Share Your Answers

Answer sharing allows you to choose who can see your responses to study questions. You have complete control over your sharing settings, including who sees your answers and how much of your identity is revealed. This guide covers how to configure, change, and revoke answer sharing.

Prerequisites

First you need to have an active study on your Home or Studies page. You may have selected and started the study either as a solo study or by starting a class from your Library. Alternatively, you may have responded to a study invitation to join a class.

Understanding Answer Sharing

Answer sharing is available in both solo and class study:

In Solo Study:

• You can share answers with the Study Creator only
• Sharing with Leaders and Members is not available (no class exists)
• Your answers remain private unless you choose to share with the creator

In a Class:

• You can share with all three audiences: Study Creator, Leaders, and Members
• Full control over who sees your answers
• Different privacy levels available for each audience

Who Can See Your Answers

You can choose to share your answers with three different audiences:

Share with Study Creator:

• The person who created and released this study
• Helps creators understand how their content is being used
• Provides feedback for improving future study editions

Share with Leaders:

• Class leaders who facilitate discussions
• Helps leaders prepare and guide class sessions
• Enables leaders to support members more effectively
• Only available when in a class (not in solo study)

Share with Members:

• Other participants in your class
• Fosters community and shared learning
• Allows everyone to learn from diverse perspectives
• Only available when in a class (not in solo study)

Privacy Levels

For each audience, you can choose a privacy level:

It’s up to you how much you share

You always have full control over how much you share. For any study, the default setting is always for no sharing. Sharing will only happen if you explicitly choose to do so.

You can always revoke sharing at any time.

None (Default):

• Answers are not shared with this audience
• Your responses remain private
• This audience cannot see your answers at all

Anonymous:

• Your answers are shared without your identity
• Responses appear as “Anonymous” without your name or profile
• Readers see the content but don’t know who wrote it
• Useful for sharing sensitive or vulnerable reflections

Sharing anonymously in a small class may not be as anonymous as you think

Keep in mind that in a small class it may be easy for others to guess your identity. So you may want to consider using either Full or None.

Full Attribution:

• Your answers are shared with your name and profile
• Readers can see who wrote each response
• Enables personal connection and attribution
• Best for building community and accountability

Solo vs. Class Sharing

Solo Study:

• Only “Share with Study Creator” is available
• No class exists, so no leaders or members to share with
• Creator sharing helps provide feedback on study content
• All other answers remain completely private

Class Study:

• All three sharing options are available
• Share with Creator, Leaders, and/or Members
• Each audience can be configured independently
• Full flexibility for community learning

Sharing Levels

You can set sharing at three different levels of granularity:

Study Level (Entire Study):

• Sets default sharing for all lessons and questions
• Changes cascade down to all content
• Overrides any previous settings at lower levels
• Most efficient for consistent sharing preferences

Lesson Level (Individual Lessons):

• Sets sharing for all questions in a specific lesson
• Overrides study-level settings for this lesson
• Cascades down to all questions in the lesson
• Useful when certain lessons are more personal

Question Level (Individual Questions):

• Sets sharing for a single specific question
• Most granular control possible
• Overrides both study and lesson settings
• Perfect for selectively sharing certain responses

Access and Change Answer Sharing Settings

How you configure answer sharing works the same way for all sharing levels (Study, Lesson, Question).

To configure sharing for your study, lesson or question:

1. Open the relevant landing page
2. Click the Settings tab
3. Find the Answer Sharing section
4. You’ll see sharing controls:
   • Share with Study Creator (available in solo and class study)
   • Share with Leader (only available in class study)
   • Share with Members (only available in class study)
5. Update the available sharing controls with the appropriate privacy level:
   • None: Don’t share with this audience
   • Anonymous: Share without your identity
   • Full: Share with your name and profile
6. Save your changes by clicking the Save button.
7. Changes take effect immediately

Understand cascading behavior

When you change sharing settings, they cascade down:

• Study level settings apply to the entire study, including all lessons and questions
• Lesson level settings apply to all questions in the lesson
• Question level settings apply to the current question only
• Changes are applied immediately
• Changes are applied to all future answers

Best Practices

Deciding What to Share

Consider Sharing:

• General insights and observations
• Textual analysis of the content
• Helpful perspectives for others
• Encouraging or uplifting reflections
• Questions that prompt discussion

Consider Keeping Private:

• Very personal or vulnerable content
• Specific struggles or challenges
• Private prayers or confessions
• Information about others
• Anything you’d regret sharing

Using Privacy Levels Strategically

Use Anonymous When:

• Sharing vulnerable reflections
• Discussing sensitive topics
• Testing out ideas without judgment
• Wanting to contribute without spotlight
• Privacy is important but sharing helps others

Use Full Attribution When:

• Building relationships with classmates
• Wanting to be known for your insights
• Comfortable with transparency
• Seeking personal accountability
• Fostering deeper community

Managing Sharing Over Time

Start Conservatively:

• Begin with limited sharing
• Increase sharing as you become comfortable
• Get to know your classmates first
• Build trust gradually

Regular Reviews:

• Periodically review your sharing settings
• Ensure they still match your comfort level
• Adjust based on class dynamics
• Update if circumstances change

Before Sensitive Topics:

• Review upcoming lessons
• Adjust sharing proactively
• Protect your privacy in advance
• Don’t wait until you’re uncomfortable

Next Steps

Choose your path forward:

Participate in Personal Study Continue your study with appropriate sharing settings configured

Participate in Class Discussion Engage with classmates and discuss shared answers

Need help? Contact support at rich@bookfellows.net