We’re just days away from launching our online community site, and you can have a voice in it!

Our team at Families for Depression Awareness has been very busy behind the scenes, getting ready to launch our new Online Community Web site. We’re very close now, and soon you’ll be able to jump onboard to find new resources and discussion forums that can help you.

You’ll certainly be among the first to know when the site goes “live.” In the meantime, we’re still looking for folks to volunteer as discussion group moderators.

Maybe you’d like to help?

As a moderator, you’ll be filling the important role as a friendly host who helps guide discussion topics, questions and commentary from everyone who participates.

This role does come with certain responsibilities, but we’ll make it very easy for you. And, you may be delighted to find it a very rewarding and helpful experience regarding your own issues in caring for someone with a depressive illness.

We’re putting the finishing touches on our “How to” moderator’s guide, and we’ll also offer a separate discussion board for moderators only. In that forum, moderators can post messages to each other and the Families for Depression Awareness staff members to ask questions, check procedures, trouble shoot any concerns that may come up, and schedule their time online with us. You’ll never be out there alone.

So please let us know if you’d be willing to help out as a moderator. Or, please pass this message along to someone you know who’d make a great moderator.

As more moderators become available, we’ll be able to add more discussion groups and time slots so there’s sure to be a discussion time and topic that’s perfect for you.

If you have any questions or comments about this, please post a comment!

I’ll check back with you next week. Happy Halloween!
Stacey Leibowitz

Our discussion group moderators: what do you think?

As you may or may not know, many online discussion groups use moderators as neutral “hosts” who volunteer to keep conversations flowing as intended. We’ll be doing the same thing in our Families for Depression Awareness Online Community.

In case you’re new to discussion forums, here’s some helpful information about the role of moderators and what you can expect. We’d also like to know what you want the moderator to do or not do. After all, this is your community!

The following questions and answers should give you a solid background on our moderators.

1. What is a moderator? A moderator serves as a discussion host who watches for repeat messages, offensive language, “spamming” a phrase or word, and selling products or services (which is not allowed). In our community, moderators will also watch for inappropriate medical advice related to family members or loved ones with depression, bipolar disorder or a dual diagnosis with substance addiction.
2. Why do we use moderators for our discussion groups? We want to make sure that this forum is valuable to you and is focusing on the topics offered for each discussion thread. We’ve learned that it’s important for one person to monitor content, answer questions, keep the conversation on-topic, and address inappropriate behavior and information.
3. What would you like to see in our moderators? We’re planning to ask our moderators to guide topic discussions and quickly address any behavior issues. Beyond that, we’d love to know what you think a moderator’s role should be here, and what it shouldn’t be. Please post a blog comment to let us know!
4. How do moderators know what to do? We’re developing separate discussion boards for moderators only. These will offer a place where our moderators can post messages to each other and the Families for Depression Awareness staff members to ask questions, check procedures, trouble shoot any concerns that may come up, and schedule their time online with us.
5. Would you like to help this online community by volunteering as a moderator? We already have a few volunteers, but we can always use more! If you’re willing to share a day, a week, or any other time period with us, we’d love to have you on board. It can be a very flexible arrangement; you can schedule a certain time each week or rotate your time with other moderators on an ongoing basis. And, we’ll provide you with the information you need to feel comfortable in this role.

If you’re interested in moderating one of our discussion forums, or if you have any questions, please post a comment on this blog topic.

Until next time, I hope you’re enjoying your autumn.
Stacey Leibowitz

Now it’s easier to post your comments to our blog.

Happy October! Thank you for viewing our blog postings and signing up for the Families for Depression Awareness Online Community emails. We want to make sure everyone feels welcome to post a comment, and we certainly want to make it easy for you to do so.

When we launched this blog a few weeks ago, we didn’t realize that the comment-posting process was a little confusing for some of you. Rest assured that we’ve fixed that problem. So, here’s a clear guide on how to post a comment to any of our blog postings.

1. Find the blog posting or topic where you want to post your comment.
2. Scroll to the bottom of that posting. There, you’ll find a link that says 0 comments (or 2 comments, etc., depending on the number of comments). It’s on the same line that says “Posted by Stacey Leibowitz …”
3. Click on that X comments link to view the blog posting form.
4. In the box titled Leave Your Comments, type in your message.
5. Below that box, you’ll be asked to Choose an Identity. Choose one of these three options:
   • Google/Blogger - if you have a Google Blogger account, here’s were you can enter your Google account username and password.
   • Other - select this option if you’d like to use your name, or a nickname, and Web page.
   • Anonymous -select this if you’d rather not use your name.
6. If you like, you can preview and edit your comment before submitting it to our blog. Just click the [Preview] button to review what you’ve written.
7. Then, when you’re ready, click [Publish Your Comment]. This sends me a notice that you’ve submitted a comment. I review all of the comments, mostly to prevent spammers from using our blog to sell their products (!) so your post won’t show up right away.

That’s all there is to it! 

The comments we’ve received so far have helped us understand which topics and concerns you’d like to see covered in our Online Community discussion forums. For example, last week, we received a request to include a topic about mature children of elderly parents, with ideas on improving the quality of their relationship in spite of the condition. 

Now that we have improved our posting procedure, we hope you will add your input this week. 

We look forward to seeing what you have to say about loving someone with depression, bipolar disorder, or a dual diagnosis of depression and alcohol or drug addiction. Thank you! 

Stacey