House rules
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Be supportive
The community is for a wide range of people who may have been affected by cancer. Please focus on sharing support and always be sympathetic to other members’ feelings. Don’t bully or harass. Lend a hand if new users need help finding their feet.
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Be kind
It can be hard to communicate tone of voice in written form. Take care with humour and irony, which can often be ambiguous and may come across as sarcasm. If you don’t understand what another community member means, try to assume the best intentions.
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Be relevant and personal
Help others find the conversations they want to join by posting your message in the topic area that makes the most sense. If there’s already a conversation going about what you want to talk about, consider joining in before starting a new conversation. Don’t post the same message in more than one place, and don’t send the same private message to more than one person.
Jokes can put a smile on your face when you need it most – but make sure to post them under the ‘Social’ topic area so they don’t upset people who aren’t in a laughing mood. Please keep jokes clean and kind – we may remove any jokes we think could make someone feel bad when they’re seeking support.
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Be real
Tell the truth about your experience and intentions. Make sure you always post from the same account so that others can get to know you. If you do suspect another user is posting under false pretences, please contact the moderators rather than making public accusations.
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Respect each other
It’s good to offer well-considered views on a subject, but respect the right of other people to disagree and recognise that their views are as sincere as your own. Don’t be hostile or aggressive towards others, or use language that others may find abusive or offensive. We don’t tolerate racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism or other forms of hate speech, or content that could be interpreted as such.
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Protect your privacy and others
Remember that information in your profile can be seen by anyone who registers an account, and information in the messages you post can be seen by anyone at all, including people using search engines like Google. Don’t post your own personal information (like real name, address, email, phone number or social networking profile). If you happen to know personal information about someone else, keep it private – we take exposing someone else’s personal information very seriously.
Keep your password a secret and don’t share it with anyone.
Don’t share the names of healthcare professionals who are treating you, or disparage particular hospitals or GP surgeries – publishing that information could be considered libel.
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Help us keep the community peaceful
If you read something in the online community that makes you angry, please wait a while before posting your response. If an argument is breaking out, please try to reduce the level of hostility rather than increasing it. If you think someone is being aggressive or deliberately provoking others, please use the ‘report’ button to alert the moderators and then simply ignore them rather than taking them to task yourself.
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No soliciting
The community is primarily for people affected by prostate conditions to support each other – not for advertising products or services, finding a source to interview for a news story, or for recruiting research subjects to take a survey. If you feel your request would benefit the community, get permission first by contacting us.
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Play by the rules
When you use the online community, you agree to these House rules as well as our terms and conditions. If you don’t play by the rules we may have to edit or remove your post – or even take more serious action – to keep the community supportive and welcoming for others. Please understand that our moderation team has the whole community’s interests at heart and abide by the decisions we have to make. If you think we’ve made a mistake, let us know by contacting us online.