Guideline Reminders: Graphic Content; Demeaning Others; Moderating Decisions

[Kizzie]

As those of you who have been here a while know, whenever we notice certain guidelines are becoming an issue we post reminders about them:   

Moderating Decisions - Discussion of moderating decisions is not allowed on the board and posts of this nature will be removed immediately. Disagreements with any action taken must be taken up with the Site Manager (OOTSManager@gmail.com).  Rude/disrespectful behaviour towards the Moderators or Site Manager will result in the member being banned. 

Responding to Others - Choose your words wisely!  Speak to others as you would wish to be spoken to, and offer your comments/opinions in a respectful, constructive manner... It is fine to disagree as long as it is done in a respectful manner. Posts which are antagonistic/ defensive, become personal, and otherwise do not attempt to resolve conflict in a healthy, positive manner will be edited or removed.

Note: With respect to these first two guidelines, I just want to reiterate that the Member Guidelines are intended to keep OOTS a safe, healthy and respectful forum for trauma survivors, including for Moderators.  The majority of members do respond to edits to/removal of posts in a respectful and open manner, but occasionally PMs are quite negative/angry and it takes a toll on us so please be mindful of the fact that we are in recovery too.


Overly Graphic/Detailed Posts - OOTS members are survivors of ongoing trauma and emotional/ physical/ sexual abuse. As such, detailed/graphic accounts of the trauma/abuse can trigger painful emotional flashbacks for other members.  Please be very mindful of this and refrain from graphic descriptions of your trauma/abuse, just include enough information to give members the idea.  If you are unsure of whether or not a post is overly graphic, include the words "Trigger Warning" and give the reason for the warning (e.g., sexual abuse, domestic violence), in the subject line of your post. Posts which go beyond what is necessary to describe your situation will be edited or removed.

Offensive, demeaning and/or inappropriate language - This includes any language that is: reactive, defensive, provocative, inflammatory and/or hateful; and/or, is demeaning of others on the forum or in general (e.g., sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, calling someone a derogatory or demeaning name such as "jackass"). Most if not all members of OOTS have been demeaned through language in one way or another and as such, we require that posts be written in a respectful and considerate manner.

Thanks everyone!