House Rules (adapted from the former BBC Ouch message board and updated in 2017/18)
Members should not:
- Make deliberate attempts to disrupt, provoke, attack or offend others - this includes personal attacks and name calling. Anyone who joins Ouch Too with the sole purpose of trolling the board will be banned instantly.
- Use language which is racist, sexist, homophobic, sexually explicit, abusive or otherwise objectionable. Swear words should be used sparingly, The F and the C word should not be used, but people can use ****, and also lesser swear words eg arse. There's also a
smiley as a swear substitute.
- Break the law or condone or encourage unlawful activity. This includes breach of copyright, defamation and contempt of court. At times people do post sarcastic comments about members of the Government and are given leeway to do so as long as it does not get out of hand.
- Advertise products or services for profit or gain.
- Impersonate someone else, or have more than one membership on Ouch Too, with the exception of Admin 'testing' accounts such as the Ouch Archive and the Quietly Loud accounts.
- Include contact details such as phone numbers or postal addresses. Email addresses using a members real name will be deleted unless moderator permission is given before the email address is posted.
- Join as students or researchers and then ask members to take part in surveys or other similar research without asking permission from Admin first - this can be done via posting a opening 'introduction' thread. The opening thread can contain information about the topic being research etc but should not contain contact details such as an email address.
- Describe or encourage activities which could endanger the safety or well-being of others.
- 'Spam', that is posts containing the same. or similar, message posted multiple times.
- Behave in a way that puts either Ouch Too or its members at risk.
- Post intentions to commit suicide: the poster will be be given contact information for the SAMARITANS and banned from posting for 24 hours. Repeat offenders will be banned for 48 hours and so on. Being put on moderation will not be offered as an option because it does not prevent the member from making further suicidal posts, it just means only a handful of people can read them. No one here is trained to help a person who is suicidal and this means posts involving suicide ideation/threats by an individual member can be distressing and traumatic to other people reading the boards. For more information members can go to this thread
http://ouchtoo.org/index.php?topic=9962.0 in Management Feedback.
- Use overtly flashy animations in the avatars on their profiles. If someone uses an animation and it causes visual problems for someone else they will be asked to make the animation static or change the avatar altogether. (When a member posts a link to a video which contains flashing images or lights they should warn members about this - also, it is possible to place YouTube directly in a message before you post it, so this means any video added in this way needs to have the sort of content which does not require a warning.)
- Post using consecutive or random capitalisation because it adversely affects people using screen readers and can also make posts difficult to read. Abbreviations and acronyms can be posted using capital letters. Any posts found to break this rule will be edited by a moderator and if a member repeatedly deliberately breaks this rule they will receive a warning.
Members should:
- Try to be helpful and caring to other members here.
- Try to keep the messages they post on topic.
- If typing a very long post, break it into paragraphs so that other users can read it more easily
- Add the yellow triangle warning icon to any thread they start or post they make which mentions topics such as suicide or distressing cruelty
- Try to remember to add a written description of any pictures, photographs, or videos they post.
- Try to be constructive in their approach to using the message board.
- Make use of Ouch Too as a means of community living and progress. Have fun. Give yourself permission to be happy or sad, glad or mad.
- Say sorry when you know you are wrong and be gracious if someone apologises to you.
If a member wants to report a post which they think breaks the House Rules they can use the Report to Moderator option at the bottom right of the post.
We have put a time limit of 24 hours on the edit option. If you wish to edit your post after 24 hours, please get in touch with me. This includes both the title of threads you start and the text in the posts you make.
If a member is finding it hard to post within the rules and recognises they are, for example, upset and bad tempered they can ask to be put on Gardening Leave. The member will decide how long they wish to be on Gardening Leave and their account will be changed so they can still read the Ouch Too message board but they cannot post. Over the years Gardening Leave has been used by several members and it has helped them, so this option will remain should anyone wish to use it.
Both Members and Non Members remember:
People posting message can have strong opinions about their place in the world both on and offline. We will not always agree with each other and this should not be seen as a negative because debate is good and means we are not acting like drones. We are not (all) the sweet, innocent and fluffy disabled of the tabloid press, nor are we the workshy scroungers portrayed by the same tabloid press. We come here as individuals who happen to be sick, disabled or able bodied and we each respond to circumstances in our own way.
Moderators/Administrators are here to help the community run smoothly. If people need help using the message board they will point them in the right direction; if members request that their posts be edited, moved or deleted we will help with that. If people break the rules, moderators have tools such as the ability to 'edit' a post eg replace a swear word with ****, delete posts and post the reason why, give members time-outs, temporarily ban members or permanently ban members (this latter option is mainly used only after other options are exhausted, apart from instances of outright trolling or spamming by those who have joined OuchToo with just those purposes intended).
We try our best to keep moderation to a minimum so that freedom is maximised.
Disclaimer
The health and welfare benefits advice given on Ouch Too is given in good faith and to the best of our knowledge. Ouch Too does not employee legal representation or professional benefits advisors, and this means any advice we give or suggestions we make are given in the context of this. For definitive legal or medical advice you would need to talk to or correspond with a professional eg lawyer or doctor.
If you have any questions in relation to the rules please add to the existing thread on the Management Feedback board
http://ouchtoo.org/index.php?topic=923.0. Thank you for reading.
KizzyKazaer, Ouch Too Administrator
