Anyone finding New Recommended For You feature useless?

Traveltext

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU

Based on your profile, here are some relevant discussions for you

FOLLOWING TOPICS ARE NOT WHAT I SEARCH FOR AT ALL.

MelissaDallas

You can opt out in your profile. Our displeasure with the new “feature” has been expressed in the “Tech Glitches” thread

MountainMia

MelissaDallas, they hide the tech glitches thread when they don't want to hear from us anymore. I'm serious -- I have commented, and then looked for it again within a few short hours, and it's been removed from the active topics list.

MelissaDallas

MountainMia-I know they do

BevJen

How do you opt out in your profile? I've looked -- I've already said no newsletters, but that's not doing the trick.

Thanks.

exbrnxgrl

I simply find it a pointless distraction. I wish it was not there

edj3

I turned it off. Just as Traveltext experienced, the recommendations had nothing to do with things I would or have searched for.

Mods, feedback at least from some of us is thumbs down on that one.

Beesie

What I find annoying is that I will sometimes pop on quickly to see if an OP has responded to something I've posted, and I don't sign in but just scan the "Active Topics" list. Now there is this big box in the middle of the list, suggesting that I created a Profile and showing me 3 examples of "Recommended For You" threads. A big waste of space that just gets in my way when I'm trying to do a quick scan.

I also find that most days now the "Active Topics" list is restricted to 3 pages - maybe it's just restricted to the past 24 hours? - and if I haven't looked at the site for a couple days, I often can't find the posts that I'm looking for.

Moderators

Please know that we have heard your views on what you believe to be best for the Community. We fully understand that the steps we take to progress our Community platform will not feel right for everyone, and we acknowledge that it may cause some to look for other platforms to better suit their needs.

The Recommendation tool has been carefully developed and was designed to progressively improve, through use by members and our ongoing technical development. Our Moderators and other staff at Breastcancer.org are continuously monitoring the Recommendations that are being offered and are working hard to see them improve. We continue to ask members to be part of making it work most effectively and we are offering clear steps for those who do not want to participate so they can remove themselves from the process. If you turn the tool off by clicking "Turn Off Recommendations" in "My Profile," your activity will no longer be recorded for this tool. The technology we use is always a supplement to the critical human interaction of our members and Moderators. The Moderators remain an essential part of the value our Community offers. And nothing will ever take the place of our dedicated Community members.

Breastcancer.org is a small, very collaborative team. The CEO is intricately involved in all decisions and communications. To directly share constructive feedback, you can email our team at comments@breastcancer.org.

Once again, we thank you for your patience on this and future changes. We appreciate you being a part of our Community.

--The Breastcancer.org Team

Peregrinelady

I opted out because my recommendations included radiation and lymphedema, neither of which I have had and the huge box is distracting. I thought fewer people were posting, hence the 3 pages. I remember when there were up to at least 8 or 9 pages. Sometimes more. Are the pages being kept at 3, moderators? It seems that new people would be discouraged by this, if it is true.

Moderators

The Glitches thread is not in active topics because it is an evergreen channel to share technical problems directly with the Mods. It is always available, but given the nature of the discussion is technical, we do not need to keep it in active topics. The purpose of these boards is to build community for people with and worried about breast cancer. As we have mentioned, to send your constructive feedback directly to the team, email comments@breastcancer.org

As for the pages in Active Topics, only 24 hours worth of threads show. Anything older than that would no longer be considered "Active".

Peregrinelady

Thanks for the clarification, moderators.

Sadiesservant

Thanks Mods.

While I understand the intent, I too turned it off. In my case it was pointing to threads of interest but did not indicate if there were new posts. So in many cases it was pointing to threads I had just looked at. Ultimately it seems like a good idea but it's not working.

As to the number of pages, I too assumed that people were using the site less which seemed counterintuitive given that many of us are trapped at home. I’m not sure when this change came into affect but it certainly wasn’t the case when I joined. It’s interesting to me that in attempts to improve things you have made the site much less user friendly. I don’t want to have to make every thread I’m interested in a favourite in order to keep up and the expectation that we should be posting every single day in order to qualify a discussion as “active” is bizarre. In essence, what it does is limit conversation.

You might want to rethink.

Traveltext

Well, the algorithms are just throwing up any old suggestions. The latest for me is:

Calling all grade 1 ladies

bravepoint

Yes, I find it annoying!

edj3

I confess I laughed at that, Traveltext --mine offered something about chemo. Which no, I didn't have and didn't ask about.

Beaverntx

My impression is that the threads you read influence the suggestions more than your profile content does. As a healthcare professional I am interested in folks' experiences in a large variety of aspects in dealing with BC and thus read/look at a wide number of threads. Most of my "recommendations" are clearly related to those rather than to my actual profile, and are often at least a year old. Not finding it helpful!

MinusTwo

Mods: I of course had turned off "recommendations" a LONG time ago. Not related to anything I want to see, not valuable, too intrusive.

