I have been approached via pm about making this forum private again.
I believe this would have a chilling effect on new membership because people would not be able to lurk as non members nor see an example of what the site is. This is why we have a hybrid where you can post both private(in private members) and publicly.
However, having one completely private site is possible. Of course it would be an additional expense for members to take care of.
There is also the option that maybe @shutterbug could start a private members only forum seperate from here. But thats really up to him.
I am not willing, however, to go exclusively private as I truly believe that this will lead to a dwindling and dying member base as old members slowly trickle out and are not replaced by new members.
Would you pay for a separate private forum?
Yes
No
0voters
Edit: Plus if we go private and new members dont come in , these will all be members that the site cant help and we cant get to know.
I don’t think splitting the userbase would be a good idea, if the idea as it is right now that a private only forum would attract less new users then just leave it at that, just needs to be a deliberate decision. Might still be a good idea to actually find a better way to communicate that everything you post here is publicly accessible.
Hey @schizophrenisaurus , could you please start a separate thread for the boxing stuff if youd like to talk boxing? This is all off topic. Going to delete the references.
I certainly understand your point of view. The private members category is still available to those that do not wish for their information to be viewable by non members or those below trust level 2.
I believe what we have is the best singular option. The hybrid option.
Im not willing to make this forum exclusively private.
Privacy is paramount, but I do think we would lose out on new perspectives and stories if the forum were to fully go private.
It’s a shame the old hangout isn’t up anymore, as there were decades of experiences, success stories, and highly useful general information that had helped members and lurkers alike.
I feel that by keeping this place open, this forum can serve both its members as well as the psychosis-spectrum community at-large much in the same way the previous forum did.
The privacy measures we have here have been good so far, I think.
All in all, it’s crucial for our community to be connected and have a platform. This is a good place to be for that.
It depends, mainly on how anonymous I can be when I have to pay. I’m very uncomfortable with sharing my name etc. And even then, I’d do both. It’s important for people to have this community. It helps us tremendously so why not help others too? But for us old regulars, a private forum would be nice as well
i personally dont see any problem with the forum as it is. I think we should just stay together, if people want more privacy they can use the private thread function and only talk on those threads. Wouldnt that be the same as opening up a new forum? Why split the user base?
