Let me clarify, since I'm not sure the examples bluekoi gave were illustrative of what we consider to be a "community thread."

A community thread is a thread where the poster is encouraging participation by all members. For instance, many of our forums have "Check in" threads or "Name the one thing that you're grateful for today." These are open, general threads where a member is not expressing the need for emotional support, but instead is encouraging social conversation and connection via sharing of something personal with each other.

In our community, ongoing, lengthy community threads are often denoted with a # sign at the end, signifying their continuation from a previous, older thread (like #3). We close these lengthy, ongoing community threads after 1,000 posts to help keep our database tidy & happy.

*Most* threads that *most* members post are not community threads. Most members post asking questions or seeking support for a specific issue or concern going on in their lives. Asking other members for their input or advice on a specific issue is not a community thread. Community threads, on the other hand, are more social in nature, and generally are not seeking or offering emotional or mental health support.

Hope that helps clarify the issue. If you're in doubt as to whether something qualifies as a community thread, simply PM a moderator or admin to ask. We're happy to assist you. (As a reminder, if you have other members on Ignore, we ask that you not start community threads. Instead, as a moderator to start the thread on your behalf via PM.)