But here's something I just noticed in the link when I select "my favorites" - as I usually do when I first log on. I don't remember that "my favorites" used to be monitored and I'm not particularly happy about that. When did that start? I assume this is all related to your new recommendations procedure?

community.breastcancer.org/my/topics/monitored

kathindc

I would not have found out about this if it weren't for the fact that this came up in Post your tech glitches . . . since it is in My Favorites. I login on my iPad 99.9% of the time which the vast majority of the time takes me to the My Favorites page and bypasses Announcements. When I am taken to the Announcement page, I would find so few that I was interested in that I pretty much ignore them now. I didn't turn off the Recommendations for a few days because I was curious as to whet BCO thought they knew I would like. It ran the gamut of topics that were years old with very few posts to what is actually marked as my favorites. I have since turned off the Recommendations. You know what they say about the word assume, hmm. BCO this is one of them. To be courteous to your members, it would have been better to have us opt in instead of opt out of the recommendations.

Mods, I have to ask if this is what some or all of the fundraising monies was spent on creating from your ill titled October/Halloween campaign of 2017? You were very excited about changes coming to the site that those participating in the discussion were saying weren't needed. You dug your heels in then, just like you are digging your heels in now.

Traveltext

Today I’m getting the suggestion: Vaginal issues on Tamoxifen.

Mods, please work on the algorithms. Gender should be easy to get right.

MountainMia

If Active Topics only shows 24 hours' worth of posts, why remove the Glitches thread from view? Frankly, that really does seem like you're hiding it. If there are no problems, it will scroll away pretty quickly. If someone wants to get ahold of Mods, they can always message you. Why not just leave it alone?

MinusTwo

Oh my Traveltext. Thanks for the Laugh out loud to start my day.

wrenn

Mods: "we acknowledge that it may cause some to look for other platforms to better suit their needs.". Does this mean "if you don't like it go away"?

Traveltext

Yes, wrenn, I too didn’t like being told to go elsewhere if I didn’t like this new feature.

Jettie

this made me laugh after reading the thread and going back to see what was in my recommended, as i normally mindless move past it as if it was an unwanted advert....

Beesie

Jettie, that's perfect!

Traveltext, perhaps there is something in your posts that has led the BCO algorithim to determine that you need to be more in touch with your feminine side.

wrenn

I think it is deceptive to suggest that BCO is looking for input from members and then blatantly state that if you don't like what they do you can leave.

It's BCO's site. They can do what they want but be as up front as you were in this thread.

Traveltext

Beesie, I'm always asked how and why I've got a women's disease, so BCO is perhaps giving me genderless options.

Marguin

While I find the recommended feature annoying, the truly harmful new feature is reducing active topics to 24 hours.

That forces members to log in at least once every day and spend a good amount of time reviewing threads and perhaps writing a response at that time.

But some of us are fatigued from treatment. Others working full time along with families to care for. There could be internet issues. Further, one may not be able to respond right away and then be unable to find the thread when ready to respond. There are dozens of reasons for not being able to log in every day and real implications regarding sharing and carrying on discussions.

Please don't make it that much harder for people to find and discuss treatment options, connect with friends, etc.

Peregrinelady

I agree, Marguin. Since the pages have been limited, I feel disconnected because I miss the beginning of threads and by the time I see them the conversation has ended. Glad I am not new, as I would probably just give up. This is sad. Reading the many conversations and hearing from others in the same situation saved me upon diagnosis.

ceanna

I'm not sure, but I've always seen only 24 hours of current active topics--the number of pages is dependent on how many threads have had postings in the past 24 hours. Yes, in years past, we seemed to have much more traffic on the boards and the number of pages would often be 6-8 instead of the current 3-4. I think that slowing of traffic is due to some of the changes and lack of transparency BCO is imposing on us, and some from online fatique! With stay at home orders for many of us, it's not that I don't have the time, I just don't want to spend as much time on my computer as I now have to for other things like online meetings.

Many of us commented on the "Glitches" thread about the intrusive, inaccurate new "recommendations" and how they are misleading to new members at best, and worried again about the tracking of our personal data. The "glitches" thread is now hidden from the "active topics" list and BCO has not replied to concerns, questions, and comments other than saying, basically, that if we don't like it we can go elsewhere.

Realizing that BCO needs monetary support, and can get it through creating profiles from the data it mines from us which direct us to old, long, unneeded threads leaves us open to have to make choices on the personal information we share here. They create the "recommendations" from algorithms used in tracking our postings and searches. We had controversy about this monetization several years ago with the "Outbrain" discussions and those "ads" were finally removed from the middle of the threads, and here we are again with the same discussion with BCO using another avenue. BTW, that Outbrain thread is now missing, and as the originator of that thread, I was never notified or asked about its removal. Why is BCO so afraid to be held accountable to us, its members??

I would like BCO to be transparent and up front with its members. Those of us who choose to stay want to know in advance how our data is being used and to be able to have input on possible changes before they are imposed. Asking questions or making comments should not be viewed by BCO as something to be put down or "hidden." We are here because we share a health diagnosis and want to continue to help others who share our health concerns in the best way possible. I believe this is the mission of BCO, but I'm very disappointed in the actions BCO seems to take to alienate the very members who keep BCO active! The Moderators note that there is a small "collaborative team" at BCO, but fail to recognize "the team" is all its members, and we want to collaborate with BCO!

Awaiting transparency and replies answering our questions and concerns from CEO Hope Wohl and the BCO Board of Directors.

Respectfully submitted,

Ceanna

Edited to add: Isn't it strange how this thread is now "hidden" also?!! Transparency needed!