my fabulous idea

[immense]

HIII

basicallyyyy i think to attract more people to hx/hxf you need to do something that no other fansite has... hard, yeah, i know. BUT i think you should make a 'teen corner' on habbox.com which is essentially where forum users come from. in said corner you could have numerous guides and advice articles. for example:

+ are you getting bullied?
+ so, you think you're homosexual?
+ why exam results aren't everything...

there are tens and tens of articles that you can post which will be relevant to sooo many of the people who use the site. i know (TEMPORARILY FORGOT HIS NAME) scottish guy who loved xtina used to do some teen help thingies and they were actually really good. i know i loved reading them.

obviously you can link them to the forum if they want to discuss anything as well as link them to helplines of professionals and all that. it would have to be done dead proper but could be good imo!!

*my monthly brainwave*

[HotelUser]

Ostinato used to do something like this. Although I've no idea how much of an audience it would attract these days.

[Alex3213]

Don't see the problem in it. Worth a shot. :)

[Special]

there are already forums/sub-forums for those topics unless i'm misunderstanding


anyway do you have your own fansite anyway jake? why don't you apply these ideas to yours

[immense]

yeah that's his name. i mean on a much bigger scale though. he did one a week or maybe even fortnightly. dedicating a whole space for this to be updated regularly with tons of articles on problems teens can face. will be hard work for like two weeks writing them all but after that they're there forever and could potentially interest a lot of people and attract them to the forum to discuss them. this is something that genuinely interest me and although i know i can't be staff (lol) i would happily write some and send them to matt or whoever to use! obviously if they're good enough... which they would be cuz i can basically write like a genius when i wna ;l

jarvis - have them on habbox.com - not hxf
no i dont have a fansite

[Hecktix]

I like this actually, it could work, could even be something to say "Need advice with your own problem, you can post it on HabboxForum and get advice from our members" or something

[immense]

I like this actually, it could work, could even be something to say "Need advice with your own problem, you can post it on HabboxForum and get advice from our members" or something

yeah, could easily advertise the forum into it... "want to discuss this somewhere where you can stay anonymous..." etc

[Alex3213]

I actually think your idea of just having members' interest could work. Although I'm not suggesting the News Reporters to write this (because ofc we're meant to report, it's not articles all over again), I think Martin would be a good person to sort of manage the section. He's management for the writing side of content and I'm sure he has a few extra hours. Then members' could PM their article and they'd get full credit (or even a reward) along with their article produced. If everyone is doing it then I think it could work as it would be from different people's perspective.

[Robbie]

Could work but deffo let people be anonymous lol

[HotelUser]

It would certainly help to open the Habbox door to people other than just Habbo players :P

[kk.]

Good idea


..

..


10s of 10s XD

[immense]

Yeah Dave but also it would really be appealing to habbo players too. It's bang on the age range and all my ideas are fabulous. All teenagers have insecurities and questions, I'm sure we've all googled things we're unsure about related to puberty / growing up, well I have at least. If habbox offers this then it will appeal to people like me who are genuinely interested in these sort of things and want to help as well as those who are in need. Brownie points to Habbox for helping the community too.

[Shar]

Not a bad idea Jake :O
I think it might work

and btw why aren't you applying these ideas to your fansite out of interest

[KebabJuice]

So habbox will turn into the next Childline/ Talk to frank? awesomes.

[-Danube-]

OMG it could be like an Agony Aunt thing :O

I'd well do this and have my own column and everyone can write in and ask me questions :P

On a serious note, i like this idea. I think it could work really well, it's worth a shot if not.

[kk.]

I thought he owned a habbo forum, not a site. So having that sort of thing wouldn't really work for a forum, articles n what not

[Shar]

OMG it could be like an Agony Aunt thing :O

I'd well do this and have my own column and everyone can write in and ask me questions :P

On a serious note, i like this idea. I think it could work really well, it's worth a shot if not.
It could be :O
And we can make the health, relationships section on the forum bigger and more well-known

[immense]

Told you it was a good idea tbh! I don't own a forum / site at all!

[Shar]

Told you it was a good idea tbh! I don't own a forum / site at all!
It's a great idea :)
Good for you!

