Oops! I'm in trouble

[DMM218]

Just looked at the Community Guidance, this caught my eye.

Contributions must not:

contain any material that is obscene, offensive, hateful, inflammatory or defamatory of any person;

promote any discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age;

infringe any copyright, database right, trade mark or any other right of any other person;

be threatening, abuse or invade another’s privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety;

be likely to harass, upset, embarrass alarm or annoy any other person;

So, it would appear that if one individual felt that I was upsetting or annoying that person, I could be banned! Although the 'be likely' does imply the reasonable man test so I'm hoping any complaint against me will balance my actions against whether the individuals offence is reasonable. But you know...

Also, the range of material which must not be posted, such as offensive, is poorly defined and subjective. It also goes further than the law ( where I live ) requires for criminal activity. Gross offensiveness being the test.

These guidelines are poorly drafted in my humble opinion.

Funnily, the Health Unlocked Guidelines say this

HealthUnlocked is not a forum to create negative impressions about identifiable individuals. Negative and damaging references to identifiable individuals may be edited or deleted either by HealthUnlocked or by a community administrator. We hope that users will respect the right of other members to present their individual health experiences, regardless of whether or not they are in agreement, and that all disagreements will be

[Hidden]

Hi if a report does go in by someone then the admins look carefully at the whole situation and will make a decision based on the rules of the site and their own judgement.

Hopefully they will explain nicely if and why any action has to be taken, but they haven't got to do this. I think they should with mental health sites as it can be extra easy for us to take it personally because of the problems we have. Some of us can be very sentitive to criticism and this must be taken into account.

They look at the good of the site overall and the aim is to keep it a supportive safe place to be.

I doubt very much whether anyone would be banned over a first 'offense'. I would like to think a warning and explanation would be enough. If the 'offence' is repeated several times I think they would consider restriction for say a week or so. That seems to be what most mods do on the sites I have been on.

I hope you are ok. x

[DMM218 in reply to Hidden]

I've emailed them directly my concerns about the vague of the guidelines and how unspecific they are which could result in quite draconian measures for someone if an individual felt they were being abused when in fact they were simply having an argument with someone else over a different viewpoint.

Can you point me in the direction of the specific guidance which prevents underage posters. I can't seem to find in the terms and conditions or guidance for HU or Mental Health Support. Thanks.

[Hidden in reply to DMM218]

They are in the Pinned posts under 'Underaged Users' and also in the pinned posts look under 'Community Guidelines', Depending on what device you are using these will either be to the right of your screen or at the bottom. You might need to refresh your page first.

I think the criteria is how the 'argument' was conducted. We can disagree politely and with respect which is fine. It's when naming and shaming or abuse happens it can be a problem. Like I said the mods will look at it and make their own decisions. I guess we have to trust to their common sense and experience.

Like I said it can be difficult on a mental health forum because people are upset or mentally in a bad place anyway otherwise they wouldn't be on here. I am sure (well hope anyway) the mods understand this and be more gentle with people.

[DMM218 in reply to Hidden]

Yes that may well explain your recent posts and responses.

[Hidden]

That's why I put my post up in the first place. Shawheath asked me to keep an eye on the site when they are not working and report when necessary. This is only what they themselves do during the day anyway. I was polite enough to let people know why I was having to report it and explain, but I got arguments,and, called names by one person (not you).

So I will still continue to report when rules are broken but in future will not try and explain why. It's not worth the s....t I get as I don't need this. It's then up to the admins whether or not to take any action. All I am doing is letting them know potential problems so they have a choice of actions. I have no say in what they decide to do.

If everyone want to change the site rules that's fine by me. But if we break HU rules then we could be kicked off their platform as these aren't up for negotiation, for example the under 16 rule. HU once told me it was there for legal reasons but I don't know any more than that other than what I have said on here before. x

[DMM218 in reply to Hidden]

I did not appreciate you posting about rule breakers etc implicitly referring to an earlier post of mine. I do not appreciate you posting in response to a private message. I believe you take things far too personally. I am concerned that as a result you may complain about me simply because I expressed a different viewpoint. In all of this I have responded in a impersonal non critical way. So I think you need to work out that argument is not the same as abuse as you seem to have combined the two in an earlier post.

I've got involved because I genuinely want to help people and not dismiss them due to inappropriate language or misjudge their words for abuse.

So, when you being to imply that my behaviour on this site or to you has been inappropriate - I will defend that.

If, instead of expressing disgust at a post and the poster you had simply reported him (as I said was right to do) none of this would have caused any one difficulty.

