Carers Events and Forum both Online and Face to Face Community Ground Rules (referred to as Forums)
When taking part in our forums there are a few pointers we would like you to follow that will make our community a safe and friendly environment for everybody.
Respect Other People’s Views And Opinions
Carers’ Support East Kent’s community is a welcoming and supportive place for carers and professionals to talk to one another and to share information and to keep up to date with any changes in the world of caring.
We are very keen for people to feel like they can express themselves freely about their caring situations.
We understand people will have different opinions on some topics, but please respect other people’s views and always be polite.
Please avoid excessive use of Capital Letters in online posts.
Offensive language will not be tolerated. Discriminatory and offensive language or insults will be challenged and where possible, removed.
Be Supportive Of Other Forum Users
The forums provide an opportunity for carers to support one another with practical information and support. Forum members are also able to support each other emotionally and to provide peer support to one another.
Please be supportive of all carers, whatever their caring situation and whatever topics of conversation they may have for the community.
Be Sensitive Towards Other People’s Feelings
Remember that people using our forum community may be going through a particularly challenging or difficult time.
Please be sensitive to the fact that people may be feeling vulnerable, and consider how your message may be perceived by someone going through a difficult situation.
If we think that a comment could be insensitive we may decide to challenge or remove it to protect people participating in the forum.
Please consider the tone of your comments and discussion – giving strong, judgmental opinions about another person’s personal circumstances and choices can be upsetting to that individual and may put them off using the forum, especially if the person is new to the forum and has not been involved in our carer community before.
Try to base replies on the information given, rather than make assumptions about a person’s circumstances.
Use The Forum Primarily To Give And Receive Support
Our carer forums are here for you to connect with other carers, offer a break and enjoyment away from your role as a carer for our social events, support each other and signpost each other to relevant information and support.
Our own staff members and volunteers will manage and may occasionally post online in the forum to ask if you would like to get involved in other aspects of our work (e.g. volunteering or telling your caring story to the media) however some of the most valuable advice for carers can come from other carers because YOU are the experts.
What If I Want To Talk About Things That Are Not Related To Caring?
If you would like to post about anything online that isn’t specific to the caring role then you can post in the “Off Topic” Category of our website forums.
Keeping Safe In The Forum
Never give out any of your personal details in the forum.
We will never ask you to post your personal details and if anybody asks for them please let us know by emailing support@carersek.org.uk or reporting the comment.
Help To Make Our Online Community Easy To Use For Other Members by
Posting Online In The Right Place
The online forum is divided into Categories and Subcategories to make it easy to navigate your way to the topics of discussion you are most interested in finding.
You should always try and make your online post in the Category and Subcategory that is most relevant. If you’re not sure where your online post should go then put it in the “Off Topic” section.
The online moderators and staff may move posts to other sections of the forum if they think it would be more helpful for other users.
Carers’ Support East Kent may add new Categories when we see a particular online topic of conversation is frequently taking place.
Links To/From Other Websites
You are welcome to online post links (URLs) to other websites on the forum if you think this would be helpful to other carers and former carers.
When doing this please include a short summary and a link to the relevant web page. Please do not cut and paste large sections of content from other websites onto the forum. The posting of a URL on the forum does not imply any endorsement by Carers’ Support East Kent and we may remove URL’s from posts if we feel they are not appropriate to the overall purpose of the community.
Can I Advertise My Services Or The Services Of Others?
Commercial advertising of products or websites is not permitted on the forum and such posts will be challenged and where possible removed.
Duplicate Online Posts
Please do not make the same post in different sections of the online forum. Duplicate posts will be removed.
How Do We Moderate Our Online Community?
We have a robust system in place to moderate our online community and to make sure it is safe and welcoming for all.
Our forum moderators will routinely visit the forum and will check on the active topic threads.
When a user reports another users’ post this will flag up an alert to the moderators and they will review the post, making the decision to remove it if it breaches the forum guidelines.
We also check links to external sources and check any pictures uploaded.
What Happens When People Don’t Follow The Guidelines?
When a participant does not follow these forum guidelines, we may have to suspend their online account, or ask them to refrain and if necessary, leave the event. If someone repeatedly breaks our guidelines online, we may implement a longer online suspension or, as a last resort, a lifetime online ban. If someone repeatedly breaks our guidelines face to face, we may implement a longer online suspension for attending our events, as a last resort, decline applications to join our face to face events.
What To Do If You Find Offensive, Inappropriate Or Disruptive Comments
Please contact us at support@carersek.org.uk and we will take appropriate action as soon as we can.
You can also report an online post by clicking on the ‘report’ button. An online forum moderator will then review the post and remove it if it is deemed unsuitable.
Feedback
We welcome all feedback about our forums and this should be sent by email to support@carersek.org.uk
Feedback about moderation of our online community should also be sent to this email address and not posted on the forum.
You can also find out how to contact us by selecting the ‘contact us’ option on our website.
Complaints
Our online forums and face to face events should not be used as a channel for complaints about Carers’ Support East Kent or its staff, trustees and volunteers. Any complaints that are posted in the open area of the online forum will be removed. If you wish to make a formal complaint then please email us at complaints@carersek.org.uk.
Please be aware that it may not be possible to monitor all feedback 24/7 and although we will aim to reply to you within 48 hours, this may not always be possible.