Anyone finding New Recommended For You feature useless?

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for the feedback you're sharing on the new recommended content feature. We're listening and working hard to make sure this feature works well for all who want to use it. Working with you and taking in your feedback is helping us to address system-wide challenges as well as quick-fix bugs.

Here are a few items we are looking into right now and answers to some specific questions asked on this thread:

1. Regarding the concern that our active topics have been fewer in number, we want to clarify that this is not related to the recommendation algorithm. 'Active Topics' have always been the topics that have been responded to or created within the last 24 hours. The number of pages in 'Active Topics' will always correspond with how many topics are currently 'Active'. On busier days in the community, it could be many pages, and on slower days it could be just a few. In the event that there is a thread that you would like to follow, we recommend that you "favorite" that topic to find it more easily in case it doesn't appear under the 'Active Topics'.
2. Our goal in pulling this topic from 'Active Topics' was to avoid it from being recommended, however that didn't work. So, we've made this topic active again and we have found another solution to keep it out of the recommendations.
3. We agree that a gender selection option in the Profile would be helpful in removing female-specific threads from recommendations, and vice versa. We're working on finding a solution as quickly as possible.
4. No changes to the 'Favorites' feature have been made. The word "monitored" has always been included in the URL. "Monitored" refers to your monitoring not ours.
5. Trouble-shooting is a necessary part of product progression. We are continually evaluating how to best make improvements and will continue to communicate with complete transparency.

Our request is that you please continue to work with us. For those who would prefer to wait until the system is working more smoothly, we encourage you to change your setting to "Off" in My Profile.

As many of you know from machine learning experiences on the internet, personalized features work better and better by having actual people use them in everyday life. The more you use the site - just as you would to find information and connect with other community members on our site - the more accurate and relevant recommendations will become for you and others who need the information and support that we provide.

Thanks again for your constructive feedback. To share more of your thoughts, please email the BCO team at comments@breastcancer.org.

The Breastcancer.org Team

First, we were told the "recommendations" were for newbies to the site. Next, BCO acknowledged it was to create profiles to better recommend threads and BCO content toward us. We said we didn't want, that newbies would not be best served by this process and could be misinformed, then this thread was hidden, the "tech glitches" thread was hidden, and if we didn't like the changes we could go elsewhere. I certainly do not understand how BCO thinks this will help anyone new to the site and doesn't feel like this site respects its members. Before I ever log in, I scroll through the list of "active topics" and have noticed that every single time since this unwanted feature started, the "recommendations" for a visitor are as follows:

How in any way is this a helpful feature?? This may be a way to drive traffic to the site, but how would it be of benefit to someone new seeking answers to urgent health issues. They have no profile with BCO, and many of us turned off the "recommendations" long ago, so why persist in spending money developing something that does not seem to be wanted by anyone except "the BCO team?"

I've asked several times for answers from the CEO and Board of BCO, but have not heard answers to the questions we've raised. Please, for the sake of transparency, we need answers.

"I feel like it is almost an invasion of privacy to "record" our "conversations" here and "play" those recordings to "strangers" on Facebook."

Yup. I've only been to the BCO Facebook page one time. I came upon something I had written on this site, and I felt creeped out. I know that BCO own anything I write here and therefore are free to post anything from here on their Facebook page, but it makes me very uncomfortable. I haven't been back to the Facebook page.

Wow! So much information about this BCO website that was not transparent. Thanks to all of you informal investigators for posting this information in a visible thread I can add to my fav's.

BCO team. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear to us that you ARE answering our "key concerns." The lack of transparency brings us back here again and again to ask the same questions, and we keep getting non-answers or your statements to basically "go play elsewhere." In my opinion, BCO in the past has been the best place for members to interact and provide critical information in a timely manner. It's the seemingly high-handed, forced changes, the fear of sharing instilled by profiling and tracking, and the failure of BCO to collaborate with actual member users, that make us question that lack of transparency. Again, this is something that CEO Hope Wohl, and the BCO Board of Directors need to address. We await answers from them.

I hate this new feature but mainly because the first thread and the one that has been consistently there is 'Death and Dying Issues'. I know this is a helpful thread for some people and although I am Stage IV I am choosing to think that I can possibly have many years on my treatment. Seeing this thread as a 'recommended for you' thread gives me a sinking feeling in my stomach every time I see it.

JACK5IE,

Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention. Your point is valid, and we will take action to address this. We continue to work to make the system as helpful as possible, and your constructive feedback is much appreciated.

--The Mods

Moderators, it is evident that you want to keep pushing forward with features WE DO NOT WANT AND FIND HIDEOUS! By literally harassing someone by tracking their health concerns and forcing upon them a "recommended site" is unthinkable and needs to stop immediately. Instead of your "fix" it indeed needs to be scraped. I'm still waiting for answers from Hope Wohl and Jane Hollingsworth. Sorry Jack5ie you have to experience this.

Generally, legally, harassment is defined as targeting someone else with behavior meant to alarm, annoy, torment or terrorize, and creating reasonable fear in the victim for their safety. Jack5ie, I think you have a case!

Hello All,

We continue to work to make the system of recommended topics as helpful as possible, and your constructive feedback is much appreciated. For those who would prefer to wait until the system is working more smoothly, we encourage you to change your setting to "Off" in My Profile.

Thank you, The BCO Team

Hello All,

We continue to work to make the system of recommended topics as helpful as possible, and your constructive feedback is much appreciated. For those who would prefer to wait until the system is working more smoothly, we encourage you to change your setting to "Off" in My Profile.

Thank you,

The BCO Team

Mods, It is obvious that not enough care went into developing this feature nor enough testing. Traveltext and Jack5ie should never have gotten those recommendations in the first place. Start taking responsibility for what you have done instead of making excuses and telling us to turn it off. Like I’ve mentioned before, try making it that members opt in for the recommendations since you’re hell bent on keeping it. And, the Can We Help Guide You? needs to go or let us opt out of that as well. We come here for information and support, not for “Big Brother” to constantly meddle.

I would still like to know if the money you were raising back in 2017 from your ill-named fundraiser was for this ill-conceived project.

Two new members yesterday. Each had first posts on old inactive (for years) threads. Were those threads “recommended” for them?

BCO, if you were retail you would be losing sales in droves! Listen to your "customers." No one is buying your "product" so please stop selling it to us.

Another thought directed to bco -- if you are intending this as a tool particularly useful to new users, whether members or not, logged in or not, how about the "recommended" items be tips and FAQs for how to use the site effectively? When I first came here, the sheer size and depth of the forum list was confusing. I didn't know "etiquette" for posting, like not duplicating posts, etc. How to use the search function, what are the different ways to find information, etc. THAT would be useful for a new user.

Hello All!

We really do appreciate your feedback, and are talking about it as a team.

Thanks,

The BCO team