AARC Networking and Social Media Rules and Etiquette
Thanks for being part of our online communities. To ensure the best possible experience for all members, we have established some basic guidelines for participation.
By joining and using these e-mail lists, forums and social media accounts you agree that you have read and will follow the rules and guidelines for these groups. You also agree to reserve content to topics best suited to the medium. This is a great medium with which to solicit the advice of your peers, benefit from their experience, and participate in an ongoing conversation. Questions about this service should be directed to our Member Services department.
Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with these important guidelines. If you have questions, contact the member services department prior to participating. In order to preserve a climate that encourages both civil and fruitful dialogue, AARC reserves the right to suspend or terminate membership on all lists, forums and social media accounts for members who violate these rules.
Guidelines
- Respect other members. The content is meant to stimulate conversation not to create contention. Let others have their say, just as you may. Any disagreements of an inflammatory kind are to be kept off the board. Email, pm, IM or use whatever method you would like between yourselves, but do not bring it here.
- Respect copyright ownership of information posted. By posting material, the posting party warrants and represents that he or she owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner.
- No direct solicitation of any type for events, products or services is allowed, either through lists or direct messaging to other members.
- Use caution when discussing products. Information posted on the lists is available for all to see, and comments are subject to libel, slander, and antitrust laws.
- All defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal comments and materials are strictly prohibited. Any obvious words or messages of hate are not welcomed here and will not be tolerated.
- Send your message only to the most appropriate list(s).
Unacceptable Use
- Please focus on content relevant to the intent of each platform or list.
- Do not post advertisements or notices for products, services, jobs, organizations, or events.
- Do not post jokes, poems, chain mail, pornography, or virus warnings.
- Do not post copyrighted material from a source other than the AARC.
- Do not conduct surveys or build a link to a survey form unless expressly given permission by the AARC.
- Do not engage in discussions relating to pricing or cost of goods, as this may be considered price fixing and is a federal offense. For more information on anti-trust, please review this Department of Justice statement.
Etiquette
- Include a signature tag on all messages. Include your name, affiliation, location.
- Use appropriate comments in the subject line. This allows members to respond more easily to your posting and search the archives by subject.
- Do not include a whole email conversation when all you add is “Me too.”
- Do not reply to any conversation with “Me too.”
- If you still MUST say “Me too”, send a direct message to the sender.
- Do not reply to your own posts. Feel free to edit a post, but submitting numerous posts is usually non-productive. It could be that nobody knows the answer to your inquiry. Be sure the group you post to is the most likely to have an answer.
- Do not send “Remove me from this list.” to a group discussion. Instead, use the Web interface to change your settings or to remove yourself from a list. If you are changing e-mail addresses, you do not need to remove yourself from the list and rejoin under your new e-mail address. Simply change your settings.
The Legal Stuff
These sites are provided as a service of AARC for its members. AARC is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. AARC disclaims all warranties with regard to information posted on this site; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall AARC be liable for any special, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on this site.
In addition, the posting party grants AARC and users of this list the nonexclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material.
Messages should not be posted if they encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another’s business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers.
AARC reserves the right to monitor the site for inappropriate postings. AARC does not on its own undertake editorial control of postings.
However, in the event that any inappropriate posting is identified, AARC will take all appropriate action including but not limited to:
- Removal of any postings that are deemed to violate the code of conduct policies
- Notification of the violation to the posting member
- Placement of the member into a moderation status requiring all future posts to be reviewed and approved before they post to the discussions
- AARC reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines.
