Online Community - Comments, Improvements and Feedback

Thanks Deepthought I'll practice that when I feel up to joining in again. Some days I'm slower than others and it's surprising how quickly some of the conversations go. 

Misfit61 said:

And now I'm getting behind again as whilst I slowly type other posts answering posts from all different times come out and make my comments seem like I'm not listening! 11.27. 

As a slow writer myself, I generally quote what I am responding to, so whatever I may be referring to is made more relevant . . . possibly, and it is generally a given that we not able to keep up with that which we not yet aware of, and all that.

I'm guessing that there is a configuration setting in the forum setup that has preset filters to include various categories of stuff in the Activity view? Otherwise, can we have a facility to choose which items to see ourselves?

Point taken, caretwo - and yes, I'd forgotten that rule.  Which raises the issue about where do younger people go?  Heyer Fan, the member who started that thread, said her daughter spent a lot of time online, so she therefore thought it would be good for her to hook up with an online community of ASC peers around the same age.  It's a difficult one.  I mean, there are some really good FB groups - but she's wary of letting her daughter have a FB account just yet, which is probably wise in many respects.  I suggested 'Wrong Planet', but I wasn't overly impressed with it.  Some comments seemed negative and confrontational, so maybe it's not moderated so well as it is here. 

Maybe some other people could make suggestions to Heyer Fan.  Do you have sons or daughters who use safe ASC communities?  If we don't have a facility here, I think it's important that we don't ignore people who seem to be genuinely understanding and concerned for their children.  I gave her a link to other information on this site, which I hope was helpful.  If others have any suggestions, I'm sure she'd be grateful to hear.

Here's the thread:

is-there-a-community-like-this-for-teens

Cheers,

Tom

And now I'm getting behind again as whilst I slowly type other posts answering posts from all different times come out and make my comments seem like I'm not listening! 11.27. 

Just found your sticky thread reply caretwo so thanks for that. I also agree with you about why we might not answer the unanswered posts. For me it uses up energy to reply! 

Yes I agree. That is the reason I go to look at someone else's activity (or to try to find where I have said something! )and I do find it confusing. 

It is a subject which needs more thought.  I expect a few of us had rough and confusing teenage growing years ( which didn't necessarily stop at teenage) and I think it is a reflection of our concern for the young (generated by posts such as the one Tom mentioned and other pleas from teenagers and then from the parents of teenagers) that we are suggesting this. But as you say Caretwo it is a 16+ forum and possibly as such we are not aware of other support the nas gives to teens. 

I really liked the feature on the old forum software that allowed you to go back over a member's postings so that you could see their history, where they are coming from, what was their first post etc. The current feature for "Activity" in a member's profile is a jumble of the

a) their recent posts

b) latest post by someone else to the threads that a user has started; 

c) responses by someone else to a comment that the member made on a thread started by someone else.

I don't find this useful and it does not help me to work out someone's backstory. A little research on a member';s previous posts can give you some useful info before stepping in with both feet.

First of all I would like to say that I normally really like categorization! I like to split things into category after category (as, probably, a lot of us do) but in terms of the community I feel it would be a backward step.

If the community was aimed at teenagers (13+) upwards then I would agree that there should be an 'Autistic Teens' group, however, the community is, according to rule 1, for 'only those aged over 16'.

I just posted suggesting a 'teens' group, but missed your comment, caretwo.  Sorry.  I've been on MH forums in the past where they've had separate forums for, generally speaking, people over around 18, and for younger people.  There was a post yesterday with a mother asking if we knew of any suitable online communities for teens.  Her daughter is 13.  She might feel she's too young, therefore, to take part in a forum group entitled 'Autistic Adults'. Maybe the forum title could be changed to something that feels more inclusive.

I take your point about adding to the moderating burden, which must already be substantial (and I echo everyone's heartfelt thanks to the Mods for their great work).  But I also think there may be younger teens out there who might feel more comfortable talking to people in their own age group.  When I was 13, anyone who was 16 seemed vastly older.  Anyone who was 18 or 20 might as well have been 30.

I don't think it necessarily needs to go any further than that.  Adults who receive a diagnosis after a certain age are still adults.

Just thoughts

I agree different groups of people have specific needs but not that such needs equate to new groups.

As I said earlier, where will group creation end? We have to be fair to all groups of people.

By having more groups there is the possibility of splintering the community as users may become focused on 'their' group.

Okay, I know the posts you mean.

From my own experience, I know that some of those posts go unanswered by me simply because I do not feel I can contribute anything; sometimes it is because I do not feel well enough to post a reply even on a topic I feel I can help with.

I suppose the lack of answers to such posts is more a person than a system problem (assuming users are aware of such posts).

Sorry, Misfit61, I should have explained myself. A 'sticky' thread is one which is pinned (by a moderator/administrator) to the top of a group so that it is visible and does not get lost amongst all the other threads.

Not having it for chit-chat was part of what I meant about stopping it becoming 'messy' but also for the information to be presented in a logical order.

I know what I mean when I am typing but forget that it may not be clear to other people. I shall try to be clearer in my future posts (if, as is likely, I forget to do that in future, please just let me know and I shall do my best to explain).

Yes the mods and admin do have a tough job. Yes I have noticed they do step in to very serious pleas 

I second Lonewarriors thanks and praise for your work mods without you in the background and occasionally forefront we wouldn't have this forum 

Hi missy I always try to answer people when they first post,but sadly I don't always have answers and quite often they really need instant help! The admin or mods do quite often step in on the more serious posts,they place links etc,I think the team who run this site need praising sometimes as trying to control this resource is not easy,time consuming,and it cannot be right for everyone all the time.

A big thanks ADMIN.

A section for teenagers is a good idea as we often get teenagers asking where can I find other teenagers to talk to.a small demographic compared to us more mature members.

They have very specific needs just as women do!Theres a very popular post for women running now.lots of posts lots of visitors, it works,somewhere specific to aim for.

take care all,

Caretwo It isn't the posts within threads that I am talking about. Though yes that is a problem too.  When you go into a forum and scroll to "unanswered " there are people who are searching, enquiring whose posts do not get answered at all. Ok some of them are difficult and uncomfortable topics we may not wish to answer but some are on subjects which we could help with. Those are the posts which I meant as being "missed". I just feel sorry for the people who have taken courage to post and then don't get a response. Like I said I don't know if there is a remedy for that.. ? 

I'm sorry caretwo I have no idea what a "sticky thread" is. But it sounds very useful. I don't know what you mean by messy either. But agree it wouldn't be for chitchat but actual links or specific recommendations. For example Deepthought gave some very practical information about selfcare recently. I have participated in several threads and again don't know how to find it. So such strategies would be useful in one place.  

A 'sticky' thread (possibly in a new 'information' group) for links relating to benefits, employment, etc. might be a way of allowing quick access to such information.

If a new group for such links is created it would need careful control to avoid it becoming 'messy'.

In theory you can use the community search box to find threads but I have been unable to get it to work.