Hi Everyone,
I wrote this before seeing longmans post above. I wanted to respond properly to the issues raised and engage in the discussion. Apologies to KatJackKev for using this thread. Hope it's OK.
Resources are always an issue but we have been busy on the website and will launch a mobile friendly site in early December. Our dilemma is making sure we don't have so much information on the site we cannot possibly keep it up to date but provide enough that is easy to find. Research with users has shown up this issue which we are trying to address. We do have a content team and I am always happy to forward comments about the information on the website to them . but I can't guarantee it will be acted upon. B
----
I’d like to refer back to some sentiments posted a little earlier on in this thread which I thought were very thoughtful. Recombinantsocks wrote “everyone could perhaps examine the moral high ground they are standing on and try (hard) to think if the other side has a point of view”. Wise words which I will do my best to take on board.
I believe we all want to make the Community the most useful it can be for as wide a range of members as possible. Wouldn’t it be so much worse if we were indifferent? Having this debate, as difficult as it is, does means we care about the Community.
So let me try and summarise what I am hearing from participants in this thread and please do correct me if I have missed something or not expressed these well. I’m trying to capture this in descriptive but non-loaded statements. Sorry if I get this wrong in places.
Some members feel that we (the NAS) are deliberately trying to change the culture of the Community. That we want to purge “difficult members” and “sanitise” discussion so that we can promote a “public image” of the Community as an inoffensive place rather than one where “we can air our views and seek honest advice and get support from our peers”. There is a feeling that “robust” and discussion which autistic people may prefer is unwelcome in the Community.
Some members are feeling that the moderators are interfering unduly in conversations and are “overbearing” and have been inappropriately critical and not consistent in their application of the rules.
There is also concern that the moderator’s responses are not sufficiently tailored to the situation and that they overuse standard template responses and too frequently refer users to the website. It is mentioned that the website sometimes does not have relevant information.
There is a worry that directing people to call or email the Helpline is unhelpful or disingenuous when getting though is difficult and replies take a long time.
Lastly there is a feeling that Community Manager(s) have failed to sufficiently involve Community members in discussion over the development of the community and issues.
I hope this is a reasonable summary, please let me know if not.
I will now do my best not go into a defensive mode because I think some valid points are being made Equally, I hope providing some background information will help to clarify why things as are they are.
I would also like (further on) to discuss how to engage better with Community members so that we can jointly work to improve the Community. Some good ideas have already been put forward and we are very open to ways in which we can re-jig the forum to better meet members’ needs.
I have to honestly say we have no “agenda” or “policy” to “sanitise” the Community for any publicity gain. It is true that the Community was originally conceived as “starter” Community where people who have never joined an online community before could feel safe and either stay or go on to join others. This is why we list other communities on the Community home page.
When the Community was setup, few other (starter) sites existed like this and we felt the NAS had a role to play here. What we may see happening is a conflict between this “starter community” concept and the fact that the community is now over five years old and has to cope with both “newbies” and “oldies”. (If you will forgive the terms)
To maintain the safe space we ask the volunteer moderators to apply the rules objectively. Our autistic moderators are particularly diligent at this. My suspicion is that this approach may feel restrictive to long-term members, who may expect a more nuanced response. There is certainly no conspiracy to focus on particular individuals.
I’d like to discuss how we might address this tension. As has already been suggested, perhaps we need a specific area where more robust views can be expressed. Signposting this to members and adding a warning. I am open to ideas.
Regarding concerns about the level of support moderators can offer, and its relevance. This has been a challenge for us from the outset and is one I know many other communities share. While our moderators receive training and support from the Community Manager and often consult on responses, they are not trained autism advisors like the Helpline team.
They have to work through dozens of posts every day and have only a short time in which to respond where they think they can and where it is useful. So they use templates and referrals to the website as the first option but can refer posts to our Helpline team for advice. But of course, here is the catch, our Helpline team are doing a sterling job answering lots of calls, emails, social media posts and requests from moderators. But they have finite capacity. We are constantly fundraising to improve this situation and we are training volunteers to help but it takes time to build capacity and maintain quality. And of course, all the time the demand is rising.
In addition, our policy is to let peers/members answer questions rather than have moderators “jump-in” all the time. Where there is no response after a while we do our best to come in with a helpful suggestion but I agree this is often limited in its scope.
Regarding missing some posts that breach rules. Yes, this does happen sometimes especially when we have had fewer moderators available due to sickness or breaks. We are currently building the team up again so that we have good cover on every day. Even so there may be times when this happens.
After five years, it’s time to take a fresh look at our Community. The technology itself is looking outdated and, for example, is not very usable on a smart phone. We have set aside some resources next financial year to make improvements.
We clearly also need to do better engaging Community members in decisions about the Community. I have some ideas on this but would welcome suggestions from participants in this thread. There is a sense of belonging and ownership which should, and I hope can be, harnessed given the right vehicle and goodwill.
One Community is not right for everyone and never can be. I still think we have a role as a safe place for ‘newbies’… where they can benefit from having knowledgeable and compassionate ‘oldies’. We perhaps need to work on the needs of longer term members too. When one of these leaves, it is a loss to the Community.
