Chat Rules
Chat Room Rules
While the Terms of Service (TOS) refer to the basic rules and guidelines of the site, there are other rules we enforce due to situations that have occurred over the years. Please take a moment to review the “Chat Room Rules”.Rules are subject to change as new policies are forged.
2. No personal attacks or flaming of any kind. You are welcome to disagree with a member, but calling them names or flaming their character is not allowed. If you have a personal issue to discuss with a member, please take it private and discuss via PM.
3. Please remember when chatting in the “Foyer” that all members of the community are welcome to chat here. Please keep this in mind when chatting and discussing topics. Attacking adoptive parents or those hoping to adopt because they have adopted or hope to adopt falls in line with this.
4. Monitor decisions are final and are not open to debate. There are often behind the scenes details to which you are not privy. Certainly you can question or comment on a decision directly to a monitor via PM or to admin via email, but remember, it is not up for debate. We will not engage in a debate over decisions.
5. Discussing banned members is only allowed in the context of general discussion, but discussing the banning or reasons behind it are not allowed.
6. Members who require excessive reminders of the rules or whose participation results in excessive need for monitor/admin attention may be banned without warning.
7. Private Messages and/or e-mails that are exchanged privately, are not to be posted on the forums, in chat or in Private Message without consent of all parties involved. Discussions stemming from the topic of a Private Message or e-mailed conversation are fine, provided the above rules are followed.
8. Under NO circumstances are harassing, vulgar or threatening PM’s permitted. If you receive one, please take a screen shot of the message and forward it to a monitor or admin for review. If you are found to have sent one you will be banned.
9. Please respect other members. If you can't do that, put the member on your ignore list. Continual harassment can be grounds for banning.
10. Posting links to offensive material – anti adoption sites, pornographic sites, etc. is not allowed under any circumstances. Ignorance of what is housed on the home page or deeper within the site is not an acceptable excuse. Make sure that anything you post in chat is suitable for a family site.
11. Do not impersonate anyone. “Trolling” is grounds for an immediate ban. Members are allowed to participate in chat using ONE account, with the exception of certain circumstances to be determined on a case-by-case basis by the monitors/admin. Chatting from another account without disclosing why you are doing it and who you are could result in losing both accounts. Members who currently chat using more than one name need to make a decision on which name they would like to use and notify admin of the other ID’s so they can be removed.
12. Asterisking out curse words in order to get your point across is not an acceptable way to bypass Chat’s auto-moderating of offensive words. Please share your thoughts, opinions and feelings in a way that doesn’t require the use of curse words. We realize that sometimes there just aren't words to convey how you are feeling and you might say "It's truly one of those @#(*$&)(*&#% days today" but saying "That guy is such a @#($*&@ boob" clearly indicates a bypass of Chat’s auto-moderating system and is not allowed. Similarly, spelling out auto-censored words with symbols is not acceptable nor is using abbreviations and/or use the phonetic spelling of curse words.
13. Remember that monitors are volunteers. It is impossible for them to be in chat every minute of every day. Please don’t assume that because action hasn’t been taken that something is ok. If you see activities that violate the Terms of Service or the Chat Room Rules, please save a chat log, note the time of the violation and send any and all information to admin@adoptionmedia.com.
14. No soliciting! Under no circumstances will any soliciting be allowed. This means you may not ask if anyone is interested in adopting your baby, and it also means that you may not approach someone who says they are pregnant and ask about adopting the child. Anyone doing this will be banned from the site without warning. This rule is strictly enforced!
15. These are not chat rooms for minors! Teens may find topics more to their interest in chat rooms and forums especially for them - and several are listed here on the Youth Page: http://www.adopting.org/adoptions/resources-info-for-adopted-and-fostered-youth.html. All minors under the age of 18 will be asked to leave and may be booted if they refuse.
16. Be sure to have fun and be safe. Don't give out your full name or your phone number or even your email address to someone you don't know. The less information you give out about yourself, the safer you are. Remember: you never have to give out any information about yourself, including age/sex/location information!
By using the Chat rooms, you agree to all rules posted herein in addition to the Terms of Service and Community Rules, which can be found here:
Adoption Media Community Website Rules: http://www.adoption.com/community.php
Adoption Media Terms of Service: http://www.adoption.com/legal.php
These chat rooms are for you to learn from and enjoy, but not at the expense of others. Have fun, but be respectful and play nice!
In your use of these chat rooms, you agree that you will not post any information, which is vulgar, harassing, hateful, threatening, invasive of others' privacy, or that violates any laws.
If you have any questions, comments or problems, please email admin@adoptionmedia.com.
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