Agony Aunt

[JerseySafety]

I really like this idea. i would like to see this happen

[Nuxty]

We have looked at doing this before in the news department, but I wasn't too keen on the ideas and I don't think the GM team at the time were either. I mean, If it was down to me I would opt for Oli's idea of having an option to post anonymously in the HLR forums as this way we wouldn't have to have someone with a specific responsability and I assume it would be part of the moderation departments duties to oversee the forum, as they do all others, in order to make sure no one is being stupid or idiotic regarding the help they need or the advice they are giving.

[JerseySafety]

We have looked at doing this before in the news department, but I wasn't too keen on the ideas and I don't think the GM team at the time were either. I mean, If it was down to me I would opt for Oli's idea of having an option to post anonymously in the HLR forums as this way we wouldn't have to have someone with a specific responsability and I assume it would be part of the moderation departments duties to oversee the forum, as they do all others, in order to make sure no one is being stupid or idiotic regarding the help they need or the advice they are giving.

Yeah I think that's the best way. Anonymously posting in the forum rather than PMing etc.

I don't see a problem with the mod department overlooking the forum, as long as they don't 'leak' private issues.

[Alex3213]

Yeah I think that's the best way. Anonymously posting in the forum rather than PMing etc.

I don't see a problem with the mod department overlooking the forum, as long as they don't 'leak' private issues.

No I disagree because if this were possible (like Oli said it might not even be) I'd opt for nvrs idea. You can have that 'trust' argument that all mods are gonna be respected members of the community blah, blah, blah and I'm not disputing that however there will be people in the department who will think there's no problem to leak the goss to a close friend, then that close friend leaks it to someone else etc etc. In addition there have been moderators who abuse their power whatever it is so who says they won't abuse it now? Just like a HxHD staff could leak the password when it wasn't wired, just like a habboxlive staff could leak the panel password (dunno if this'd work mind you, I've never been on a radio ) or just like any staff could leak a part of info about their dept. Although staff are meant to be trusted, there'll ALWAYS be ones who can't be with power.

Having said this, I think if the idea were possible that there is an option to put it private or your name can be seen. I say this purely because there are questions in there like "have you ever e-dated?" which isn't really asking for advice but opening a discussion on a discussion board.

[AgnesIO]

No I disagree because if this were possible (like Oli said it might not even be) I'd opt for nvrs idea. You can have that 'trust' argument that all mods are gonna be respected members of the community blah, blah, blah and I'm not disputing that however there will be people in the department who will think there's no problem to leak the goss to a close friend, then that close friend leaks it to someone else etc etc. In addition there have been moderators who abuse their power whatever it is so who says they won't abuse it now? Just like a HxHD staff could leak the password when it wasn't wired, just like a habboxlive staff could leak the panel password (dunno if this'd work mind you, I've never been on a radio ) or just like any staff could leak a part of info about their dept. Although staff are meant to be trusted, there'll ALWAYS be ones who can't be with power.

Having said this, I think if the idea were possible that there is an option to put it private or your name can be seen. I say this purely because there are questions in there like "have you ever e-dated?" which isn't really asking for advice but opening a discussion on a discussion board.

To point out, no matter how much we may want to trust the moderators, at the end of the day they are just teenagers, who are volunteers - I don't think trusting someone who is just another person (baring in mind I do not trust people in general) is a good idea.

[GommeInc]

This just seems a bit too novel and won't be used in my opinion. There's nothing wrong posting a thread asking for help. You would no doubt get pointed in the right direction for anything embarassing or given suggestions. To be fair, a quick Google Search is enough :/ If you want a sympathetic ear, like for the loss of a family member, people already do that :/

[Meanies]

I think it's a bad idea because whoever was to be the 'agony aunt' most likely won't be experienced in a lot of areas and so will be giving advice that they don't really know what they're talking about and might lead the person wanting help in the wrong direction

[Alkaz]

We have looked at doing this before in the news department, but I wasn't too keen on the ideas and I don't think the GM team at the time were either

Indeed. It was Jin who was the main one who put a stop to it, even though at the time the community was up for it. Posting anonymously in the health forums seems like a good alternative though.

[RyRy]

Do what The Student Room do and make an anonymous forum where people can anonymously reply... Simple. I think I know why it hasn't been implemented in the past though cuz I do remember this being a suggested a few times, it all comes down to who is trust worthy enough to take on the role and also advise someone on something which they've had no training on dealing with. Leave it to the pros n that innit.

[FlyingJesus]

We set up a feature like this when I was Community manager where users could use a part of the support tool to reach out and have a place to speak their mind that they might not want to publish elsewhere. Organised it, implemented it, advertised it, monitored it - and not a single person used it. Something of a victory in a way because it could be taken to mean that no-one felt bad enough about anything to need to use it, but I don't think teens have changed so much in a couple of years that they really need this option now.

Anonymous help areas might be a solution (if there's even a need for this) but it would of course have to be pretty heavily monitored, and would moderation be able to see who the posters really were? If not then there could easily be repeat offenders who just cause trouble, and if so then it's not really anonymous because let's face it nothing really stays confidential around here