Message board usage policy/guidelines

Our message boards were created to allow our site visitors (that’s you!) to share ideas, gain support, offer suggestions and generally be a part of an online community. Here are some guidelines we have developed to ensure our boards offer a positive environment.

Please note that the sharing of information and an exchange of ideas is encouraged and welcome on our message boards. While you may not agree with every message posted, flames (messages which are insulting or inflammatory in nature, generally used to judge or criticize someone, to belittle their ideas or just to be abusive), put-downs and general rudeness are discouraged on the boards or elsewhere on our sites.

Our main message boards
SheKnows
BabyDust (for those trying to conceive)
Pregnancy & Baby: Everything Pregnancy
Pregnancy & Baby: Just Add Baby
Toddler To Teen
Graphic Central
Diet & Fitness
Weddings & Getting Married
Cooking Smart

All the boards may be browsed here.

The rules:

1. What you cannot post: Advertisements, chain letters, virus warnings, flames, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are inappropriate on this board. NO ADVERTISEMENTS OR SOLICITATIONS MAY BE POSTED ON OUR SITES without prior written approval. Further, chain letters, virus warnings, flames, pyramid schemes, and messages out of context, the purpose of which is solely to generate traffic to another site, may not be posted. We will charge $50 per advertisement posted on the boards without prior written permission. (Your message will also be deleted.) The full amount paid to us for such spamming will be donated to a charity of our choice.

2. Use of our Private Message system: Since SheKnows LLC owns these boards, we also own the private message boxes. We reserve the right at anytime to restrict a members usage of their private message box due to misuse. Misuse includes but is not limited to spamming and flaming of other members via private message. The rights and privacy of our members is our number on priority. To prevent spamming from outside sites, a member must have 100 posts on our site, before we will allow them use of their private message inbox.

3. Signature files may contain photos, personal information, titles, etc. We will also allow signature files with a one (1) line link (using a normal- or small-sized font) to your personal or business site. No images advertising or recommending off-site links are permitted, unless it is your personal, non-commercial and noncompetitive homepage. Links to, or advertising of, other message boards are not allowed. We reserve the right to edit or delete messages which are in violation of this policy. (When in doubt, please ask! :-) ) Users who continue abusing this policy may be denied access to the site. Signatures must be 550 pixels wide or smaller to prevent scrolling problems on our message boards. Members that have signatures wider than this will be contacted and if the signature is not fixed within a week, their signature will be removed. Please note, images in your signature that are pulled directly from a site that is not your own is not allowed. Please be sure that you are uploading images and blinkies from other public servers to your own private site/image hosting service, and linking directly from there.

4. Usernames or user profiles deemed objectionable by SheKnows LLC may be deleted at our discretion without notice or explanation.

5. Information posted on the boards or on any of our sites should not be used as a substitute for medical care. If you have questions or concerns regarding your physical or mental health or the health of your child, please seek assistance from a qualified healthcare provider.

6. While SheKnows LLC and/or its moderators and community directors may monitor or review discussions, chats, postings, transmissions and bulletin boards on the Service, we are NOT under any obligation to review every forum and post, or even ANY forum or post. We expect you to be mature, courteous and thoughtful in your postings to our boards. In fact, as a rule our involvement in conflict resolution is minimal (unless we feel our intervention is absolutely necessary, which will be at our discretion). As situations intensify, we may suggest options forums can utilize to bring about change and resolution, but the job will ultimately rest on your shoulders. Each community has its own unique dynamic and we expect each of you to take ownership and be responsible for protecting what is important to you.

7. You acknowledge that SheKnows LLC, Inc. does not control the information available in the interactive forums and that any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content presented or disseminated on any interactive forum are those of their respective authors who are solely liable for their content. Please note that we cannot confirm the veracity of any poster’s identity (i.e. we make no guarantees that any poster is who or what they say they are).

8. Messages express the views of the authors of the messages, and reflect solely on these authors. They are not necessarily the views of this community or any entity associated with this community. Offensive/objectionable posts may be removed at our discretion, but mostly will remain on the record where they can continue reflecting on the author(s) who posted them.

