dianeseattle
Member
It's important to say, if you put requests into a profile post, it will not be read by a LOT of people. I don't read profile posts unless I scroll into one accidentally.
So many people have joined, then find themselves confused about how to send a message to one of our forums, where they can be seen by everyone.
In-so-doing, they never get an answer or response, and they lose interest in the group and leave.
It makes sense to me that people might want to share something that won't fit under a topic contained in the listed forum. As one member pointed out, a lot of people like to keep track of their weight loss in profile posts. And there are some people who are close to them who follow everything they write, whether it's in profile or in a forum.
Of course, people would know better if they stopped and read the detailed guidelines posted by Kevin in this American Bariatrics-supported group. But I have only ever noticed a handful of people out of thousands who took the time to read the guidelines before posting.
I would personally appreciate it if people would post to the forums when they have questions or concerns, and only make profile posts when they want to keep something fairly private and do not wish to put it out there for everybody to know about.
But people will do what they want to do regardless of Netiquette or the rules of a privately owned support group. You should know, however, that I don't read profile posts, so you will probably not ever hear from me.
I do have one policy and I hope it makes a difference. I routinely examine the posts that have been made to the forums. There are always statistics, including how many times a post has been read, and how many times it has been replied to. I look for the zeros and ones behind the description of the post. Then I try to respond to the question or concern contained within. This way, even a newcomer will see that he or she has received one or more answer.
I do this because I know how bad it feels to spend time writing a post, telling a story, and even deciding whether you feel safe enough to share your story with complete strangers. If I then decided to post and nobody bothered to read it, and I saw a big zero next to the description, I would feel absolutely horrible and would most likely quit the group.
Among the current profile posts, I saw issues that would be warmly embraced by our sensational members here.
I hope newcomers figure this out. And here's a clue: look up at the banner and you see important icons to the right, and a drop-down menu to the left. This is how you create a post. This is how you become a real member. This is how you become part of a loving, knowledgeable family.
Of course you ALWAYS have the option of posting to your profile exclusively. But if you do, I promise you, you'll be missing out of the love we are eager to give you.
So many people have joined, then find themselves confused about how to send a message to one of our forums, where they can be seen by everyone.
In-so-doing, they never get an answer or response, and they lose interest in the group and leave.
It makes sense to me that people might want to share something that won't fit under a topic contained in the listed forum. As one member pointed out, a lot of people like to keep track of their weight loss in profile posts. And there are some people who are close to them who follow everything they write, whether it's in profile or in a forum.
Of course, people would know better if they stopped and read the detailed guidelines posted by Kevin in this American Bariatrics-supported group. But I have only ever noticed a handful of people out of thousands who took the time to read the guidelines before posting.
I would personally appreciate it if people would post to the forums when they have questions or concerns, and only make profile posts when they want to keep something fairly private and do not wish to put it out there for everybody to know about.
But people will do what they want to do regardless of Netiquette or the rules of a privately owned support group. You should know, however, that I don't read profile posts, so you will probably not ever hear from me.
I do have one policy and I hope it makes a difference. I routinely examine the posts that have been made to the forums. There are always statistics, including how many times a post has been read, and how many times it has been replied to. I look for the zeros and ones behind the description of the post. Then I try to respond to the question or concern contained within. This way, even a newcomer will see that he or she has received one or more answer.
I do this because I know how bad it feels to spend time writing a post, telling a story, and even deciding whether you feel safe enough to share your story with complete strangers. If I then decided to post and nobody bothered to read it, and I saw a big zero next to the description, I would feel absolutely horrible and would most likely quit the group.
Among the current profile posts, I saw issues that would be warmly embraced by our sensational members here.
I hope newcomers figure this out. And here's a clue: look up at the banner and you see important icons to the right, and a drop-down menu to the left. This is how you create a post. This is how you become a real member. This is how you become part of a loving, knowledgeable family.
Of course you ALWAYS have the option of posting to your profile exclusively. But if you do, I promise you, you'll be missing out of the love we are eager to give you.