Friends, Family & Carers Forum

[Former-Member]

hi there all you loveley community guides, i have two questions to ask you if you dont mind?

1. what are the qualities a community guide  should have?

2. do you think i could be a good community guide?

[Mazarita]

Hi @Former-Member,

I agree with what @Faith-and-Hope said in her reply to this question that you also posted on the LE forum. CGs are different people from different walks of life. Similarly, each CG probably has different ideas about what qualities they have to offer the forum community. They were selected by the Community Managers and other SANE workers after being nominated. My own general thoughts about fellow CGs is that they care about other people and try to be helpful where possible. Other qualities I see are patience, kindness, perceptiveness and substantial experience with mental health issues, and the concerns of other people around these issues. I think you know we are all volunteers and members of the forum community, here for our own struggles as well as to help others where we can.

As to whether you would be a good guide, I notice you helping other people on the forum even while going through difficult times yourself. This is a wonderful thing to see. Helping others in that way is a quality that lends itself to being a CG. The other important part of being a CG (or any member of this site), is respecting other people's need for space and giving it to them when it's clear they do not want to interract, and developing perceptiveness about when that might be so. Again, these are just things that I see about CGs.

If you were interested in a future in caring either in mental health or any other area, I believe you would have a good background for it, with your experience of caring for your family. I wonder what you are studying.

You might not have been expecting such a long post from me but I wanted to give you a thoughtful response.

Take care, lil sis.

[Former-Member]

Thanks @Mazarita my big sis ❤❤❤
Ive been trying to contact the mods since earlier but havent got a response yet

[Shaz51]

Hello

 @Shaz51 , @Faith-and-Hope ,  @utopia , @Kurra , @Sahara , @Teej , @Janna , @PeppiPatty , @Mazarita , @Appleblossom , @Jacques , @lisajane @chookmojo @Louise @WombatBoots 

-- are all the Community Guides , and have helped me sooo much when I found this wondrerful forum

I am one of the newer GCs,

[Former-Member]

I don't see how 'community guide' fits many with this title. In fact - no, wont say it. Calling them 'guides' is misleading. They are no different to the rest of us, just more skilled with the website and get extra support from moderators and each other better (go figure). It segragates. I think there should be provision for some to lose their 'stripes' upon some behaviour. Good question @Former-Member 

[Shaz51]

Hi everyone,

This is what @NikNik wrote :

Here is an overview of the current CG role. We will be recruiting for a new round of CGs mid year, however, the role might look at little different. I hope this helps for now though!

  Background

The Community Guide role was developed in 2015, after moderators and community managers noticed a group of community ‘super users’ who embodied the culture and values of the Forums. They were not just frequent users of the Forums, but were already going above and beyond to improve the community and help other members.

 With an anticipated increase of Forum promotion in October 2015, SANE decided to acknowledge these ‘super users’ for the hard work they had already put into the Forums, and encouragement to keep displaying the same qualities and commitment they were already showing.

What it takes to be a Community Guide

Community Guides are members of the SANE Forums community who live and breathe the forum values. Community Guides are:

• Warm and Welcoming
• Empathetic
• Open and non-judgmental
• Listeners
• Helpful
• Insightful

 They do this by: 

• Giving helpful advice, whether it be through their own experience or through sharing referrals
• Drawing people into conversations who may have something to contribute
• Welcoming new members
• Responding thoughtfully and in an authentic way
• Opening themselves up and sharing their own experience
• Starting new and engaging discussions
• Following the Community Guidelines
• Flagging concerning content through the ‘Report Inappropriate Content’ function
• Practicing self care
• Getting involved with Special Events, such as Topic Tuesday.

 You may see Community Guides hanging around in:

• Introduce yourself Welcoming the newest members to the community
• Topic Tuesday: Sharing experiences and encouraging discussion
• Ask Anything Monday: Helping new people feel welcome through responding to their question
• Ceelleebbraattion: Celebrating and acknowledging other members
• Friday Feast: sharing a virtual meal and having a chat

[Former-Member]

Hi @Shaz51