[Nixt]

Yeah this is a really good idea and I think it will help appeal to the wider Habbo audience, even if they just want to look at it and giggle or take it seriously. Exactly how it will work is something I am not 100% sure of yet because I can think of a couple of ways, but I think what I will do is bring it up in the Managers' meeting taking place in a few days time and we'll begin constructing an idea from there :).

[Muct]

I agree, and like, maybe loosen up the rules a little bit in these forums too if possible?
Like in the teenage forums atleast unfilter words like c.u.m and everything lol

[Nixt]

I agree, and like, maybe loosen up the rules a little bit in these forums too if possible?
Like in the teenage forums atleast unfilter words like c.u.m and everything lol

Unnecessary. We allow teen help discussions but we don't need to unfilter slang words that are generally used in an inappropriate manner. Generally, these things can be discussed providing it is done so with an element of maturity. More information in the teen forum specific rules: http://www.habboxforum.com/showthread.php?t=587528

[Muct]

Unnecessary. We allow teen help discussions but we don't need to unfilter slang words that are generally used in an inappropriate manner. Generally, these things can be discussed providing it is done so with an element of maturity. More information in the teen forum specific rules: http://www.habboxforum.com/showthread.php?t=587528

Not my fault if I wanna be a rebel lol :D
Worth a try.

[Catzsy]

It's a very good idea as long as there is not an agony aunt/agony uncle formally appointed as then advice could be seen as formally coming from Habbox which could be a bit of a problem if things go wrong. I have to say though that members do ask advice frequently in the Health, life and relationship forum and wonder if there would be a demand. A poll maybe useful to determine this.

[immense]

Yeah this is a really good idea and I think it will help appeal to the wider Habbo audience, even if they just want to look at it and giggle or take it seriously. Exactly how it will work is something I am not 100% sure of yet because I can think of a couple of ways, but I think what I will do is bring it up in the Managers' meeting taking place in a few days time and we'll begin constructing an idea from there :).
fab

It's a very good idea as long as there is not an agony aunt/agony uncle formally appointed as then advice could be seen as formally coming from Habbox which could be a bit of a problem if things go wrong. I have to say though that members do ask advice frequently in the Health, life and relationship forum and wonder if there would be a demand. A poll maybe useful to determine this.
I think having anyone appointed in that role is too much of a risk. Nobody from here is a professional and if they give the dodgy advice then it's going to look bad for Habbox. Like I said, I think we could just include on the end of each article something like "If this affects you and would like to discuss it further then head over to our Teens Forum (link here) where you can anonymously ask for advice" or something similar.

[Catzsy]

fab

I think having anyone appointed in that role is too much of a risk. Nobody from here is a professional and if they give the dodgy advice then it's going to look bad for Habbox. Like I said, I think we could just include on the end of each article something like "If this affects you and would like to discuss it further then head over to our Teens Forum (link here) where you can anonymously ask for advice" or something similar.


So would advice be given by pm and who would give the advice?

[immense]

They can just use the teen forum "Remember, don't use a forum name that people might recognise you from..." etc etc so they can still be anonymous and then just use them normally like me or you would if we wanted advice, anybody can contribute.

[kk.]

I think an anonymous feature should be implemented if you wanna do it that way jakey. Cus they might later want to trade on the forum and might have to make a new account to avoid embarrassment

[immense]

Yeah but that's too much money and hassle for a simple idea.

[kk.]

How much does it cost to have that feature :S

[immense]

I don't know but I think you guys think way too much into things! It's just a simple idea that I think will really interest Habbox's demographic and something that no other fansite offers.

[kk.]

Ye but an anonymous feature is quite good anyway.. :P

[Catzsy]

They can just use the teen forum "Remember, don't use a forum name that people might recognise you from..." etc etc so they can still be anonymous and then just use them normally like me or you would if we wanted advice, anybody can contribute.

Well if someone could post anonymously that would be great - how that could be done though is a little more difficult.

[Plean]

Yeah try it could turn out could

[kk.]

Well if someone could post anonymously that would be great - how that could be done though is a little more difficult.

It is possible to click 'post anonymously' in certain forums, so I'm sure it'd definitely possible

[immense]

Yeah, that would be a nice extra but if that's not possible I still think having a teens section with numerous helpful articles and links can go a long way.

