FOR THE PEOPLE SITE POLICIES
That good old Golden Rule really says it all when it comes to member policies of
For The People. This policy guide will spell out a few details. However, basically,
if you treat other members the way you would like to be treated, most of the
details will take care of themselves.
Ten-minute Policy:
If you don't respond to a welcome or fail to verbally reply to subsequent greetings,
a moderator may band you from the room after the elapse of ten minutes. We consider
10 minutes to be sufficient time in which to answer. There is more than one reason
for living by our ten-minute policy, but the most important reason is to
help maintain a true comfort zone for all our members. For-The-People.com is a voice chat
community and verbal participation is mandated. Just as you would not tolerate an
individual taking a seat in your living room and refusing to communicate with you, we
will not tolerate a lack of verbal participation.
For this reason, we do not allow text chatting in most rooms. This is a
voice chat site and text chatting disturbs others in the room as it
constantly triggers the reading of the text message, often drowning out what
is being said. There are two Accessible Chat rooms in which text chatting is
allowed, however even in these rooms it is necessary to have a mike and be
able to respond verbally. It is important that you be aware that your presence
in our rooms consumes valuable bandwidth. Please be conscientious about logging
out of a room when you are not at your keyboard. A brief absence to fetch a
drink or answer the door is fine, but if
you think you will be away for ten minutes or more please log out of the room.
Not only will this practice conserve our precious bandwidth, it will also
eliminate the situation where a member enters a room and speaks to you and
receives zero response. A lack of response can be very off-putting to a brand
new member.
Chat Etiquette:
When you are in a room with several other folks it is important to pause for
a few seconds before responding to the room. Often two people get caught up in
a discussion of great interest to themselves and forget to give others a chance
to interject their comments. This courtesy will go far to safeguard against
anyone inadvertently being excluded. It is great when one of us is able to
help another member with a problem, but if the assistance is going to require
a great deal of time it is advisable to go to "Tech Talk", or some other
appropriate room. For example, Cliff, Jim R or Carlos probably would not enjoy
sitting through a 30 minute cooking lesson in the
"Coffee Shop". If you enter "tech talk" or another of our special interest
rooms, please be aware that members might be working on a project or there may
be a scheduled formal event in progress.
Rooms by Category:
The rooms on our site are divided into categories.
General Family Rooms:
Think of these rooms as being rated G. In the rooms not labeled as "adult,"
conversations must be of a nature that would be appropriate for persons of all
ages. This is not to say you cannot discuss substantive and controversial
issues, but keep it clean.
Special Interest Rooms:
These rooms are also considered to be General Family Rooms. See above for
more details. Each of these rooms has specific purposes, which have been
designated in their headings. Educational activities are facilitated in these
rooms, but these activities are not limited to scheduled events. If you enter
our special interest rooms, please be aware that members might be working on a
project, or there may be a scheduled formal event in progress. The 3T support
group is the only activity on the site that is exclusively for the blind or
visually impaired. Just as AA meetings exist exclusively for alcoholics,
3T is only for the blind and visually impaired. Please respect this mandate.
Lots a Dots:
The Lots a Dots room was designed for blind/deaf text chat. Every one is
welcome in Lots of Dots, but this room has been specifically designed for the
benefit of deaf/hard of hearing members.
The Playground:
The Playground is for children 12 years of age and under. Designated parents
or For The People management will monitor this room when it is in use.
Teen Talk:
Teen Talk is a room for persons 13 to 19 years of age. Designated For The
People management will occasionally monitor this room.
Adult Moderated Rooms:
The label "adult" does not suggest that all forms of profanity and sexually
explicit or tasteless speech are permitted. There is a world of difference
between spewing vulgarity and discussing adult topics. The Adult Moderated
rooms are monitored and no one under eighteen is permitted in these rooms.
Think of our adult moderated rooms as being P.G.
Adult Uncensored Rooms:
The rooms labeled "Adult Uncensored" are pretty much a free for all. Things of a
ribald nature may well be discussed there. However, even in these rooms, no
harassment or suggestion of the transaction of illegal activities will be
permitted. No one under eighteen is permitted in these rooms.
Ethics and Legalities:
Illegal activities of any kind will not be tolerated. Illegal activities
include, but are not limited to; software piracy; the illegal sale and
distribution of copy written material; the illegal sale or distribution of
drugs or other illegal substances or to propagate hatred and prejudice toward
any person or group of people. We will not tolerate abuse or harassment
toward any of our members. Deliberate violation of any of these policies will
result in the revocation of your membership at For-The-People.com.
Disclaimer:
For-The-People.com promises that it will never sell or disseminate any of
your personal information to any third parties at any time for any reason.
For-The-People.com, its administrators, teachers, trainers and event
facilitators will not be liable for any damage to hardware or software, loss of
data, productivity or monetary losses through the use of our site; tech support
or information gained through any of our classes or e-mail lists.
Adopted: August 8, 2001 by For-The-People.com
Revised: November 17, 2003 by For-The-People.com
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