Expanded Forum Guidelines Masterpost
Expanded Forum Guidelines
Hi 7 Cups Community!
We strive to create a safe, inclusive and welcoming environment for all to participate in. To help us achieve this, we have a set of robust guidelines in which all site users must abide by. You can find these in a number of places: this thread, under the forum section of community guidelines here, or as a pop-up when creating new posts.
If you notice a post which goes against a forum guideline, please flag it by pressing the flag report button. Any questions or queries relating to the forum guidelines or forum post modifications should be directed to forum@7cups.com.
Guideline 1 - Click here for the expanded guideline post
Inflammatory, racist, sexist, offensive, homophobic, transphobic, etc. posts are not allowed. Posting about the impacts of abuse, racism, sexism, etc. or seeking support on these topics is allowed.
Guideline 2 - Click here for the expanded guideline post
For moderation and inclusive participation, we ask you to please use English in the forum space.
Guideline 3 - Click here for the expanded guideline post
Unsupportive content including targeting or attacking other users in the community is not allowed. Disagreements may happen, but always maintain a respectful tone and try to move the conversation forward in an on-topic and constructive way. Sometimes this means agreeing to disagree.
Guideline 4 - Click here for the expanded guideline post
Confidential information shared in a one-on-one or group chat is not allowed. This includes negative reviews of listeners or group mods. Ex: If someone can identify who you are referring to, it is probably not a good idea to post it.
Guideline 5 - Click here for the expanded guideline post
Personal Contact Information, such as Social Media Handles, Email Accounts, Phone Numbers, or other 7 cups accounts (e.g. posting your listener account name from your member account or vice versa) is not allowed. This includes links to surveys or pages that contain either personal contact information or a private messaging system.
Guideline 6 - Click here for the expanded guideline post
Excessive Inappropriate or Graphic Language is not allowed, including cursing in thread titles, cursing at others, and cursing in excess within a post. Trigger warnings should be included in thread titles or beginning of body content where appropriate.
Guideline 7 - Click here for the expanded guideline post
Giving medical advice is not permitted. Medication and drug names may be shared, but precise dosages or suggestions to take specific medications may not.
Guideline 8 - Click here for the expanded guideline post
Users are expected to maintain a listener role if on a listener account. This includes not seeking emotional or personal support and following the expectations of a listener outlined in active listening. Please switch to a member account if necessary.
Guideline 9 - Click here the for expanded guideline post
Duplicate posts and threads, including posting the same thread in multiple categories, are not allowed. Please reach out to a forum mentor if you accidentally post multiple times or if you are unsure if your thread already exists somewhere else.
Guideline 10 - Click here for the expanded guideline post
Spam (posting multiple times, mass-tagging, posting about non 7 cups related topics such as surveys or for advertising purposes, making posts that are largely unreadable, etc.) is not allowed.
Guideline 11 - Click here for the expanded guideline post
Refer to any additional guidelines that may apply to specific communities. These can be found by clicking "Guidelines" within a community.
Guideline 12 - Click here for expanded guideline post
In order to maintain a therapeutic space, we delete forum posts that take away from a supportive forum environment. If a forum post is not helpful nor positive then it will be deleted.
Guideline 13 - Click here for the expanded guideline post
The excessive use of artificial intelligence when creating forum content is not allowed. This includes the use of other software and using content from other sites without citing the original author or creator.
For information on how guideline violations are processed, please review this post.
[MonBon updated to reflect new medication guideline 15Nov2018]
[Hope updated to reflect new forum post guideline on Sep 21, 2020]
[tommy updated to reflect new guidance #2 on June 4th, 2023]
[tommy reformatted and updated on Nov 5, 2023]
[tommy updated to reflect new guidance #13 on Apr 6, 2024]
@MonBon
Really good, and thank you
@MonBon hi, how can I edit or delete my posts?
@CaringHeart123 You can message a forum mentor or use this form - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSePF0i2FXJndT8X0SlZAzqaTawHaBvc_H8yUGeoH4chbm5tPg/viewform
Uh oh! An error was encountered saving your post. (Code 064) @MonBon I need help, I am having an error when trying to post a longer comment
@MonBon Thank you for providing a clarification of the rules. However, I think I would like to disgress about the expression "offensive content" due to ambiguity, as many have mentioned, and the suggested appropiate action for the
Firstly, what a member considers supportive or helpful ("Cheer up, it is not that bad. Think about that many people have it worse than you". In fact, maybe there can be some people who do want this response) can be completely disheartening and condescending for another person. By removing such comments, especially if no explanation is given or if only a word like "unsupportive" is mentioned, the person who made the comment will be either:
- confused, because perhaps they had no bad intentions
- regretful but worried about ever saying that again even in a more considerate manner, so they might not be able to learn to rethink or rephrase the weel-intended idea behind what they said in a more appropiate manner for a more adequate context.
- angry, because if the person wholeheartedly perceives their comment as inoffensive even after clarification, they will be resentful against moderators regardless of how offensive the comment really was for the receptor. We don't like being told what to do, so censoring only reiforces whatever preexisting negative beliefs the person has.
Sorry, I have a bug and can't keep writing. Basically, I think that the best solution is that comments discussing opinions in a rude, uninterested, ignorant or unsupportive manner should instead be flagged either by moderators or members, so that they can be properply discussed among the members involved, perhaps with someone as a mediator. This helps people learn and analyse their own behaviour. The reason why this is my stance is that this is a community for self-help. Shouldn't your psychologist invite you to rethink and analyse your thoughts instead of suppressing them? Why shouldn't we try to do the same in cases of controversy?
@courageousDreamer1588 Obviously, explicit incitations to (self-)harm, (self-) neglect and discrimination should be banned, but not all "unsupportive" or "ignorant" content will be necessarily harmful, much less meant to cause harm.
These guidelines are so important.
