iPOF Forum Summaries
Find a summary of the 7 forums involved with the iPOF project below. Download the PDFs for detail on the design, moderation practises, and the language datasets.
Chaffinch
Chaffinch is a charity support service for young people, including an online community forum. It is openly accessible, but only users aged 13-25 can post. Anonymity is emphasised, although users can share first names and photos. The forum is moderated by both volunteers and staff. In our dataset downloaded in March 2023, there are 5,804 registered users.
Read the full Chaffinch Summary.
Dunnock
Dunnock is an online platform for people aged 10-18. Users can sign up through the NHS, local authorities, charities, and businesses who have partnered with Dunnock. An account is needed to view and post to the forum. It is moderated by trained staff. Our dataset includes 42,648 users, with 213,125 posts.
Read the full Dunnock Summary.
Jay
Jay is an online community for people with mental health problems to share their experiences. It is aimed at anyone over 16 who is suffering with emotional distress. The forum is free at the point of access for users, but it is commissioned through schools, universities and NHS Trusts. The forum is moderated by trained staff. We did not analyse forum post data from Jay.
Read the full Jay Summary.
Magpie
Magpie is a forum platform for health-related discussions, where charities can create their own forums. It is openly accessible, but users must make an account with an email address to post. The platform is administrated by paid Magpie staff, but each sub-forum is also moderated by each charity's staff. Four sub-forums worked with iPOF, with a total of 99,520 posts from 7,517 users in our datasets.
Read the full Magpie Summary.
Robin
Robin is a charity, which includes an online forum aimed at anyone with personal or carer experience of bipolar disorder. Anyone can join by signing up with an email address. It's moderated by a small team of paid charity staff. Our dataset includes 59 users who consented to participate, with a total of 30,545 posts across 3,696 threads.
Read the full Robin Summary.
Sparrow
Sparrow is a set of 6 peer support forums operated by an NHS based mental health service. It is accessed through a referral from a healthcare professional. There are forums aimed at service users, relatives, and professionals. Sparrow is moderated by a mix of paid clinicians and unpaid volunteers. Our dataset includes 45 users who consented to participate, with 376 posts.
Read the full Sparrow Summary.
Starling
Starling is a publicly-available sub-forum on a large social networking site. It provides support and resources for people in the UK experiencing mental health challenges. Anyone can view the forum, while an account with a valid email address is required to post. Starling is moderated by 3 volunteers. The Starling dataset includes 46,868 posts from 6,258 users.
Read the full Starling Summary.
All bird illustrations used on this webpage were sourced from:
Lilford, T. L. P., Keulemans, J. G., Salvin, O., Newton, A., & Thorburn, A. (1885). Coloured figures of the birds of the British Islands / issued by Lord Lilford. R. H. Porter. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.69277