9. SheKnows LLC reserves the right, in their sole discretion, to edit, refuse to post or remove any material submitted to or posted on any interactive forum without notifying the author. Furthermore, you understand that SheKnows LLC is under no obligation to remove that which
   offends you.

10. You remain solely responsible for the content of your messages, and by using our boards, you agree to indemnify and hold harmless SheKnows LLC, Inc. as well as the makers of the bulletin board software, and their agents with respect to any claim based upon transmission of your message(s). Once you’ve posted your message, you will not be able to edit or remove it. Think carefully before you post something you know will be objectionable - it may hang around long after you actually mean it, as may the fallout that usually results. Furthermore, use caution when posting information of a personal or personally identifiable nature — these forums are viewable by the public, and posts may be included in search engine indexes.

11. You acknowledge that SheKnows LLC may remove any user and/or posting privileges from its message boards for any reason without notice or explanation. Posting on our boards is a privilege, not a right. While banning is done infrequently, once you’re banned from one or more of our sites, you’re banned. If you try to circumvent a ban, we may take further action. If you post on behalf of a banned member, you may also be banned. You may email us for an explanation, but we are not obligated to respond. (In most cases, people know why they are banned.)

12. A word on censorship and “freedom of speech”: The US Bill of Rights allows citizens the right to free speech in a public forum without limitations imposed by the State. (”Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech.”) SheKnows LLC sites are not “public forums”; these sites are private forums open to the public. As a general rule, however, we uphold the ideals of the Constitution and do not condone the censorship of ideas. We allow relatively free and open discussion about just about anything. However, we do adhere to a simple tenet of respect. There is no place here for personal attacks. Debate, fault, discuss the action — and don’t abuse other members of the site. When in doubt, please remember this golden rule of message board etiquette: It’s not just what you say, it’s how you say it.

13. Any communication or material you post or transmit to the Service is, and will be treated as, non-confidential and non-proprietary. You assume full responsibility for anything you post or transmit, and you grant SheKnows LLC and its affiliates the right to edit, copy, publish and distribute any information or content you post or transmit for any purpose. If you voluntarily disclose personal information (e.g. e-mail address) on a bulletin board or in a chat room, that information can be collected and used by other parties and may result in unsolicited contact.

14. You agree, through your use of this service, that you will not use this board to post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person’s privacy, or violative of any law. You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you or by SheKnows LLC. Share written material posted online (including articles, newsgroup and message board postings) with a link and no more than a few lines to serve as a description.

15. While we are open to feedback, public debate about how the boards are administered is discouraged. Keep in mind that we offer these message boards as a FREE service to their users and are not accountable in the way that elected officials are to their tax-paying constituency. Please contact us directly by email here to share your complaints or admin ideas. We DO take them seriously. When mailing us with concerns, you must tell us which site and provide a short description of the problem. Whenever relevant or possible, please include message URL/s.

16. We at this board also reserve the right to reveal your identity (or whatever information we know about you) in the event of a complaint or legal action arising from any message posted by you. Your IP address is recorded with every post you make.

Some other considerations
As a reminder for anyone who needs to have a refresher in message board netiquette, please consider the following before you post:

1. Does your message have anything to contribute in a positive way to the thread?

2. Would you say it to the person if she were standing right in front of you? Would you say it to your best friend or loved one? Are you calling someone names?

3. How would you feel and react if faced with the same message from someone else? If it would anger or upset you, you might consider re-framing your thoughts in a less objectionable tone. People are much more likely to see your point of view when it is sweetened with honey. Most people tend to shut down their minds to any different ideas in the face of condescension, insults or anger.

4. Message boards, unlike face-to-face conversation, lack tone and other nuances of expression. Be aware that when you post, what you mean and what others read may be very different! This is why “smileys,” or emoticons, were created.

Thank you in advance for your consideration and respect for all of the people who visit this board, no matter what their personal stance on any given issue.

If you encounter a problem
If you have any concerns about the message boards, please write one of the community directors, whose name you can find in the announcement at the top of each board. You must tell us which site, which board, and provide a short description of the problem. Whenever possible, please include the message URL (web address for the post in question, starting with http://), or, at least, the title of the message and name of the poster.

Updated 12/06/2007

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