvious. If in doubt ask them what it is.
  Questions are a great way of really understanding, but avoid using more than two.
• Use links on the main site.
  Links are always something to consider. It gives your fellow member as much information to read that might help, at their leisure.
  Remember that it's always being updated, so check for new resources.
• Make long posts more manageable.
  Break the post down into different section e.g. paragraph at a time. That way if it is a long post it doesn't seem unmanageable and you can respond to more of the points that have been raised

Take care,
The Supporters (Originally written by Chloe)

I think that this is a great idea! It seems very reasonable too :)
I know that there are many people who DO post more than 3 replies every week though also.

Yeah, I agree, there are a lot of people who give amazing support around the forums. I guess that this is to try and increase the support rate further! :D

Note to self- DO this!

I've been such a bad supporter lately. :(
I keep getting tangled in work and my completely stupid travel schedule.

I have been slacking somewhat lately but I will try and do this! Thank you.

I have also been slacking will try and do this I think it's a really good idea! Thank you!

Sounds like people are guilting themselves about 'slacking' =S
Don't!
I presume this posted is intended politely and only for people who are in the right headspace/have enough time for supporting right now, not to make anyone feel bad!

It's not my place to say but I'll say it anyway due to excess fearlessness; everyone is a welcome valued member, whether or not they're in a place to offer support right now :)

^
Jenna is right. This post isn't intended to make anybody feel guilty at all and everything else Jenna said also!

As said, this post isn't intended to make anyone feel guilty, it's just a nice little idea for if you want to do it! :)

Good idea :)

Just to say, I wasn't trying to accuse anyone of guilt-tripping, I think it's an absolutely fab idea, I just worried that some people were taking it the wrong way. I hope I make sense, I really don't mean to cause offence. (Can you tell I'm in an over-cautious mood today?! :p).

I would also add that GSA is also a bit quiet these days, so if people are looking to do this, going in there might also be a good plan! (I found five threads earlier with no replies)

Reminding people of stuff like this is always good too ^_^ xx

I like this idea! :D

Yay! Thank you for posting with such good responses! :)

I think posting in this thread after you've done will be a good idea to keep the keeness of getting involved and it'll make a difference!

Um, I already reply to several threads a day and do it in a very precise order (hashtag doesn't even have OCD but acts like it) so I'm not doing this exactly, but this is a post registering my keenness for generally replying to support threads! Hope that makes sense =S

It does make sense Jenna, and it's great you already support here so much! Am glad the thread has bumped up your keenness :)

I think that's a good idea Belle :) And everyone knows and appreciates the people that reply to several threads a day. But hopefully this thread will help encourage people who are unsure of whether they have anything they can offer, to show them that they can and do. I remember when I first joined, I was reluctant to reply to people's threads because I felt as though I had nothing useful to contribute, or because I didn't know the member in question, that it wouldn't be okay to just jump straight in there. So if I'd seen this thread, it would have made me feel better about replying :)

Very good point Louise :)

This exactly :).

Yeah, I do that sometimes! Hopefully having this thread to post in and suchlike will be good.

Would it help to have a specific day or do you think this is something we could look to more regularly? I say this for target reasons, not because people don't support on other days! I know that they do!

There's always the option of picking your own day or time of day. :) The idea of 1234 is to encourage members who perhaps might be a little afraid or out of habit of posting to give it a go. This isn't to guilt-trip people who are unwell, or unable to offer support and we are incredibly grateful to the members who already support extensively across RYL.

Haha, that sounds like a plan! Then the procrastination can be productive! ;) What could be better than that?

Ahh, I do that! It's a normal response to reading comments on news-related websites I think!

Sounds like a plan :).

As you're probably aware, tomorrow, Friday, is Self Injury Awareness Day. We thought this would be a great opportunity for as many people as possible to take part in 1234. Remember, there's no pressure to take part and every little helps. :)

Nice idea for tomorrow. Will try do this :)

I love this idea. It's definitely something I'm going to bear in mind, sometimes I go through stages of supporting way more than usual, but then I'll not support at all. I think the idea of picking a day of the week is a really useful one so I can be more consistent :)

Thought I'd pop in and agree with this! :)

I did a little bit of this yesterday because I didn't do anything else for SIAD and it felt really good to get my support on! Nice to see the 1,2,3,4 scheme back :)

It is nice to see it back!everything feels a lot more balanced.x

Yeah. :)

Today is Sunday. :) It would be really great to see as many people as possible take part, and same as normal, there's no pressure. :)

I plan to do this today :)

Yay! Sounds like a plan!

Well did 2, better than none ;-p

Something is better than nothing ^_^ x

I think I did two or three.
Like Liv said, something is better than nothing! :)

So, today is Sunday! Please take this chance to participate in 1234 if you can, and we'll have lots of happy people all round. :)

Take care everyone.

*bump*

did my bit for the day :) it didn't take all that long either, just took a break from studying

*bump*

So, today is Sunday, and we're hoping as many people as possible will take part in 1234 today. Please keep bumping the thread when you're done. :)

1 day, 2 forums, 3 replies, 4 smiles.

Take care everyone.

Noted :)

Bump.

I think this is a good idea!

Hope people are getting on well with it - there's still time! :D

*bump*

*bump*

Am I showing my age in that I remember it being 5:5 (replying to 5 threads that had less than 5 replies)
Doing my bit today for the 1234

bump!