To reflect the community better I'm going to volunteer as an Ambassador too. I've been quite active and supportive. It may provide a better balance.

[Hidden in reply to DMM218]

I have to report it when any member is breaking HU's rules about under 16's being on the site. That is non negotiable. You are not by far the only one I saw doing this as loads did. The difference was you were saying you thought it was ok and said you would keep on doing it. Others argued in the same vein though afterwards so I was not thinking of anyone in particular, just pointing out an instance when I was given shite on here. It wasn't aimed at you specifically and I apologise if you thought it was.

I do not take things personally and indeed I have supported and liked a lot of your posts coz I have totally agreed with what you are saying. I hold no negative views about anyone on here. I think you add a lot here and answer and try and help many others. This is what the site is about after all. I merely report anyone breaking the site and HU's rules. I don't make value judgements at all and it is purely to let the admins know if rules are being broken. They can then decide what if any action to take. I have no say in this.

When people say things it is nothing to do with my interpretation or judgement of any rules. it is because they have broken the rules in some way either by being abusive, naming or shaming etc. which are expressly forbidden on here. Anything else I don't get involved with. Only if it's something which I think the admins should be aware of.

I have been very polite in the cases of minors and have nicely explained the rules and some of the reasons for them. All I have got back is shite from quite a few people. I can't do any more than be polite so in futureI will, like I said, just report and not say anything.

I am saying nothing more on this subject as I have said what I mean and mean what I say. There is nothing more to add.

[NFDK in reply to Hidden]

Well said, Hidden - what more could you do?

[NFDK in reply to Hidden]

It was nice of you to offer explanations to people, Hidden - and what a pity that your transparent and kind-hearted actions were misconstrued by people who did not deserve your clarification

[Hidden in reply to NFDK]

Thank you NFDK. I appreciate your remarks. x

[Hidden]

DMM

Personally I do understand what you are all getting at. When the site becomes officious it freezes people out and membership drops. We move on and make the site work, I do not know of anyone been banned restricted or told off on this site. Can we keep it that way or the site will implode, like before.

I do feel we all need to put this to bed and move on, It has been a real unpleasant day discussing something none of us has power to change. Let us keep the site a moderate place to visit so we can increase membership

This is why Moderators Need No Axe to Grind and be understanding of peoples script.

Can we put this all to bed, this is all counter productive. to a healthy informative site.

BOB

[DMM218 in reply to Hidden]

Ok - I'll accept what Lilaclil says about no axe to grind. Because this is a public site I will clarify some points. I haven't broken any rules with regards to advising under 16s.

I do believe that the point I made above is and has not been considered. I have no issue with reporting the post in question. You can check that up! My issue was the response made which I considered dangerously unhelpful. As such I messaged the poster as I was fearful his post would be removed and the only response he saw was a damaging one. This issue has never been addressed because it all became about the post. If you are responding to a post please remember that your personal views may push a person away from the help they so desperately need.

I will intervene if I think that is happening. I won't necessarily response as I see that's pointless now. I will report on an inappropriate response if it is likely to upset and distress the poster. Which is clearly within the guidelines.

I've not been the person continuing this conversation that's been someone else. I've responded as I thought I as being attacked personally. You may recall that I tried to stop arguing which became personal but hey some people couldn't have read that, like the didn't read my posts, like they aren't reading them now.

I think if you read the response from the original poster you will see how certain peoples responses affected him and how his intention by posting was utterly misconstrued and still is.

[DMM218 in reply to DMM218]

Btw the original response by lilaclil to the poster is no longer there. You can still see my response though. For fear of getting it wrong I'm not going to try and remember and paraphrase her response beyond saying that the site wasn't appropriate for the poster.

[DMM218]

If they are breaking guideline report them.

[DMM218]

Shimoi - I don't think I've ever responded to your posts. I am very sorry you feel this way. If the posts were not helpful you should say. If they upset you - please report it. This site is to support everyone and if people feel they aren't being helped then as a community we should try better. Remember people make mistakes but you shouldn't suffer because they expressed something badly or wrong.

I've joined the site recently so I don't think I've ever given you advice. If you need help just ask. Ok x

[coolpolitealex]

Much ado about nothing methinks.

[NFDK in reply to coolpolitealex]

Not really, when someone is being abusive towards another person on the site...

[DMM218]

That's good - if you feel bullied message me for support. There are lots of ways you can handle it. It's quite easy for stuff to get out of hand - I think it's starts as thoughtlessness and then just blows up into an argument. Try not to attack others but simply explain the effect their words have on you.