Main purpose of VT

[Sapphire]

This forum was set up to provide teenagers suffering from mental health problems an area to talk to each other and support each other.
Since the addition of the other forums do you feel that the main purpose has changed or is still the same?

[INFERNO]

There still is a place to discuss mental illness so that purpose hasn't gone away. With the addition of the other parts of the forum (i.e. ROTW), there are more purposes to the VT forum. If you're hinting at whether the purpose of the mental illness area has been diluted due to the addition of other areas, I'm not sure. I find it better to be part of a forum that covers more than one main topic or purpose.

[Underground_Network]

This is a place to help people IMO.

Whether it be in the puberty section, the psych ward, or even in a diary. The goal is try and make everyone a bit happier... I mean, certain sections, such as ROTW, don't exactly have that as their main goal...

But the idea of the site is to have as many outlets to the interests that the myriad VT members possess so that we can all show off our talents, discuss our interests, etc., etc. Its a way of learning more about each other, getting more comfortable talking to each other, and ultimately growing to become 'friends' with each other. I find this to be a very 'comfortable' community where the main aim is to seek and administer aid when needed, but also a place where the main aim is just to enjoy yourself and kind of escape the outside world that can quite often be tormenting and unrelenting.

[ShatteredWings]

I think it still is for mental illness..

I mean, there are LOADS of forums which discuss things that are GD/P101 *cough* govteen *cough*, but there are so few places where you can talk to people (without being judged -- usually). Haiving the other fourms is more of a way to compleate theh site.. ya know?

Meh. Did that make any sence?

[Maverick]

VT has changed and it is something that is now explicitly defined now if you read the index homepage. Although compared to other teen forums I've been on and seen, VT still has that certain slant to it that makes it different from other ones. Even though at times it may feel like the Psychiatric Ward part of the site is underrepresented compared to everywhere else on the site, I still think VT still caters to that purpose well, when you compare to other teen forums. Could it be improved? Definitely.

[Sapphire]

I see where you are all coming from and agree with a fair amount of what's been said.

I just can't help but feel as if we have drifted from the main purpose of the site immensely. Could that be me being nostalgic for how things were when I was younger? Possibly.
But when people say that the site is the way it is because we have mentally ill members on here isn't accurate anymore.
A great majority of our active members don't have a mental illness and are here for the other areas of the site.
I'm not saying this is a bad thing. Just that we've deviated from the main purpose.

If we have deviated from the main purpose can that purpose still be used to justify things?

[INFERNO]

If we have deviated from the main purpose can that purpose still be used to justify things?

I view it as a site to help people, whether it be mental health to school work. ROTW may be an exception to this but it's always nice to have a place for more philosophical and more in-depth debates.

What "things" are you referring to?

[Sapphire]

What "things" are you referring to?
I mean, can it really be used to justify criticising someone's actions if it isn't even the main focus of the majority?

[rubidoux]

When I navigate this and any vBulletin site I'm a member of, I keep clicking "New Posts" instead of just viewing each individual forum. And if you'll do that you'll see what the majority of active threads are. I actually came here because I like to give advice, but I'm not replying to 50 threads about, "Is my penis big enough?" or "How do you masturbate?"

I understand if you have questions, but don't people here check to see if theirs has already been answered? I mean sometimes the thread in question was only posted like a week before haha.

[Underground_Network]

P101ers are naturally crazy. That's why there are two threads dedicated to them in my diary (System of Rebelz). ;)

But yes, I do think that the true purpose of this site at this point isn't clearly defined... Though I still think that main purpose (though not necessarily the SOLE purpose) of this site is to help people. Even in the sections where help is unintended we often help people by being kind and by being friendly. Though that isn't always the case, its certainly the case at times.

[Camazotz]

There is no main theme to VT (at least not anymore). It used to be for mental illness only, whereas it now has most members because of the P101 section. It's basically a peer-to-peer advice forum, but there are still places where even that isn't visible. If there were only one "purpose" of VT, we wouldn't have such a diverse group of teens here today. Frankly, it'd be much more boring.

[Sapphire]

I'm not debating whether the presence of the other forums is good or bad. I acknowledge that they are a good addition to the site.

[Antares]

I don't think the main purpose has changed.
I just think that the actual way it is going has changed.

This site was founded on the whole mental illness issues and such but as time grew, the horny people took over...to put it bluntly. There are more people going through puberty than having mental illnesses, so naturally, we had to provide space for them. We created 4 forums for that. Otherwise, the mental illness piece is still most important. An example is when we allow some barely overage people to get help.

I don't think I am effectively getting my point across but mental illness is still the first priority and the main purpose. The only issue is that we have a LOT of other things that crowd that.

[MoveAlong]

This forum was set up to provide teenagers suffering from mental health problems an area to talk to each other and support each other.
Since the addition of the other forums do you feel that the main purpose has changed or is still the same?

Of course.

Now it is:

a site for mentally ill teenagers to get advice from other teenagers
and a site for people wondering about puberty to ask questions
and a site for people to share their opinions in the debate forum
and a site to post your poetry/song lyrics
and a place for other people who think the puberty section is stupid to make spam posts
and a place to get involved in site politics and make a change on the forum
and a place to socialize with other people
and a place to rant
and a place to discuss
and a place to criticize others
and a place to give advice and feel good for giving advice and helping others
and a place to go when you're extremely bored
and a place to go when you have no life so you just sit here for hours waiting for something to happen but really you should get a hobby or go hang out with your real friends
and a place to make online friends
and a place to feel popular since you're not an administrator or gmod anymore

etc. Diversity. :)

[Reality]

lol. Sapphire. You've been here for ages. March 2005? Woww. I can see you never really drifted or got bored of it.
That's a rarity, I tend to just stop using things like forums once I feel done with them. I've been on about 5 forums now, first being IGN.com back in June 2006.

Um. Anyway. I think this forum has many purposes that are teen related. Puberty, mental health, technology, games and a nice little debate forum where we can all debate and sometimes argue and bitch about things like God and politics. :)

[BlackenedSilver]

It has changed from just mental illnesses, I came here for the 'Cutting and self harm' Section but I stayed because of the amazing people and how much fun it is.
People can stay on here for hours because of all the different forum topic's that keep popping up, It's now my home away from home, while still being in my home xD.

[Aneklusmos]

I think VT's new purpose is to be diverse and help people with their problems. I've never personally posted in the Psychiatric Ward, cause i have no experience with those kinds of things. My specialty is H&A and thats where i stay. But we have members that can help people with anything from ADD to dick size to relationships to what video game to buy. So its diverse, and thats what makes it special

[Sugaree]

I still think it has that main purpose of helping teens in the Psychiatric Ward, but I also think that helps them also in all the other forums about sexuality, puberty, family, relationships, and we have other things also. A forum with diversity is something a lot better than a forum that focused on just one subject. I still feel VT is helping others and that we will continue to do so in the future. That's what VT was made for, to help teens that felt confused or lost, and we were able to expand to the point of covering just about every problem that teens have today.