[Mrs.McCall]

Hmm. Ostinato, as has been said, did something similar and it may have been one of the most popular articles features but wasn't most popular on Habbox.com (when looking at page views at the time from what I can remember).

I'm not sure how many people would write in for advice but it could be interesting. I think that it's treading a very dangerous line and whoever writes them would have to be super, super careful because they will not be professional so it would be ineducated advice but if it were to be angled more as "for teens from teens" and had the appropriate disclaimers I don't see why it couldn't work.

You could even expand it slightly and maybe turn Habbox Help Desk into an Advice Centre for teens real life problems maybe once a month. I dunno.

I'd say give it a go, what's the worst that could happen?

[immense]

I don't think you necessarily need users to write in advice. I think users will find it useful. Every single teenager will have a certain aspect in their life they're confused about. Whether it's what age to start shaving or battling with their sexuality. There is an array of different issues. All of these issues can be transformed into articles by competent, older users. These users could be picked from applications, hand-picked by General / News Management, whatever.

I just think it's an opportunity to offer something a bit out there and different. Sure, there are numerous sites who offer very similar services with perhaps better advice. This will be simplified and will be coming from teenagers themselves. Most schools now try and get older students to advise the younger students because they're on similar wavelengths. I think that's comparable to this and could, potentially, if ran right, a hit.

[Slowpoke]

I like the topics you used as examples Jake. Things like "So you think you're homosexual?", whilst controversial, will appeal to a lot of people on Habbo since teenage years are the years where a person begins to "discover themselves". Better still, if said articles would appear on a Google search for example it'd bring a lot of people to the site and forum that aren't even from Habbo. But I'd imagine that this wouldn't bother management, it's still primarily a forum for teens after-all. Something definitely needs to be done, though. I'd hate to see this forum die away. :(

[Mrs.McCall]

I think this idea could be great and when it was previously done it was successful but it'd have to be integrated it well because I do fear its critics will argue that first of all, would it not mean the subsequent forums less needed? Although I believe the simple answer is to ensure that the advice and articles posted are varied and more researched than your forum answer would be and second of all the validity of the information given would probably come under quite large scrutiny but I think plenty of research could fix this.

Also, why not get charities involved? Say you go for the "So you think you're homosexual?" option then you could provide an interview with a gay charity such as Stonewall (I am sure they'd be more than happy to help) or even a smaller charity like PFLAG along with the article posted therefore offering the best and most educated advice that could really benefit teens. I think it would be benefitial in real life.

[immense]

I like the topics you used as examples Jake. Things like "So you think you're homosexual?", whilst controversial, will appeal to a lot of people on Habbo since teenage years are the years where a person begins to "discover themselves". Better still, if said articles would appear on a Google search for example it'd bring a lot of people to the site and forum that aren't even from Habbo. But I'd imagine that this wouldn't bother management, it's still primarily a forum for teens after-all. Something definitely needs to be done, though. I'd hate to see this forum die away. :(

Yeah, I wouldn't know how to go about getting them onto a google search but that could prove really good. Like you said, this is ultimately a teenage forum and there is nothing stopping Habbox from trying to get members who haven't played Habbo. They can just minimise the Habbo/Trading forums.


I think this idea could be great and when it was previously done it was successful but it'd have to be integrated it well because I do fear its critics will argue that first of all, would it not mean the subsequent forums less needed? Although I believe the simple answer is to ensure that the advice and articles posted are varied and more researched than your forum answer would be and second of all the validity of the information given would probably come under quite large scrutiny but I think plenty of research could fix this.

Also, why not get charities involved? Say you go for the "So you think you're homosexual?" option then you could provide an interview with a gay charity such as Stonewall (I am sure they'd be more than happy to help) or even a smaller charity like PFLAG along with the article posted therefore offering the best and most educated advice that could really benefit teens. I think it would be benefitial in real life.

Yeah, if we could get professional help then that'd be fantastic because I think the biggest concern is the advice not being good enough. It'd be terrible if we made people believe they were gay for example when really it's just a hormonal phase. This can be dealt with by posting the articles first in the teen forum and getting feedback where I'm sure people like myself, you, catzsy, buttons, slowpoke, garion and others would provide constructive criticism. Just picked those few because we're all 17+ and often post in those forums or I think have an interest in this sort of thing.

[Mrs.McCall]

I think it's a really good idea. Well done Jake :)