Hello @Clawde, @Lilly6 , @Former-Member , @Emelia8 ,@Appleblossom , @Bunniekins , @TAB
and other visitors to this thread
@Clawde, I have taken the liberty of re-wording your question in order for me to feel able to appropriately respond to your question. My response must necessarily be qualified, in as much as my own experience and knowledge, is limited to that of Community Guide.
The re-worded question from @Clawde is stated as follows:
Only one question if it's OK to ask please? What is the difference in the role, expectation of, and requirements for interaction with other members of the forum, when speaking from different levels of classification within the forum structure.
How are those requirements reflected in the way that you can interact with others on the forum, in those different classification levels. Examples of categories or classification within the forum structure are;
Contributor, Senior Contributor, Community Guide, Community Elder, Moderator, and Peer Support Person.
Can you describe how responding to those expectations feels please? What is it like for you, how do you feel about it? Can you still talk with no rules, and no expectations? Anyone else want to share? Enlighten Clawde please feel free to type a response.
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In answer to your question {assuming that I have restated your question correctly @Clawde , in the way that you might have intended}
The classifications of Casual contributor, Contributor and Senor Contributor are classifications of membership that require adherence to and compliance with the Guidelines & Info in order to become a member and continue to maintain membership of the forum.
In the role of Community Guide, members in this classification are expected to model the requirements and intent of the Guidelines & Info and act as assistants to other members, to welcome and assist new members to establish themselves on the forum, and to give encouragement and support to all members but especially to newer members. There are no restrictions in terms of styles of correspondence and communication with other members, beyond compliance with the Guidelines & Info.
However, the Community Guide role enables members to develop their skills and knowledge base, with the training provided for them, through the SANE website. That training allows the person to expand their knowledge and styles of personal interaction and knowledge of resources available to assist them in their roles within the forum as well as other community and service support roles.
Your question, about how one responds to those expectations, is probably subjective and depends on the specific experience and qualities of the person responding.
Much of what I experience, in the role of Community Guide, is very similar to that experienced in the role or classification of Senior Contributor.
For me, the majority of the interactions that I have would be rated as positive and very positive. Because of that, I very often have the reciprocally and mutually offered and received feelings of affirmation, support and encouragement that are a product of those positive interactions.
There have been times when the interaction with another member is less productive or positive and may even involve a sense of antagonism or other negative response. In such situations, I generally withdraw, with the hope that someone else may be able to offer the support required by that member.
There are rules and expectations to be adhered to in the role of Community Guide, that sometimes may seem to be restrictive. However, the rules and Guidelines & Info to which a member, at any level, complies, are generally acknowledged as those with which one would be expected to comply in other Community Support roles in the wider community.
As stated before, the majority of interactions are positive. Each of us, at any level or classification, inserts into the forum and community, their own particular style of communication. Just as is the case in our everday life, that style will suit some people and not others. I can say that I have gone to considerable lengths to establish and maintain some expressions of my own style in the forum, while endeavouring to the best of my ability to comply with the Guidelines & Info . This is because I believe that we do not all come out of boxes of the same size and colour. If we can establish, maintain and defend expressions of each of our own styles, then, as a group or collective, we can communicate, correspond with and serve the broadest possible cross-section, from the wider community, of qualified members and potential members who may need the resources offered and benefit from access to this forum community.
For classification levels above that of Community Guide, I am unfamiliar. Consequently, I would have to leave description of those roles and their interaction with members, to someone else.
I request that members ask if there are any other questions to which I can offer a response
With My Best Wishes
@HenryX
