The following information will aid you in becoming familar with
and is provided to help you have a positive experience in AN.
Until our talker grows, it will be common for you to log on and be the only resident there. Please do not log off when this occurs — if everyone took this attitude then there would be no one to chat with :-) As you wait, take the opportunity explore the many different rooms in the talker, or to read the online help file, and before you know it, someone else will log on and you can invite them to chat.
A reminder that all residents are individuals with unique needs and personalities. Most 'newbies' when they first log on are looking for someone to talk to about their anxiety disorder(s), please be sensitive to their need for this. Eventually in time many will use our talker as a means for support and as a social outlet, so please be understanding when some residents seem to only be there for a "good time". A good rule of thumb to follow is "treat others as you yourself would like to be treated." If you need to chat, please feel comfortable stating so, or inviting another individual to join you in a room away from all the activity.
Though staff don't 'police' AN, they do keep an eye out for unacceptable, disturbing, public behavior (i.e. cyber-sex, excessive profanity, excessive yelling) and will act on this with issuing 'warnings' or will simply take the person aside to chat with them. In severe incidences, it may be necessary to boot (temporarily remove) an individual. It may become necessary to permanently remove a resident if they are unwilling to cooperate with staff and continue to cause public disturbances (this also includes malicious attempts to cause disunity by spreading falsehoods and/or paranoia). A resident who is obviously unhappy with AN and how it is run should seek ANOTHER form of support.
PLEASE NOTE: The administration reserves the right to remove a resident unwilling to cooperate with staff.
As in real life, there are bound to be personality clashes, we simply ask that you do not make these disagreements public issue and try to settle them privately without drawing other residents into it. Causing disunity is not tolerated in a support group such as ours; it defeats our purpose of existence. Gossip of any kind is a destructive force that hurts us all.
It won't take you long to discover who the "popular people" are because they're usually the ones that seem to be logged on all the time, make a point of being everyone's friend or knowing everyone's business, and monopolize a room's conversation.
Unfortunately cliques are a fact of life and do exist in AN, just accept it and try to form your own group of close knit friends. Don't be afraid to express your desire to chat or invite people to join you, but also acknowledge that people are free to chat with whoever they like so if your request is declined, please don't take it personally.
For newbies first logging on, this can be very intimidating and frustrating... feeling like an outsider in a support group really sucks. A Newbie Lounge is available to help new comers to develop their own group of support peers.