Best Wishes
Bob Chase
Hi Everyone,
I wrote this before seeing longmans post above. I wanted to respond properly to the issues raised and engage in the discussion. Apologies to KatJackKev for using this thread. Hope it's OK.
Resources are always an issue but we have been busy on the website and will launch a mobile friendly site in early December. Our dilemma is making sure we don't have so much information on the site we cannot possibly keep it up to date but provide enough that is easy to find. Research with users has shown up this issue which we are trying to address. We do have a content team and I am always happy to forward comments about the information on the website to them . but I can't guarantee it will be acted upon. B
----
I’d like to refer back to some sentiments posted a little earlier on in this thread which I thought were very thoughtful. Recombinantsocks wrote “everyone could perhaps examine the moral high ground they are standing on and try (hard) to think if the other side has a point of view”. Wise words which I will do my best to take on board.
I believe we all want to make the Community the most useful it can be for as wide a range of members as possible. Wouldn’t it be so much worse if we were indifferent? Having this debate, as difficult as it is, does means we care about the Community.
So let me try and summarise what I am hearing from participants in this thread and please do correct me if I have missed something or not expressed these well. I’m trying to capture this in descriptive but non-loaded statements. Sorry if I get this wrong in places.
Some members feel that we (the NAS) are deliberately trying to change the culture of the Community. That we want to purge “difficult members” and “sanitise” discussion so that we can promote a “public image” of the Community as an inoffensive place rather than one where “we can air our views and seek honest advice and get support from our peers”. There is a feeling that “robust” and discussion which autistic people may prefer is unwelcome in the Community.
Some members are feeling that the moderators are interfering unduly in conversations and are “overbearing” and have been inappropriately critical and not consistent in their application of the rules.
There is also concern that the moderator’s responses are not sufficiently tailored to the situation and that they overuse standard template responses and too frequently refer users to the website. It is mentioned that the website sometimes does not have relevant information.
There is a worry that directing people to call or email the Helpline is unhelpful or disingenuous when getting though is difficult and replies take a long time.
Lastly there is a feeling that Community Manager(s) have failed to sufficiently involve Community members in discussion over the development of the community and issues.
I hope this is a reasonable summary, please let me know if not.
I will now do my best not go into a defensive mode because I think some valid points are being made Equally, I hope providing some background information will help to clarify why things as are they are.
I would also like (further on) to discuss how to engage better with Community members so that we can jointly work to improve the Community. Some good ideas have already been put forward and we are very open to ways in which we can re-jig the forum to better meet members’ needs.
I have to honestly say we have no “agenda” or “policy” to “sanitise” the Community for any publicity gain. It is true that the Community was originally conceived as “starter” Community where people who have never joined an online community before could feel safe and either stay or go on to join others. This is why we list other communities on the Community home page.
When the Community was setup, few other (starter) sites existed like this and we felt the NAS had a role to play here. What we may see happening is a conflict between this “starter community” concept and the fact that the community is now over five years old and has to cope with both “newbies” and “oldies”. (If you will forgive the terms)
To maintain the safe space we ask the volunteer moderators to apply the rules objectively. Our autistic moderators are particularly diligent at this. My suspicion is that this approach may feel restrictive to long-term members, who may expect a more nuanced response. There is certainly no conspiracy to focus on particular individuals.
I’d like to discuss how we might address this tension. As has already been suggested, perhaps we need a specific area where more robust views can be expressed. Signposting this to members and adding a warning. I am open to ideas.
Regarding concerns about the level of support moderators can offer, and its relevance. This has been a challenge for us from the outset and is one I know many other communities share. While our moderators receive training and support from the Community Manager and often consult on responses, they are not trained autism advisors like the Helpline team.
They have to work through dozens of posts every day and have only a short time in which to respond where they think they can and where it is useful. So they use templates and referrals to the website as the first option but can refer posts to our Helpline team for advice. But of course, here is the catch, our Helpline team are doing a sterling job answering lots of calls, emails, social media posts and requests from moderators. But they have finite capacity. We are constantly fundraising to improve this situation and we are training volunteers to help but it takes time to build capacity and maintain quality. And of course, all the time the demand is rising.
In addition, our policy is to let peers/members answer questions rather than have moderators “jump-in” all the time. Where there is no response after a while we do our best to come in with a helpful suggestion but I agree this is often limited in its scope.
Regarding missing some posts that breach rules. Yes, this does happen sometimes especially when we have had fewer moderators available due to sickness or breaks. We are currently building the team up again so that we have good cover on every day. Even so there may be times when this happens.
After five years, it’s time to take a fresh look at our Community. The technology itself is looking outdated and, for example, is not very usable on a smart phone. We have set aside some resources next financial year to make improvements.
We clearly also need to do better engaging Community members in decisions about the Community. I have some ideas on this but would welcome suggestions from participants in this thread. There is a sense of belonging and ownership which should, and I hope can be, harnessed given the right vehicle and goodwill.
One Community is not right for everyone and never can be. I still think we have a role as a safe place for ‘newbies’… where they can benefit from having knowledgeable and compassionate ‘oldies’. We perhaps need to work on the needs of longer term members too. When one of these leaves, it is a loss to the Community.
Best Wishes
Bob Chase
