Elefriends Reviews 

This is one site you need to steer clear of if you have mental health issues!!!! Mods do nothing while trolls bully and intimidate people right out in the open with impunity. Some of them obviously feel untouchable and who can blame them. Others can't post at all without getting it removed, eventhough they don't break the rules. Inconsistent, unfair and clearly biased moderation leads to a lack of credibility and therefore a lack of structure and sense of safety and integrity on your mental health platform. You ignored every email I sent, and did not bother to respond to my concerns, hopefully you will take heed of the words written here where everyone can see your poor performance.

Think it couldn't possibly be worse than their current moderating train smash? Well wait.... here comes Side by Side! An even bigger train smash, with less thought for the actual users, total negligence towards actual mental wellbeing of the humans who use the platform.... it needs investigating and then shutting down. ASAP.

Lots of teenagers who have been dumped by their other half. I am not sure if some people are there for the right reasons.d c

You get no help from this place. The users can sometimes be judgemental and insensitive, which I found especially when I posted during any times I was feeling particularly down. There was no real support besides a "like" or anything like that. Hardly anyone responded to messages or even messaged you first. The "Elephant moderator" was so heavy handed with patrolling and censorship! I once posted "Happy New Year" in a few languages and it got removed because all posts "have to be in English in order to make it easier to review them" - intolerable and borderline racist imho.
They would remove any and everything and send you the same old robotic responses about everything and why they removed it. They would not allow any real freedom of expression or freedom to say anything, even if it is not homophobic or racist or misogynist.
I got nothing out of using this toxic, co-dependent, shark-infested pit. I was nice and reached out to people and always tried to be helpful but what I got in return was some real bad-intentioned, judgemental, intolerable and condescending rude people.
Left and have not looked back since.
It is the opposite of therapeutic.

Dosnt even deserve one star. Very controlling and toxic site with no-one with a sense of humour. Wouldn't recommend it if you are looking for a ray of hope!

Online peer support for those with mild to moderate Mental Health issues. There are no employed counsellors in the site - you have to navigate around and make your own friends and support, much like everyday life. On the plus side, there are so many members that at any time of day or night, there will be some other users online to chat with. On the downside, there is no block button and no real checks on who is joining up.. Some people may have been sign-posted to the site in the erroneous belief it offers professional support and it doesn't.
Its closing soon, and coming back online as a new site, with more useful facilities, such as blocking unwelcome comments on your page etc

Sadly MIND decided to start up Side by Side on a budget which must have been sourced from down the back of their sofa. No 'my feed', no way to flag up inappropriate private messages, a lot of trolling from people with dubious motives. I would suggest that if you have MH issues, this is not a place to find support. Emails to MIND are ignored, I think they have taken the funding from their shops and grants etc and spent it elsewhere. Local mind groups may have improved, at the expense of online support.

Terrible.went on to commit suicide because they suspended my account. Take the blame you horrible people.

This site needs removed permanently. They say you can be yourself and express yourself then they change their mind. Useless complete liars entertainment for mind to take advantage of the vulnerable in society. Wrong place to join wrong place to be. Some of the photos that are posted actually encourage suicide amongst people with mental illness. Get it removed and then they won't have any stupid site.

Its a alright website if you want to reach out to people and feel listened, but there is so much favouritism between members and some members really do lie when they say they are there for you. I took a long time messaging one member of the website, only to be completely ignored. It is run by The Mind, a horrible organisation that does not care about people who need support. I used to attend a mind and it started off a supportive kind place until a problem i encountered and the horrible staff lady snatched my phone out of my hands and has stopped me from attending. It has really damaged my mentality. Where do people like me go? No where and suffer in silence! >:-(

Left Elefriends due to some ignorant and insensitive members, and over zealous moderation who failed to address specific issues I was having with the way several members had responded to me.

This ultimately resulted in me leaving the site for good, feeling hurt and frustrated that my concerns had not been listened to.

Also, felt ganged up on by some members who I would consider toxic and insensitive. The type of people I would absolutely go out of my way to avoid were they in my family, circle of friends, workplace and so on.

My advice to you? If you're the type of person that does not like to assert yourself when someone crosses the line with you, then you will probably be fine. However, if you're the type of person that needs to assert themselves when someone crosses the line with you (like me), I strongly recommend avoiding this site. Members may argue with you even when they have crossed the line with you and when you report them to moderation you will likely receive a canned response that does not fully address your concerns.

Although there ARE some lovely, kind and supportive people on this site, on several occasions I did feel bullied and belittled. For the latter two reasons alone, I had no option but to leave this site. I would not consider returning to this site because of what happened to me during my time as a member.